Presentation
OPERATOR: Good afternoon, and welcome to Textura Corporation's
conference call to announce a new solution. Today's call is being
recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to
Ryan Lawrence, Chief Legal Officer at Textura. Thank you. Please
begin.
RYAN LAWRENCE, CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER, TEXTURA CORPORATION: Thank you,
operator. Good afternoon. Thank you for joining today's call to
discuss our new solution, the Early Payment Program, or EPP. Before
we begin, I would like to remind you that many of the comments made
on today's call are forward-looking statements, including but not
limited to, EPP expected performance and revenue estimates. These
statements are subject to the risks and uncertainties inherent in a
new product offering and the other risks and uncertainties described
in our filings with the SEC, including but not limited to the risk
factor section of our 10-K filed November 26, 2013. Actual results
may differ materially from those described during the call. In
addition, all forward-looking statements are made as of today, and we
do not undertake any responsibility to update any forward-looking
statements based on new circumstances or revised expectations. I will
now turn the call over to Pat.
PAT ALLIN, CHAIRMAN & CEO, TEXTURA CORPORATION: Thanks, Ryan.
Good afternoon, everyone. I am pleased to be joined today by Lex
Greensill, CEO of Greensill Capital, and Jillian Sheehan, EVP and CFO
at Textura. As you know from the press release, we have just
announced that Textura has joined forces with Greensill Capital and
Morgan Stanley to offer what we think has the potential to be a
game-changing solution in the commercial construction industry. The
solution which we are calling the Early Payment Program, or EPP,
combines Textura's CPM technology platform with Greensill Capital
supply chain financing expertise and Morgan Stanley's capital market
presence to deliver an opportunity for general contractors to
accelerate payment to subcontractors on commercial construction
projects on a global basis.
In addition, Turner Construction, the largest general builder in
North America, announced today that it will be the first client
utilizing this new solution and will call their program Turner APP,
or Turner Accelerated Payment Program. Turner, Greensill and Textura
have worked together over the past 18 months to craft a solution for
both Turner's unique needs and to also create a solution for the
construction industry. Because of the significance of this solution
launch, we are hosting this call to provide additional details and
answer questions.
Approximately 10 years ago, Textura commenced operations. There were
three of us in 800 square feet and zero revenue. Today we are over
500 employees with international offices in the United Kingdom,
Australia and Russia, and a high annual revenue growth rate.
When the co-founders studied the construction industry over 10 years
ago, it was clear to us that there might be an opportunity to change
how construction project work in process is funded. Traditionally,
subcontractors have been paid for work carried out each month 30 to
60 to 90 days after completion of this work. These subcontractors
often lack access to low-cost working capital and banks, since the
financial recession have limited their lending to subcontractor
businesses, putting pressure on subcontractor balance sheets and
limiting their ability to grow.
In our last three quarterly earnings release calls, I mentioned that
we have been working with certain leading financial experts to create
a new solution for the construction industry using Textura's
platform. I am just delighted that we are now finally able to
announce today both our partnership with Greensill Capital, our new
solution, EPP, which leverages our CPM functionality, and our first
client for EPP, Turner Construction.
About 18 months ago, Turner Construction introduced us to Greensill
Capital. It became apparent early on that Textura and Greensill
shared a common vision for solving subcontractor funding issues, and
between the two organizations we had the right skill sets to put all
of the pieces in place to create a solution.
Lex Greensill and his team at Greensill Capital are global supply
chain financing experts, bringing a high level of unique expertise
around the design and implementation of these types of programs. Lex
and his team created the global supply chain funding businesses at
both Morgan Stanley and Citibank before starting their own business
in 2011. Lex has an impressive set of credentials and currently acts
as the senior advisor on supply chain finance to the UK Prime
Minister, David Cameron, and recently advised the White House on
their new SupplierPay program.
Lex was also this past year appointed a Crown Representative to Her
Majesty's Government, a role focused on ensuring the British
government gets better value in its supplier purchases. Lex is on the
call. Would you like to say a few words?
LEX GREENSILL, CEO, GREENSILL CAPITAL: Pat, thank you very much. I am
delighted to be able to announce our partnership with Textura to
deliver EPP. My team and I have set up a significant proportion of
third-party funded early payment programs Fortune 500 companies over
the last decade. Since the financial crisis, we have seen retail,
manufacturing, defense, telecoms and technology sectors
enthusiastically embrace this technology as a way to reduce costs and
to strengthen their supply chains.
Unfortunately, despite the obvious financing challenges that
subcontractors face, the particular legal and other intricacies of
the US construction sector meant that until now no one has cracked
the code on how to deliver a third-party funded early payment
solution. In the past decade, Textura has built an impressive
platform and a market-leading position. Their technology, when
coupled with our supply chain finance expertise, finally allows
third-party funded early payments to be made to subcontractors, a
first in the market.
Given our experience in delivering these programs, we are confident
that there will be significant adoption by subcontractors of
Textura's early payment program, both in the United States and
abroad. To support that demand, we are delivering our balance sheet,
that of our bank's subsidiary, Greensill Bank, and via our
partnership with Morgan Stanley, the capital markets. I sincerely
believe that Textura's EPP will permanently change the way the
construction industry works in the United States and globally, and we
are thrilled to be a part of it. Thank you, Pat.
PAT ALLIN: Thanks, Lex. Together we believe that our early payment
program will enable general contractors to deliver significant
benefits to their subcontractor business partners, empowering them to
grow through the improved cash flow and stronger balance sheet that
can result from earlier payment. As you know, CPM is currently used
by over 300 general contractors and owners.
CPM electronically integrates all construction payment management
process components, including billing, progress claims, lien waiver
collection, statutory declaration, sub-tier waivers, compliance
management and payments into one seamless workflow. CPM helps
contractors and others involved in construction projects realize
significant efficiency benefits from automation and streamlining, and
risk reduction from improved control and visibility.
As it turned out, CPM is the ideal platform for an early payment
program. To manage the program, we have created some additional
functionality for CPM. This development is complete and will be ready
for the early 2015 launch. Utilizing CPM, the early payment program
will allow each general contractor to have a customized program, with
Greensill connecting unique funding sources for each general
contractor.
Under each program, enrolled subcontractors have the opportunity to
receive payment for invoices approved by the general contractor
earlier than the typical payment date in return for accepting a fee
off of that invoice. This type of program will provide benefits to
all clients using our technology platform, which is the same approach
that we have taken with our other solutions. To us, it is all about
delivering value to all participants surrounding a construction
project: everyone is our client.
General contractors may be able to lower bids, resulting in more work
and/or better margins. In addition, general contractors would be
working with financially healthier subcontractors, which could result
in fewer defaults and lower claims. Subcontractors will be able to
prepare bids expecting earlier payment after the work is performed.
And expedited payment should lead to stronger balance sheets,
business expansion and less business owner risk. It is our belief
that EPP can be a game-changer in the construction industry, solving
long-standing structural issues in the way construction projects are
funded.
As part of this alliance with Greensill, Textura will be providing
the technology platform to carry out EPP. Implementation of a general
contractor early payment program will be contingent on being
implemented on our CPM solution. By leveraging our existing CPM
client services team, we will provide EPP sales support, marketing
and client services.
Greensill will be the contracting entity with the general
contractors, negotiating pricing and program details, underwriting GC
projects, and creating and executing separate funding programs for
each GC. Greensill has committed a minimum of a revolving $250
million of its own funds to EPP financing, and plans to deliver an
initial minimum of a revolving $10 billion in EPP financing from a
combination of its own balance sheet, third-party banks, and with the
assistance of Morgan Stanley, the capital markets. Jillian, I am
going to turn it over to you to discuss Textura's revenue opportunity
from EPP.
JILLIAM SHEEHAN, EVP & CFO, TEXTURA CORPORATION: Thanks, Pat. I
am sure that all of you may be wondering what the size of the revenue
opportunity to Textura from EPP might be. It is very important to
stress that this is not only a new solution offering for Textura, but
the first offering of its kind to the construction industry. So it is
difficult for us to fully estimate potential revenue at this point.
Textura's revenue stream from EPP will be a fee from Greensill
Capital for use of the technology platform. The fee is based on
overall EPP program revenue, which is dependent on, among other
things, funding volume and the average fee paid by the subs on each
invoice in the program.
However, here is a bit of perspective. So again stressing that this
is very much an estimate at this point. Per CPM subcontractor usage
fees, the average monetization rate build in the September quarter
was slightly above 9 basis points of subcontract value. And this has
ranged on an individual subcontract from 3 to 4 to 20 to 25 basis
points, depending on the size of the subcontract. Please keep in mind
that 70% to 75% of a general contractor's construction value is
subcontracted.
For EPP, we estimate that the revenue to Textura may range from
approximately 9 basis points to 29 basis points of subcontract value,
depending on the fee the sub pays, and assuming that a sub funds
every contract invoice. We currently expect the average fee to be in
the 10 to 15 basis points range of subcontract value. Please remember
that virtually all subs are mandated on CPM, but contractor
participation on EPP is optional. Our understanding is that the
normal adoption for these types of programs in other industries is
about 35%.
The revenue potential is significant if the program is successful,
and we are excited about the opportunity in front of us. But as I
mentioned earlier, we simply won't know the size of that revenue
opportunity or other effects of EPP until it gets up and running over
a period of time. However, we believe that EPP significantly adds to
the CPM value proposition and potential revenue opportunity to
Textura, and will further enhance our CPM operating leverage. I will
turn it back to Pat for closing remarks.
PAT ALLIN: Thanks, Jillian. We plan to roll out EPP as a general
contractor specific program in early 2015, starting first with Turner
Construction. Between now and the initial rollout, we will continue
to meet with general contractors and subcontractors to explain the
benefits and the mechanics of the program. We are all very excited to
add the EPP solution to our technology platform, and hope our clients
feel we continue to create innovative solutions and deliver value to
their organizations. With that, I will turn it over for questions.
Questions and Answers
OPERATOR: Thank you.
(Operator instructions)
Bhavan Suri, William Blair.
BHAVAN SURI, ANALYST, WILLIAM BLAIR & COMPANY: Hi. Thanks for
taking my question, and certainly a very, very interesting solution.
I guess my first question, just to touch on it, just to clarify, is
that CPM will be the platform through which the subcontractor may
obtain the invoice for the EPP. But just to clarify, the payment to
Textura for use of the platform will come from the financing outside
of the partnership?
PAT ALLIN: Right. Just in broad brush, how it works is the
subcontractor on a project that uses CPM and is enrolled in EPP would
go through a new CPM for their normal monthly invoice. CPM, based on
the input from a sub would generate the legal documents associated
with the invoice and the lien waiver. That then goes to the general
contractor for approval. Once the general contractor has approved it,
Greensill Capital is notified. And we will facilitate the movement of
money from that general contractor's funding pool from the pool to
that subcontractor. So CPM is absolutely -- a lot of that is just the
normal process, right? It's just where the funding will actually come
through a different source than typically do.
BHAVAN SURI: And the 9 to the 29 basis points that Jillian was
referring to will be paid to you by Greensill Capital?
PAT ALLIN: So what happens is, obviously the subcontractor gets paid
their invoice amount less the fee. And then at maturity, whether that
is 35, 40, 45 days later, the general contractor typically having
been paid by the owner, will pay the full invoice amount to
Greensill, which will repay the monies paid to the subcontractor, and
what will be left over is the fee. Textura then receives their part
of the fee from Greensill.
BHAVAN SURI: Got it. That is helpful. Thanks, Pat. As you look at the
conversation with Turner and you look at Turner's rollout, are there
subcontractors today, or have you have identified a subset of
subcontractors that want to participate in the EPP?
PAT ALLIN: Well, as part of this process over the last year, Turner
has gone out and talked to many of their subcontractors. And they are
-- if they were on the call, they would tell you that the response
has been surprisingly positive, particularly amongst the large
subcontractors where they might have guessed that a fee might not be
something that they would be interested in. So Turner is going
forward, having done their homework with their subcontractor
community, which is a group of 10,000 or 20,000 subcontractors.
BHAVAN SURI: Got it. It does surprise me that the largest ones would
do it because I would figure that they have direct financing
capability with banks and whatever and it would be the small
subcontractors that have the harder time getting the financing. Help
me just reconcile those two things, Pat. I clearly have it wrong, but
sort of how that process might have worked before EPP came around in
the construction industry.
PAT ALLIN: Yes, you would assume that the larger subcontractors, some
of which are global organizations, would have their own capital
market based funding. Obviously, I was not involved in Turner's
process going out and talking to their subs, but we did an interview
with [D&R] yesterday, and although the head of purchasing at
Turner made it very clear that it was a surprise to him that the
large subs, some of them are very interested it in this kind of a
program.
BHAVAN SURI: And then one quick last one, if I may. As you think
about the various other things that you can hang off this in terms of
financing projects and other products around sort of making sure that
the subcontractors stay in business and mitigating risk, any sense as
to what other pieces you might be able to hang off of this around
risk mitigation, whether it's the submittal process, other risk
management features that you might add to CPM?
PAT ALLIN: If you are asking me are there are other opportunities
that we're looking closely at, the answer is yes. If you are asking
me what they are, the answer is I cannot tell you. (Laughter)
BHAVAN SURI: All right. Very good, guys. Thank you for taking my
questions.
PAT ALLIN: Thanks.
OPERATOR: Michael Nemeroff, Credit Suisse.
KYLE CHEN, ANALYST, CREDIT SUISSE: Hi. This is Kyle Chen in for
Michael Nemeroff. Thanks for taking the question. I guess just a few
questions, if I may. Pat, you mentioned that the timing of the launch
of this program is early 2015. How should we think about the
potential timing and size of revenue contribution in 2015, and if
this has already been factored into 40% to 46% guidance for the year?
PAT ALLIN: That is financial. I am going to turn that over to
Jillian.
JILLIAM SHEEHAN: Kyle, At this time, we have not included EPP in our
2015 guidance. As I mentioned on the call, it is not only a new
solution for Textura, but also a new offering to the industry.
Really, we think that there is going to take a period of education
that is going to be required on both the C and the subcontractor side
as we rollout. So we just felt it was appropriate at this time to be
conservative on the expected revenue contribution in 2015 and not
include anything in the guidance.
KYLE CHEN: Got it, got it. And you had highlighted that one of the
potential benefits from the GP perspective is the, I guess the
opportunity to get higher quality and perhaps even lower bids from
subcontractors. And so I guess, could this potentially result in a
lower, call it, ticket or subcontracted value, given discount that a
subcontractor might be able to give in order procure the business and
to get paid faster in exchange for perhaps a larger pie, in this
example?
PAT ALLIN: So when a subcontractor is bidding on a project today, one
of the things I think they really have to consider as part of their
overall bid is what their cost to capital is, and whether they do
that in a really sophisticated way or not I am sure there is a range
of ways that it is done. But in an environment where you know payment
is going to be delayed just in the normal course, 35, 40, 45 days or
more, and the delay is uncertain, it is our belief that having some
certainty over the payment timeframe and getting paid earlier will
result in more aggressive bids on those kinds of projects by
subcontractors.
And that may result in more work for those GCs that are using the EPP
program, or it may result in better margins for a subcontractor
having some certainty around their cash flow allows them to
fundamentally to manage, run and strategize their businesses
differently. So if this program gains a lot of market share there, we
think it allows subcontractors to really restructure their businesses
in a way that is much more favorable, more positive, less risk of
default and fewer claims from a construction insurance point of view.
KYLE CHEN: Got it. Thanks. That is helpful. One last question. So you
mentioned that currently Turner is signed up as your first customer
in this. Just wondering from an OpEx perspective, how should we think
about the cost structure relative to the incremental perhaps
marketing expenses or overhead expenses relative to the hand-holding
that might be required for incremental GC (inaudible) subcontractors
related to this initiative?
JILLIAM SHEEHAN: As Pat mentioned, Kyle, on the call we will be
leveraging our CPM client service group in order to sell, implement
and provide ongoing support for EPP to general contractor and
subcontractor clients. We have our call center that is responsible
for supporting CPM subcontractors today, and they will also be tasked
with onboarding and supporting subcontractors interested in
participating EPP. So we will need to add some additional headcount
to these groups in order to support EPP, but over time we feel that
EPP will further enhance our CPM operating leverage. And at this
point, the majority of technology cost to develop the solution have
been incurred, they have been capitalized to develop (inaudible) our
software. And we anticipate that the ongoing technology costs to
support the solution will be reasonable.
KYLE CHEN: Thanks very much. See you guys tomorrow.
JILLIAM SHEEHAN: Thanks, Kyle.
OPERATOR: Pat Walravens, JMP.
PAT WALRAVENS, ANALYST, JMP SECURITIES: Great. Thank you, and
congratulations. Can I start with a very basic question, which is so
why are the payments to the subs typically delayed in the first
place? It is not a credit issue, right?
PAT ALLIN: Well, the -- so this whole process is time-consuming every
month. So on any project of size, the project team for the general
contractor has to collect 30, 40, 50 invoices. The invoices are
complicated. There is a lot of detail. They include legal documents,
lien waivers, et cetera, and one of their activities is to go out and
make sure that the work has actually been carried out, that the
quality is what it needs to be. And in that activity there could be
negotiations back and forth with the subcontractor.
So part of what we do with CPM is just make that a shorter timeframe
and more efficient. So once that is done, the general contractor then
goes through the process of doing their own invoicing. And then
consolidates all of the subcontractor invoice information, their own
invoice information, and prepares what is called the payment
application. That payment application is sent to an owner, who
typically goes through and checks all the math, checks all of the
legal documents, satisfies itself through its engineers and
architects that the work has actually been done, and then puts it in
for payment. A lot of organizations, once they've approved a payment,
don't pay for 30 days.
So this thing tiers up and it can take, in a manual world, 30 days
just to get from sub invoice to payment application to the owner. The
owner goes through their process. They then turn around and wait X
number of days, make the payment to the general contractor. The
general contractor then turns around, and in whatever timeframe they
deem appropriate, makes payment to the subcontractors. The
subcontractors turn around and make payment to the sub-tiers.
And it is just a process that typically can last 60, sometimes 90,
sometimes 120 days. So applying technology as we did with CPM has
shortened that process by several weeks, which has resulted in GCs
then subs being paid earlier. This is -- I don't believe there is
going to be a set of mechanics using technology to take all of that
timeframe out. So subs without something like an early payment
program are always going to be funding 30, 60, even 90 days of work
in process on a construction site because they have to pay the labor
as the labor is being done, they have to pay for the materials that
they're delivered, et cetera. They have no ability to hold off until
they are paid by the general contractor. Does that make sense?
PAT WALRAVENS: Yes, it does. Jillian, let me ask the revenue question
a different way. When do you think we should expect to see a
noticeable impact on revenue? 2015, 2016, 2017? It sounds like it's
not 2015.
JILLIAM SHEEHAN: Yes, so we -- as I said, Pat, we think that there is
going to be a ramp-up. Turner has indicated that they'll begin
rolling out the program starting in early 2015, and it will be
piggybacking the implementation of CPM that they will be doing. So
ramping up their projects on CPM, because that is a prerequisite for
implementing EPP. In the meantime, over the upcoming months we're
going to be meeting with our existing CPM clients and sales prospects
to explain the benefits and the mechanics. So we just have to see
what the adoption will be with our existing clients. You're right
that we are not expecting material in 2015, but as the year
progresses we will keep everyone updated on what we're expecting for
2016.
PAT WALRAVENS: Don't forget (multiple speakers)
JILLIAM SHEEHAN: Sorry, go ahead.
PAT ALLIN: If I could add something, Pat. Don't forget that fully
implemented existing CPM clients can have this program up and running
in four or five weeks. So it is hard for us to know sitting here
today -- and we have gone out and we've talked to some of our larger
clients, et cetera, and to say they are intrigued would be an
appropriate statement. But we just -- look, we know this is industry
that doesn't embrace change quickly. And so we are being cautious
until we are further down the road and see how some of our existing
CPM customers are going to react to this program and how quickly they
will want to implement.
PAT WALRAVENS: Great. A last question from me is, Patrick, previously
you had indicated that there was a material development that we were
not aware of that it was extending the blackout period for the
insiders. Is this what you are referring to, or is that still
something else?
PAT ALLIN: Yes, there were two components to it. One was the launch
of this product and the other the fact that Turner was going to be
the first client
PAT WALRAVENS: Okay, great. Thank you very much.
OPERATOR: Brian Schwartz, Oppenheimer.
BRIAN SCHWARTZ, ANALYST, OPPENHEIMER & CO.: Yes, hi. Thanks for
taking my questions, and congratulations on the new product
announcement here.
PAT ALLIN: Thanks, Brian.
BRIAN SCHWARTZ: Two questions I had, just follow-up. First on the
technology side, Pat. Just wondering, you mentioned in your
commentary that that has a global basis capability. I am just
wondering today as we start to roll out the project -- I'm sorry, the
product in 2015, is it ready to be sold into international markets?
Does it have the localization capabilities for those markets? Or is
it only applicable for North America today?
PAT ALLIN: Well, the -- I think the question really -- another way I
would interpret the question as being, is CPM ready for markets other
than Canada and the US? EPP fundamentally is not dependent on the --
which country you are in. So it is -- that's not a factor. So right
now CPM is being used in Australia, it is being used in Mexico,
Canada, the US, Ireland, and we hope to have clients up in the UK in
the first quarter next year. And it is -- the functionality does
exist. It does exist and work in those environments. Don't forget,
four or five years ago it was being used in the Middle East on some
very large projects by global contractors, and was being used very
effectively. So there is always some costs associated with being in a
new country around different payment regimes and maybe some different
documents, et cetera, different process flow. But those are not
substantial. To the extent that we can roll out CPM, EPP will be a
part of that. We think EPP may well have the impact of accelerating
our growth internationally.
BRIAN SCHWARTZ: Pat, if I could just add a follow-up. Thank you for
the color on that. Just a follow-up question. I guess what I'm
curious is, could EPP in the future, at some point in the future,
could it act as a front door for your platform? And I guess my
thought process is you have a customer here such as Turner who spent
18 months developing this product here, and you are heavily
integrating it right now in the corporation. But they have bigger
companies, Turner, they have parent companies internationally. And I
am just wondering if this product could in some way act as a front
door for the platform. Wonder your thoughts on that?
PAT ALLIN: The real expert on supply chain funding is Lex. Lex, why
don't you -- you have had a lot of experience with these kinds of
programs in construction and other industries. Do you have a
perspective on that?
LEX GREENSILL: Sure. I think the reality is that the delivery of
financing and making it more efficient is at the heart of the way
more than the supply chains work. And so what we have seen, as I made
in my comments earlier, is a pole effect where when I started setting
up supply chain finance programs about a decade ago, they were really
based in the United States and in the United Kingdom, and from there
they have grown out to every corner of the world. So whilst this has
not being done in the United States before in the construction
sector, every other sector that this technology has been able to
touch, it has gone global very quickly. And certainly as we think
about our partnership with Textura, we think of this as a global
partnership. And we think we will be taken global quickly, and
certainly there has been interest from general contractors outside of
the United States. And so I think it might actually have the pull
affect that you were mentioning.
BRIAN SCHWARTZ: Thank you for that color, Lex. Last question from me
for Jillian, just on the expense side. As we think about the new
product, the evangelizing, do you happen to have an idea today on how
much new spending you are anticipating in 2014 for headcount or any
other additional expenses? And then the follow-up question to that,
Jillian, is does this new product or the investments required in the
new product, does it any way change the long-term margin profile that
you and Pat have talked to the Street about ever since you have been
a public company? Thanks.
JILLIAM SHEEHAN: Yes. So as I mentioned earlier, we are going to be
leveraging our CPM client service group. So we will need to add some
incremental heads into that group, Brian, as we look at the sales
process and the roll-out for both general contractors and then in our
call center, we will need additional staff to support the onboarding
of and the education of the subcontractor. So there will be some
additional heads that are required. In terms of the long-term model,
we do think that EPP over time will further enhance our CPM operating
leverage, which as you know drives a large part of our long-term
model. So we believe we will have some benefit, but at this time
we're not making any changes to our long-term model.
BRIAN SCHWARTZ: Thank you. And congratulations again on the new
product announcement today.
PAT ALLIN: Thanks, Brian.
JILLIAM SHEEHAN: Thanks.
OPERATOR: Jeff Houston, Barrington Research.
JEFF HOUSTON, ANALYST, BARRINGTON RESEARCH: Hi. Thanks for taking my
questions. First one is for Pat. Pat, just wanted to confirm that
this relationship is not adding any financial -- financing risk to
Textura, and that is really on the other side of the partnership. And
just wanted to make sure the relationship is -- on Textura's part,
not really carrying any of that financial risk.
PAT ALLIN: No, we are not providing any of the funding here and we
are not doing the underwriting. And so we really don't have any
funding or financing risk associated with this program.
JEFF HOUSTON: Got it. Got it. And then separately I was hoping to ask
Lex a follow-up question. Could you talk a bit about what some of the
industries are that are using a similar program successfully? And it
would be interesting to hear, too, your perspective about with the
commercial construction industry, what are the dynamics of why this
type of product hasn't been introduced before, and I assume it has
something to do with the innovation that is involved with CPM. Any
color you could provide there would be pretty interesting.
LEX GREENSILL: Certainly very happy to, and I will try to be brief
and concise. The sectors that have used this before, if we look back
10 years, the first sector to use this in a big way was retail. The
reality is that delivering this kind of technology is about having a
supply chain that is, if I could use the word, quite electronified.
It needs to work in an electronic environment in order for us to be
able to get information in a timely fashion such that the early
payment can be offered. And that -- Pat spent a few minutes earlier
in the call talking about what that process is. And so retail has
always been at the front of the curve in terms of being highly
efficient.
From there we moved into manufacturing, which again is very process-
and technology-oriented. And from there we have gone into defense and
aerospace. And into -- from there into telecommunications, the big
[net-all] carriers, and from there into the big technology houses
(inaudible) I'm sort of talking both (inaudible) hardware and
software. So, that is essentially been a progression over the last
decade, but it has really followed the technology.
One of the things that I think Textura done in terms of
revolutionizing the marketplace is actually to bring to bear
technology to actually enable the pretty manual process around the
way that subcontractors invoice and are paid. And what has prevented
this from happening in the United States until now has been the fact
that as a financial institution, I wouldn't be able to be
comfortable, nor would a general contractor, or for that matter their
client, would not be comfortable kind of committing and delivering
payments or financing if the liens that the subcontractors hold had
not been managed and released, and we had confidence that that
worked. And so I guess through CPM, Textura cracked that nut. And
that is really the kernel of what enabled us to be able, together
with Textura and Turner, to actually deliver this into the
marketplace for the very first time. I hope that answers your
question.
JEFF HOUSTON: Yes. That's very -- thank you.
OPERATOR: Thank you. We have no further questions in queue at this
time. I would like to turn the floor back over to management for
closing remarks.
PAT ALLIN: Thank you. Well, thank you for attending this call and
your interest in Textura. Our vision for Textura is to create a
platform of integrated solutions which create significant value for
our clients. The platform can and will be used in conjunction with
third parties to solve some of the real issues in the construction
industry. This announcement is affirmation that we are achieving our
goal. Again, thank you very much for your interest.
OPERATOR: Thank you. This concludes today's teleconference. You may
disconnect at this time. And thank you for your participation.
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