Spinoff Telus International hits stock exchange in largest tech IPO in TSX history

Photo: The Canadian Press

Telus Corp.'s digital consulting business, Telus International, is now a publicly traded company separate from the Telus telecom company.

The stock started trading today on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “TIXT," and the proceeds will make it the largest initial public offering of a technology company in the history of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The share price rose more than 30 per cent on its first morning of trading in Toronto,after Telus International priced the IPO at US$25 per share overnight following its roadshow with investors.

Telus International describes itself as a customer experience company, and has 600 clients, including Google, Uber, TikTok, PayPal and Zara.

The newly spunoff Telus International counts consulting firms, IT companies and traditional contact centres as competitors, but also works on high-tech projects such as moderating social media and building bots.

Telus Corp. still owns about 67 per cent of the voting power in Telus International now that it is public, but Telus International will gain about US$490 million from the IPO to repay debt.