Chicago pushes its gunshot detection pilot to January as SoundThinking's $8 tender expires Nov. 17

The two-week trial is now four companies in January

At a November 10 hearing on Chicago's 2027 budget, Chief Procurement Officer Sharla Roberts dropped the single-vendor gunshot detection trial her office had promised in a October 20 letter↗ would start within two weeks ²³. In its place comes a wider test of policing technologies by four unnamed companies, which the city calls no-cost, set to start by January 1, 2027, and run six months ²³. Six days earlier, more than 72 percent of Chicago voters had backed a nonbinding referendum telling City Hall to restart gunshot detection ¹. Alderman Samantha Nugent put it to Roberts plainly: "You seem to be obstructing" ³.

A lawyer's letter forced the field open

The rewrite followed pressure from the incumbent. SoundThinking's▲+0.24% — SoundThinking, up 0.24 percent today ShotSpotter contract was ended by Mayor Brandon Johnson in 2024, over inspector general and prosecutor findings that it did not make the city safer ¹. On October 27, company attorney Robert Markin wrote Roberts that every short-listed vendor for the long-term deal, ShotSpotter's maker included, had to be allowed into any pilot ³. Nine companies have bid for that contract ¹. Chief executive Ralph Clark says he remains "in the dark" about the test plan ³.

The $3 that needs $73.5 million of 2027 revenue

Transom Capital, a Los Angeles buyout firm, is offering $8.00 a share in cash for SoundThinking↗ plus a contingent value right worth up to $3.00 more: an enterprise value of $114 million, rising to $159 million at the maximum payout ⁶. The tender expires one minute after 11:59 p.m. on November 17↗ ⁷.

The first 50 cents of the CVR requires ShotSpotter and SafePointe revenue of at least $73.5 million in 2027 ⁶. The whole company needed nine months of 2026 to book $73.1 million, down from $79.3 million a year earlier, and its $8.5 million third-quarter loss included $5.1 million of deal costs↗, with guidance withdrawn ⁸.

The market pays 26 cents for the contingent $3

Shares closed at $8.26 on November 13, 26 cents above the cash on offer, which is all the market pays for a right with $3.00 of face value ⁸. Skeptics got there first: a October 4 Seeking Alpha note rated the stock a Sell at $8.44↗, arguing deployment capacity, not demand, caps the payout ¹⁰. The customer base is splitting both ways. Rockford cut a $300,000 renewal from its 2027 budget ⁴; Savannah approved $262,000, in a city where police say 74 percent of gunfire draws no 911 call ⁵.

Two dates decide the spread

No source puts a dollar value on Chicago's delay; holders have to do that arithmetic themselves. Transom expects to close in the fourth quarter of 2026 ⁶, while the pilot it was waiting on starts after that. If the pilot launches on time and runs its six months, any award lands in mid-2027 and most of its revenue in 2028, outside the CVR's measurement year ⁶. Watch November 17, when Transom must fill or extend its offer, and January 1, the city's newest promise ⁶.