Pepper Money, one of the biggest non bank lenders in Australia, has moved a step closer to their IPO, launching a float that seeks to raise $450m at $2.89 per share. The non bank lender would be valued at $1.3 billion by such a move.
If it were to happen, it would represent the biggest Australian IPO of 2021 so far. The deal is backed by Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and RBC Capital Markets.
Pepper were previously listed on the ASX. Their IPO in 2015 saw them valued at $470m, which grew to $600m within a day of trading. It was removed from the stock market in 2017 after US-based investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) bought it outright.
Plans were released at the beginning of last year to return Pepper to the market with a $1 billion valuation, but they were put on hold by fluctuations in market conditions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As confidence returns and the home loan sector, which provides a substantial part of Pepper’s assets, remains booming, the time seems right for KKR to bring them back to market.
