A lender has launched an initial public offering with hopes to list on the ASX in less than one month.
Prospa, an online lender to small business, has announced an offer of new shares priced at $3.78 and the goal of raising $110m for a $610m market capitilsation.
The funds will be allocated towards backing the equity portion of the loan book, investing in new products and geographies, and repaying corporate debt.
The offer has been made available to institutional investors and certain retail clients in Australia and New Zealand, as well as Prospa employees. There will not be a general public offer of shares.
The deal is fully underwritten by joint lead managers Macquarie Capital and UBS.
This development follows last year’s first attempt at listing when Prospa managed to raise $146.5m for a $576.3m market capitalisation, before revoking the IPO and returning funds to investors.
The company was due to commence trading on 6 June 2018 but held back after ASIC requested information on some of its loans as part of an ongoing investigation. A statement released at the time read "Prospa is satisfied that the issues discussed with ASIC are not material to the IPO and no additional disclosure is required in the prospectus.
“ASIC has not raised further queries on the prospectus,” it continued.
The following month, Prospa was one of six fintech lenders to sign the Code of Lending Practice.
Commenting on this year’s potential IPO, chairman Gail Pemberton AO said, “From the outset, Prospa recognised people would power its success and they have invested in building the right team and culture for the company to succeed.”
Several long-term investors are to appear on the share register including current shareholder AustralianSuper, and venture capital investor Entrée Capital.
Entrée Capital, Greg Moshal and Beau Bertoli will be subject to escrow until the company’s financial results for the year ended on 30 June 2020 have been released to the ASX.
Avi Eyal, managing partner at Entrée Capital and non-executive director of Prospa said, “We are honoured to have been part of this incredible Australian growth story from the day Prospa was founded. After seven years, Prospa has only just started, and Entrée Capital is proud to be a part of that journey.”
Prospa co-CEO Greg Moshal added, “Prospa’s success has been the result of a group of smart, talented and passionate people united around a common mission to keep small business moving.
“We’ll continue to invest heavily in our people and award- winning culture,” he concluded.
