One of Australia’s biggest non bank lenders, Latitude Financial has arrived on the ASX with an initial public offering price of $2.60 per share. Shares immediately jumped to $2.80 within minutes of listing.
The IPO values the group, which operates predominantly in the personal loans, car finance and credit card space, at $2.6 billion.
The stock market listing will, according to CEO Ahmed Fahour, see Latitude move towards disrupting the Big Four banks by offering them partnership arrangements that would see Latitude’s more flexible consumer lending offered to the major institutions.
Latitude already offer a similar service in New Zealand, where they have paired up with Kiwibank, owned by New Zealand Post, to provide lending in the car finance and personal loan space.
Latitude has established itself as a market leader in ‘buy now, pay later’ interest-free lending, which will surely form a significant part of their offer to the Big Four banks.
