Street Talk

What, me worry? Labor’s debit card surcharge ban and the $500m IPO

Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

Oct 18, 2024 – 5.00am

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Initial public offerings are hard enough to get away at the best of times – let alone during a dead market. But spare a thought for second-time-lucky ASX aspirant Cuscal which is in the midst of sector-wide upheaval as the Albanese government hones in on debit card surcharges, adding an unwanted layer of regulatory overhang to its campaign.

This is the second time Cuscal, which is owned by Mastercard, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and most of the big credit unions, has gone to public market investors. It kicked the can down the road a year ago after investors failed to meet its valuation expectations.

Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones.

Kanika Sood is a journalist based in Sydney who writes for the Street Talk column.

Emma Rapaport is a co-editor of the Street Talk column. Prior to that, she was a markets reporter at The Australian Financial Review.