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Bridget Carter

Jarden hired for Vinomofo Initial Public Offering mandate

Bridget Carter
Vinomofo CEO Justin Dry. Source: Supplied.
Vinomofo CEO Justin Dry. Source: Supplied.

Australian wine e-retailer Vinomofo is understood to have hired Jarden Australia for its efforts to launch an initial public offering, while sources say Bell Potter is also in the frame to land a mandate to court retail investors.

Earlier, investment bank Macquarie Capital was believed to be on the ticket.

However, the understanding is that after initially working with the group, Macquarie is no longer on the ticket, as first flagged by DataRoom online on Wednesday.

It is understood that Macquarie passed up the opportunity to take the company to market, opting to focus on its larger and more lucrative mandates.

It is apparently a similar situation with AirTasker, which had initially been working with Macquarie for its initial public offering – revealed by DataRoom last year – before switching to broker Morgans.

AirTasker, which is an online marketplace platform backed by the Kerry Stokes-chaired Seven West Media, firmed up plans at the start of the month to raise $83.7m at 65c per share, taking the company’s market value to $255.1m.

This was equivalent to 9.3 times its forecasted revenue to enterprise value for the 2021 financial year and 10 times gross profit.

Shares will start trading on a normal settlement basis on March 22.

Macquarie, which reaped a windfall last year through the $1.8bn listing of its part-owned forensic software company Nuix that is now worth $3bn, had earlier been working with non-bank lender Pepper Money on an anticipated IPO this year.

However, owner Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has opted to reward lenders to the company, say sources, hiring Goldman Sachs, RBC Capital Markets and Credit Suisse, which sources say at least one of which have had a refinancing involvement with the group.

Vinomofo, meanwhile, is believed to have a value of at least $300m, but it is understood to be keeping the raise for its IPO to a minimum, with owners hoping to retain skin in the game.

The platform now has about 70,000 customers, most of whom are repeat buyers and it is understood that the company is booming amid the global pandemic.

New customer numbers have averaged growth of more than 100 per cent year-on-year from March through to the end of September, while revenue over the same period has averaged over 50 per cent growth year-on-year, with consumers opting for more expensive wine brands.

It comes as investment bank UBS courts Australian buyers and those across the Tasman for the New Zealand wine business Villa Maria, thought to be worth more than $200m.

Bridget Carter
Bridget CarterDataRoom Editor

Bridget Carter has worked as a writer and editor for The Australian’s DataRoom column since it was launched in 2013, focusing on capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and investment banking. She has been a journalist for more than 18 years, covering a broad range of events and topics, including high profile court cases and crimes, natural disasters, social issues and company news.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/dataroom/bell-potter-in-frame-for-vinomofo-initial-public-offering-mandate/news-story/7c069cc885ee72570222b93f4cd39d15