Cuscal locks in funds for its $336.8m IPO, cornerstone commitments lifted

Cuscal provides the payments infrastructure to connect the vendor and the customer for transactions. Picture: iStock.

Payments company Cuscal has locked in demand for its $336.8m initial public offering.

In a book message to the market, it said the Cuscal book was covered at the $2.50 per share fixed price.

Its cornerstone commitments had increased to about $170m, representing about 51 per cent of the offering.

The book is scheduled to close on November 21, but advisers reserved their rights to close the book early.

It comes after investors were told on Monday that about $128m was pre-allocated to domestic investors.

Cuscal is raising $336.8m for a listing on November 25 and will have a $479m market value.

The appeal to investors has been that the price is seen as cheap at 13 times its net profit, when the overall market is trading at 19 times.

Cuscal, chaired by Elizabeth Proust, recently lodged its IPO prospectus and launched its management roadshow.

The debt-free Cuscal, which provides payment services to banks, is being pitched as a group with a strong track record of earnings growth and something of an annuity-style investment.

The business provides security, data analysis and payment infrastructure services, offering business-to-business services for institutional clients such as corporates, banks, credit unions, fintech companies and superannuation funds.

These include credit cards, mobile banking and payments apps, BPAY, ATM services, data management and fraud services.

Beyond the major banks it is the largest centralised provider of payments infrastructure in the local payments industry.

Its owners include Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, MasterCard and other mutual banks.

Bell Potter, Ord Minnett and MST Financial are working as advisers on the transaction with Bank of America.