Harmoney to gauge investor views on potential IPO

Harmoney operates by linking individuals who want to borrow with individuals who want to invest.

Next week is set to prove an interesting test for initial public offering hopeful Harmoney when the company fronts investors to gauge their views of a potential listing.

The challenge for Harmoney is that its competitor is the recently listed Plenti, which staged a disappointing debut on the ASX.

In the coming days, it is expected to provide more details of its offer.

Working on the IPO is Jarden and Ord Minnett.

It was understood the group had planned to raise about $60m to boost scale and that its market value would be about $250m.

The Auckland-based company, which has offices in Sydney, started as a peer-to-peer lender but no longer services retail investors.

Founded by Neil Roberts, Harmoney operates by linking individuals who want to borrow with individuals who want to invest. It is now run by David Stevens.

It provides unsecured personal loans of up to $70,000 on a range of terms and interest rates.

Other shareholders include New Zealand-based business Icehouse, which has a 2 per cent stake, and Heartland Bank, which purchased a 10 per cent interest in 2014.

Trade Me, now owned by private equity firm Apax Partners, also took a 15 per cent stake the following year.

In the 2020 financial year, the company generated $80m of annual revenue and made a $7.2m profit in the previous financial year.

The company raised $42.9m last year in a pre-IPO raise and secured $20m of debt in October. It has loans worth $1.7bn.

Meanwhile, Uniti Group is expected to lob a rival proposal to buy Opticomm by 10am on Thursday. Uniti had three days to match an earlier offer by Aware Super, which expires on Thursday.

Aware Super, formerly First State Super, launched a $6.50-a-share bid for Opticomm on Monday, valuing the company at $645m and trumping a $5.85-a-share bid by Uniti.