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Bridget Carter

Liberty locks in IPO support

Bridget Carter
Liberty Financial executive director Sherman Ma.
Liberty Financial executive director Sherman Ma.

The $1.8bn non-bank lender Liberty Financial has locked in enough support for its initial public offering as its book­ build is held on Wednesday.

Liberty has secured enough demand to raise at least $321m at $6 per share, equating to 11 times its net profit.

It will list on December 17.

The company was earlier expected to achieve enough demand to cement its float plans, as tipped by DataRoom earlier in the week.

Working on the listing is Credit Suisse, along with retail brokers Evans and Partners and Shaw and Partners.

Market analysts expected much of the stock to be taken up by retail investors, although it is thought that a handful of institutional investors agreed to take small cornerstone stakes in the company, with a 20 per cent interest in the business on offer.

The founder group, excluding Sherman Ma, will sell a 17.6 per cent to 20 per cent interest in their holdings, as Liberty prepares to lodge its prospectus on November 26 with the company to list on December 17.

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/liberty-locks-in-ipo-support/news-story/66af295b5ba78adb0824f1b21dc69bc1