Strong demand from noteholders for MYOB IPO

MYOB has received strong demand from noteholders for its IPO, with many buying into the offer.

MYOB has received strong ­demand from noteholders for its initial public offering, with those sitting on about 60 per cent of the $150 million worth of hybrids in the accounting software firm said to be buying into the offer, according to preliminary estimates.

The offer for noteholders closed yesterday and sources say it appears that shareholders with at least $95m of the $150m worth of notes have committed to the offer.

The raising well exceeded MYOB’s assumptions in its prospectus, which predicted about half of the noteholders would ­subscribe to the offer.

MYOB’s notes are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and the holders have had the ­opportunity to either redeem at $101 each plus accrued interest or secure $100 worth of shares in the company’s IPO at a 2.5 per cent discount.

The Bain Capital-owned accounting software company is set for a $1.9 billion-plus float on the Australian Securities Exchange on May 4, with shares offered at between $3 and $4 each to raise between $831.7m and $833.8m.

Sources are tipping that MYOB’s shares will be priced at the top end of the range after overwhelming demand from both local and offshore institutional ­investors.

Last year, those holding about 40 per cent of the notes of the ­private hospital operator Healthscope poured money into its IPO.

Final pricing for the MYOB shares is set to be determined through its bookbuild next week.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi, Goldman Sachs and UBS are joint lead managers.