OzForex opts for IPO

A share sale in OzForex may be completed by the end of the month.

By Brett Cole · 19 Sep 2013

By Brett Cole ·
19 Sep 2013

OzForex Group will conduct an initial public offering with Macquarie Group Ltd and Goldman Sachs Group Inc that values the company at $480 million dollars in enterprise value.

The IPO's prospectus for an ASX listing will be sent out next week. A share sale, which may value OzForex at 18 times or 19 times future earnings, may occur within the month.

"It's a good business," says one senior equity capital markets banker. "I wish we had won the deal."

Macquarie, Accel Partners and the Carlyle Group, who each about a 20 per cent stake in OzForex, will sell all their shares in the IPO.

The decision by the OzForex board to sell shares instead of selling itself to one of three final trade bidders came because the underwriters were able to provide Accel and Carlyle with a faster settlement time and were able to commit to a deal immediately. Accel and Carlyle were concerned about a quick closing of a deal because of the recently appreciating Australian dollar against the US currency.

OzForex did not disclose the identity of the three bidders for it. Previous bidders had valued the company at between $450 million and $500 million.

By charging 30 basis points for international money transfers, OzForex had taken business away from banks who typically have a 400 basis points margin on such transaction. The company completed US$9 billion in foreign exchange transactions and 450,000 fund transfers last year.