Plexure eyes ASX to tap deeper pockets

Wednesday, 29 July 2020

Mobile app company Plexure Group may join a number of Kiwi companies turning to the ASX for capital.

Mobile marketing company Plexure Group is considering joining a growing tide of companies crossing the Tasman to list on the key Australian sharemarket, the ASX.

In a statement to the NZX, the company said it was looking at floating on the Australian Securities Exchange, which could involve moving its primary listing away from New Zealand.

This would mean it would become a ''foreign exempt'' listing on the NZX, allowing its shares to continue to be quoted here.

Plexure, which deals in mobile and location-based marketing and has offices in Tokyo and San Francisco, said it was considering the move to support its future growth. However, it would remain headquartered in Auckland.

Originating in New Zealand, Laybuy now has opeations in Australia and the UK and has begun raising capital in Australia.

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''As the company requires significant capital for its next phase of growth, investigations into a move to the ASX are based on capital availability and support for technology companies like Plexure.''

Many New Zealand companies are listed or have a foreign exempt listing on the ASX to tap bigger pools of capital, although their primary listing or headquarters may remain in New Zealand.

Ebos, Kathmandu and dairy company A2 are all dual listed; jewellery company Michael Hill, which shifted its headquarters to Brisbane, later made the ASX its primary exchange in 2016.

And accounting software darling Xero delisted from the NZX completely and shifted to the ASX in 2017.

Kiwi ''buy now, pay later'' company Laybuy has begun a $80 million IPO process in Australia and last month Auckland-based soft tissue regeneration company Aroa Biosurgery said it would launch a $45m float there.

Grant Williamson, of financial advisers Hamilton Hindin Greene, said Australia had more fund managers and he felt investors there tended to be prepared to take a greater risk on smaller firms.

‘’You normally find Australian investors will look at these types of companies and give them a more attractive valuation than New Zealand investors would.

‘’It’s a shame that a lot of these start up and early or emerging New Zealand companies are not looking to the NZX and going straight to Australia, but obviously you have to go where you think you can achieve the best value in an IPO or listing.’’

Williamson said Plexure had come a long way from being ‘’almost a penny dreadful’' in its early days to going from ‘’strength to strength’’.

Greater exposure in Australia would help Plexure capitalise on a healthy portfolio of high profile clients. The company counts McDonalds, 7-Eleven, and IKEA among its clients, and McDonalds bought a 9.9 per cent stake in the company in April last year.

In May Plexure reported a net profit of just over $1 million on revenues of $25.5m, driven by a record number of over 182 million users on its app.