From the dinner table to the stock exchange: Kiwi buy-now-pay-later company Laybuy lists on the ASX

Friday, 4 September 2020

Kiwi buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) company Laybuy will become listed as a public company on the Australian Stock Exchange on Monday.

Laybuy managing director Gary Rohloff said he chose the ASX instead of the New Zealand stock exchange because the Australian market had the most sophisticated buy-now-pay-later market in the world.

“It just made sense to align to the market that understands our industry sector the best,” Rohloff said.

After suffering a huge blow in mid-March when spending slowed because of Covid-19, Australian buy now pay later (BNPL) company Afterpay’s share price has recovered from A$8.90 (NZ$9.66) to more than A$75 a share.

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Laybuy managing director Gary Rohloff says the ASX has the most sophisticated buy-now-pay-later market in the world.

The ASX had about half a dozen BNPL companies listed, including Laybuy.

Rohloff said while there were no immediate plans, listing on the NZX market could be considered in the long term.

Rohloff said the BNPL market had done better than expected during Covid-19.

“A lot of people thought the buy-now-pay-later market would suffer from people defaulting on their payments but that certainly hasn’t happened to us.

“We ensure we credit check every single consumer and only extend credit limits that’s commensurate with their ability to pay. We’re very cautious about not accepting everyone on that platform.”

He said of its three markets, the UK was by far its largest.

Sales in the UK last week compared to the same time last year were up 1000 per cent, Rohloff said.

“We’ve been a family-owned business up until Monday. We started this thing three-and-a-half years ago at our dining table in Auckland. Today we’re operating in three countries. The ASX listing marks one heck of a milestone.”

Alex Rohloff, operations executive of retail company Laybuy (left) with his father and Laybuy founder Gary Rohloff.

Laybuy’s initial public offering (IPO) raised A$80 million (NZ$86m) through a A$40m primary issuance and a $A40m sell-down by existing shareholders.

Approximately 57 million shares were sold at a share price of A$1.41.

At completion of the IPO, Laybuy would have 174.5 million shares on issue, valuing the company at about A$246m.

Rohloff said capital raised through its IPO gave Laybuy the funding to increase its presence in the United Kingdom.

“The UK has a retail market that is more than two times larger than the Australian market. It is also a market where there is a comparatively high proportion of retail shopping done online and where BNPL is still in its infancy, providing enormous growth opportunities for Laybuy,” Rohloff said.

Rohloff said the company also wanted to grow its platform in New Zealand and had recently secured a partnership with Mastercard.

Laybuy is a payment platform that allows customers to buy goods and pay them off weekly with six equal payments. While it did not charge interest, the company made money by charging merchants a fee for using the service, and from late payment fees.

Rohloff said Laybuy took its consumer responsibilities “extremely seriously” offering strict transaction limits to ensure customers could afford their purchase.