Cuscal Limited, the end-to-end payments outfit owned by MasterCard, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and most of the big credit unions, is eyeing an ASX float which would value the business at up to $500 million.
Bank of America has been engaged as sole lead manager, sources said. The Wall Street giant has scheduled meetings for offshore fund managers as part of a non-deal roadshow this week. It’s understood Australian investors will get their chance the following week.
The company had revenues of $182 million in the last financial year, and has grown net profit at 12 per cent over the past 10 years on a compounded basis. Cuscal reported net profit after tax of $23.4 million for the year to June 30. In its accounts, the company said the underlying business “continued to perform above expectations”. “Our capital position remains strong, well above minimum capital ratios, and we have again retained our Standard & Poor’s A+ credit rating during the year,” the accounts read.
Mastercard is one of the major shareholders in Cuscal. Michel O’Sullivan
Prospective listed equities investors are expected to be told Cuscal brought Afterpay acquirer, Square, into Australia. It still provides the buy now, pay later group with its payments infrastructure, with other customers including Apple, Google and Samsung.
As part of the marketing pitch, potential shareholders are being told to think of Cuscal as an infrastructure play, with reliable revenues. It has recorded a profit every year for a decade. Cuscal has long-term contracts with their customers, with a marketplace of new entrants happy to outsource their payments infrastructure to focus on the end user.