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- Afterpay (APT) has gone into a trading halt ahead of $650 million institutional placement, which will be followed by a share purchase plan aiming to raise $150 million
- The buy now, pay later company is aiming to raise the money to accelerate its investment in growing underlying sales and for global expansion
- Since the pandemic, the company has seen massive growth in online shopping
- It achieved $11.1 billion in underlying sales for the 2020 financial year and is well-positioned to reach its target of $20 billion by 2022 financial year
- Additionally, co-founders Anthony Eisen and Nicholas Molnar have agreed to sell over two million shares, which represents 10 per cent of their shareholding
- Company shares last traded on July 6 for $68 per share
Afterpay (APT) has gone into a trading halt ahead of a $650 million institutional placement.
The buy now, pay later company is aiming to raise the money to accelerate its investment in growing underlying sales and for global expansion.
Since COVID-19, Aterpay has seen massive growth as more people buy online. It achieved $11.1 billion in underlying sales for the 2020 financial year and is well-positioned to reach its target of $20 billion by 2022 financial year.
Under the institutional placement, Afterpay will issue shares for $61.75 each, which is a 9.2 per cent discount to the closing price on July 6.
The placement will be followed by a non-underwritten share purchase plan aiming to raise approximately $150 million.
Additionally, co-founders Anthony Eisen and Nicholas Molnar have agreed to sell over two million shares, which represents 10 per cent of their respective shareholdings. Even after the sell-down, Anthony and Nicholas are still expected to be Afterpay’s largest shareholders.
Global Expansion
In the first quarter of the 2021 financial year, the company expects to expand into Canada. It is also expected to launch its U.S. payments platform for in-store in-store shopping with its merchant launch partners.
“With over five million active customers already on the Afterpay platform in the U.S., we expect our in-store offering to be well received by customers who are accustomed to using Afterpay online,” the company said.
Customers and Merchants
Global active customers on the APT platform have increased to 9.9 million, which exceeded the company’s target of 9.5 million by the end of the 2020 financial year. Afterpay added roughly 20,500 new customers to its platform every day in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Significantly, the company saw a 219 per cent increase on U.S. customer growth compared to the previous corresponding period.
eBay Australia
Afterpay and eBay teamed up in 2020. Hundreds of new customers have joined Afterpay through eBay every day, and the data show the majority are male and older than Afterpay’s average customer.
CEO Anthony Eisen said today’s announcement has come from a lot of hard work and commitment by the team.
“Given the ongoing impacts from COVID-19 and the uncertain global economic conditions, we have continued to focus on preserving capital and maintaining a strong balance sheet,” he said.
“By raising capital today, we believe we will be in the strongest position possible to execute on our strategic initiatives and growth aspirations,” Anthony added.
Company shares last traded on July 6 for $68 per share.
