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- Investment forum Hot Copper (ASX:HOT) has announced the $22.3 million purchase of Canadian doppelgänger company Stockhouse
- The purchase gives HotCopper a foot in the door to the North American market through the Toronto Stock Exchange, which is the largest stock market in the world by listings
- HotCopper management said it expects roughly 100 million monthly page views to be generated as a result of the purchase through an expanded reach of 6000 listed companies and 2 million investors
- HotCopper shares came out of a trading halt today, and have remained steady at 17 cents apiece
HotCopper will soon be crossing the ocean with a A$22.3 million purchase of Canadian finance news platform Stockhouse.
The purchase was announced to the market on Wednesday evening, and HotCopper intends to fund the purchase through a mixture of cash and scrip worth C$20 million.
The purchase gives HotCopper a foot in the door of the Canadian stock market, and the combined businesses will have an increased reach and customer scale.
HotCopper Managing Director Jag Sanger said this purchase is a key step in advancing the company’s growth strategy.
“With this acquisition, we will have the leading media position on two of the world’s largest stock exchanges,” Jag said.
“It’s a key step in delivering on our vision of a global financial news and investor relations platform for self directed wealth,” he said.
With roughly 3900 listed companies, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) is the largest stock market in the world by listings. For comparison, the ASX comes in fourth at roughly 2200 listed companies.
This means through this purchase, HotCopper has an available market of 6000 companies. Taking into consideration Stockhouse’s one million monthly visitors, HotCopper said it expects approximately 100 million page views per month for the combined business.
On top of this, the company highlighted an expected reach of roughly 2 million investors and 400 listed clients once the purchase is complete.
To help fund the purchase, HotCopper is planning to raise roughly A$6.95 million through an entitlement offer.
As part of the offer, eligible shareholders will have the opportunity to subscribe to one new HotCopper share for every two shares held at a price of 13 cents per share. This price represents a 27 per cent discount on the company’s last closing price before going into a trading halt on Friday, September 20.
The entitlement offer is underwritten to A$3.6 million by CPS Capital Group.
HotCopper said in an announcement to the ASX that this purchase is just the start of its global expansion plans, and Stockhouse provides an entry point for the company to wedge its way the North American market.
HotCopper shares reopened on the market today, and have remained steady following the announcement. Just before market close, shares in the company were trading for 17 cents each in a $18.19 million market cap.
