MELBOURNE, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leading Asian e-Commerce Company iBuy Group Limited has today announced it has successfully raised A$37 million in an oversubscribed Initial Public Offer (IPO) through the issue of 115,625,000 shares at A$0.32 per share to institutional and professional investors. iBuy will list on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on Friday 20th December.
iBuy will own e-Commerce websites that specialise in Flash Sales, a type of e-Commerce transaction that involves the sale of goods and services to the public at discounted prices for a limited period of time. The websites are based in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.
The company has entered into Purchase Agreements with BeeCrazy.hk, which operates in Hong Kong; Deal.com.sg, which operates in Singapore; Mydeal.com.my, which operates in Malaysia; and Dealmates.com, which operates in Malaysia. The purchase agreements total US$65 million, comprising US$29 million cash and US$36 million scrip at A$0.32 per share, equating to approximately 120,370,370 shares, and will each complete on, or around, the date of listing.
iBuy’s Chief Executive Officer Patrick Linden said the strong demand by institutions and professional investors represents validation of iBuy’s strategy which has seen them capture large market share in the world's fastest growing e-Commerce region.
“iBuy has strong market positions in each of its core markets, and operates in an industry that is forecast to experience excellent growth. We have been very pleased with the response to our Offer and have a strong register of institutional investors. We are very excited about our prospects and will be steadfast in our vision of building an incredible e-Commerce business in the high growth Asian market.”
Canaccord Genuity was the lead manager and underwriter to the Offer, with Morgans acting as co-manager. Catcha Group is the founding Shareholder of iBuy and has previously had success with the founding and listing of iProperty Group Ltd (ASX:IPP) and iCar Asia Ltd (ASX:ICQ). Catcha Group will own approximately 25.1% of iBuy on listing. Catcha’s two founders, shareholders and directors, Patrick Grove and Lucas Elliott, are non-executive directors of iBuy.
Rebate Networks GmBH, a leading global investor in emerging e-Commerce businesses, will be the company’s second largest shareholder.
iBuy market opportunity
iBuy has strong market positions in each of its core markets with a large buyer database of more than three million people. As of August 2013:
- BeeCrazy.hk had over 1,000,000 subscribers and 750,000 unique visitors per month;
- Deal.com.sg had over 720,000 subscribers and 925,000 unique visitors per month;
- Mydeal.com.my had over 1,000,000 subscribers and 2,480,000 unique visitors per month; and
- Dealmates.com had over 400,000 subscribers and 285,000 unique visitors per month.
“In the nine months to September 2013, the websites had collectively generated more than 1.23 million sales transactions, demonstrating a strong willingness for people to purchase the products being sold through iBuy’s websites,” Mr Linden said.
The business to consumer e-Commerce market has been estimated by Frost and Sullivan to have grown almost 33% in the 2012 calendar year. The Asia pacific region is expected to be the fastest growing region for consumer e-Commerce sales over the period 2011 to 2016, with an estimated compound annual growth rate of 24%.
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