Austock has boosted its exempt market business with Esanda to offer up to $5.4 billion of fixed interest through debentures and unsecured notes through an ini-tial listing.
Esanda general manager of funding and investments, Geoff MacFarlane, says the company chose the exempt market because an ASX listing was going to be too ex-pensive.
“The exempt market is working well for other stocks and we believe a deep and liquid secondary market assists our primary market,” he says.
Esanda has been sel
Austock has boosted its exempt market business with Esanda to offer up to $5.4 billion of fixed interest through debentures and unsecured notes through an ini-tial listing.
Esanda general manager of funding and investments, Geoff MacFarlane, says the company chose the exempt market because an ASX listing was going to be too ex-pensive.
“The exempt market is working well for other stocks and we believe a deep and liquid secondary market assists our primary market,” he says.
Esanda has been selling debenture and unsecured note fixed interest direct and now has 280,000 investors. The average investment is $28,000, with 70 per cent of investors being more than 55 years of age.
The financing market was worth $41.2 billion at September, 1998 and Esanda has 21 per cent market share which is worth $8.6 billion. Its nearest competitors are AGC with 17 per cent ($6.8 billion) and Commonwealth Bank Finance Company with 11 per cent ($4.3 billion). The other $21.4 billion is with numerous smaller financing companies.
MacFarlane hopes AGC and CBFC will also joint the exempt fixed interest market to boost the sector.
“We have talked to them about joining,” he says.
Austock managing director Martin Ryan says daily reporting for the Esanda fixed interest market will probably be based on yields and volumes of trade.
“We will be testing an Esanda market in the next few weeks to see how the market will work and we will also be printing the information packs on the investment opportunity during that period,” he says.
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