Australian marketplace lending platform DirectMoney announced on Tuesday it secured a strategic investment from alternative investment manager Alceon to fund growth and innovation initiatives.
According to DirectMoney, the investment will be structured through an initial placement of $600,000 at $0.042 per share (being 14,285,715 new shares), a 56% premium to the price at close of trading on February 9th and equivalent to a 3.1% shareholding. Alceon will notably be granted an equal number of call options that will enable it to increase its investment in DirectMoney by approximately $1.14 million at $0.08 per share, a 196% premium to the price at close of trading on February 9th. While sharing more details about the investment, Anthony Nantes, CEO of DirectMoney, stated:
“The investment will be used to fund a range of innovation initiatives to grow the company’s personal loan business. This is also consistent with the company recently announcing a proposed name change to Wisr Limited (ASX: WZR), awaiting approval at the upcoming EGM. As a strategic investor with deep knowledge of the sector, this investment both validates and endorses the company’s achievements to date along with our strategic vision, which sees us fast becoming the wiser choice in personal loans for all Australians. As we enter a period of strong growth, having support and guidance from a strategic like Alceon will be invaluable for the company.”
Daniel Chersky, Executive Director of Alceon, added:
“Alceon is pleased to be partnering with DirectMoney. We believe they have the team and technology platform to be a major participant in Australia’s large and fast-evolving consumer finance sector and look forward to using Alceon’s experience in credit and fintech investing to add value to the company as it embarks on its next phase of growth.”
