The Openpay Group Ltd (ASX: OPY) share price has had a disappointing start to life on the ASX boards.
In afternoon trade the buy now pay later provider's shares are changing hands at $1.35. This is 15.5% lower than its listing price of $1.60.
What is Openpay?
Openpay is the latest buy now pay later provider to list on the Australian share market.
It joins the likes of Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT), Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL), Splitit Ltd (ASX: SPT), and Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) on the local bourse.
The company provides a platform that allows customers to manage their cash flow by splitting payments for their in-store and online purchases over time and free of interest from a growing and diverse range of merchants.
Merchants using its platform include Bonds, Bra N Things, Smiggle, Just Jeans, and Godfreys.
Active Merchants have grown 74.8% year on year as of November 30 to 1,834. Whereas active customers have increased 84.9% over the same period to 178,390.
Why did Openpay launch an IPO?
Openpay listed on the ASX at noon after successfully raising $50 million via its IPO. This followed strong support by institutional and retail investors and gave it a market capitalisation of $150 million at listing.
The company intends to use the funds for further growth opportunities. This includes expanding into other verticals and geographically to take advantage of the early adoption in the UK and Europe markets.
Openpay's CEO and managing director, Michael Eidel, was pleased with its successful IPO.
He said: "We are absolutely delighted to see Openpay complete its ASX debut today. The strong support from investors is testament to the strength of the opportunity we see ahead of us. We thank all those long term and new shareholders who have invested in our business."
"With our 'buy now, pay smarter' approach, we've seen strong growth in Australia and have recently launched very successfully in the UK as a first step in our international expansion. Listing on the ASX reinforces our commitment to strong regulation and governance and provides a great opportunity for investors to participate in what we see as a fast-growing, globally relevant Australian company," he added.
