ASX firm to raise $234m for NZX education IPO

The number of trades on the NZX climbed 36 per cent to 111,146 in April from a year earlier, Photo / Richard Robinson

ASX-listed Arowana International wants to raise as much as $234 million in the dual-listing of its Intueri Education Group, which will establish New Zealand's biggest private training establishment (PTE).

The Australian company plans to list an enlarged education group next month, selling shares at an indicative range of between $2.25 a share and $2.75, with the primary listing on the New Zealand stock exchange, it said in a statement to the ASX. Arowana would retain between 15 per cent and 25 per cent of Intueri, and needs shareholder approval for the transaction.

The offer will raise $62 million of new shares, with some $60 million will go toward paying for Intueri's acquisition of Quantum Education Group, which it bought in February, and Arowana intends to distribute some of the cash raised to its shareholders.

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"While investing to develop our domestic and international student course programmes remains the priority, once listed, Intueri will be well-positioned to pursue additional growth opportunities as the PTE sector in New Zealand consolidates and we look to realise the full potential of our online education business in Australia," Intueri chief executive Rob Facer said.

Inteuri is expected to be New Zealand's biggest private training establishment by domestic students, with 6,000 local enrolments and a further 1,000 international students each year, across 26 locations. It also owns half of Online Courses Australia.

Massey University chancellor and former Landcorp chief executive Chris Kelly will chair the company.

Intueri is forecast to post annual revenue of $76.9 million in calendar 2014, rising to $86.4 million the following year, with net profit of $16.8 million in 2014 and $19.8 million in 2015. The education provider is forecast to pay a dividend of 7.7 cents per share in 2014, rising to 12.9 cents in 2015.

Before its recent acquisitions, the company reported a profit of $491,000 in the nine months ended June 30, on sales of $14.3 million, according to its latest financial statements filed with the Companies Office. Of that, it reaped $9.6 million in tuition fees, and $3.1 million in Tertiary Education Commission and youth guarantee funding.

The offer will be made up of an institutional offer via a bookbuild and a broker firm offer through New Zealand brokers. UBS New Zealand and Macquarie Securities (NZ) are joint lead managers.

Arowana's stake in the newly listed group will be held in voluntary escrow until the first day after the release of Intueri's 2015 annual result.