Peppermint sets sights on valuable remittance business for swift acquisition
Fintech company and aspirational banking disruptor Peppermint Innovation (ASX: PIL) has signed an exclusive option to acquire international remittance business AusRemit Pty Ltd, currently trading as RemitWisely.
The “particularly attractive” acquisition price in comparison to similar transactions elsewhere in the fintech sector was cited as a key reason for Peppermint to proceed with the deal at the current time.
RemitWisely is currently progressing an “aggressive growth strategy” to add new remittance “corridors” as part of its remittances service offering to more than 200 countries globally.
Peppermint has obtained exclusive rights to acquire the entirety of AusRemit for a purchase price comprising of shares and cash, on a 50/50 split.
The final purchase price will be calculated on a multiple of three times AusRemit’s earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), or an agreed minimum of AUD$560,000 (based on costs to build the business to date), whichever is the greater.
Looking forward to completion
Peppermint confirmed that the expected completion date of the deal is likely to be in May and has reserved the right to cancel subject to ongoing “due diligence enquiries”. However, both parties have left all options open and can adjust the terms of the deal in the interim.
According to Peppermint, the acquisition of AusRemit is likely to serve as a “launch pad” for its international remittance business, that’s already building up steam in the Philippines.
Peppermint’s MD and CEO Chris Kain thinks that the reason RemitWisely has encountered a glass ceiling of sorts is that “it didn’t have access to the resources required to grow.”
Peppermint intends to change this by injecting substantial resources into the business to help it discover its full potential and “grow rapidly” from here on in, spurred on by the expanding size of the global remittance market in all regions globally.
“We hope to double the value of remittances across RemitWisely’s platform in the next 12 months,” said Mr Kain.
In 2016, people living abroad sent an estimated US$574 billion back to their home countries, while during the same year US$16.184 billion in remittances was sent from Australia to other countries around the world.
Mr Kain added that: “These figures are predicted to increase substantially with the World Bank forecasting global remittances will top US$616 billion in 2018 and increase to approximately US$640 billion in 2019.”
“We will continue to assess other potential opportunities to further build on our international remittance business from Australia, as we strive to deliver to deliver on our stated objective to generate and build multiple revenue streams for Peppermint,” Mr Kain said.
The news helped Peppermint shares to gain around 20% in this morning’s trading session to $0.02 a share.