Online recruitment company ApplyDirect is seeking to raise as much as $3.5 million via a two-tranche placement.

Bell Potter Securities is managing the deal, with the shares offered at 9¢ apiece, according to terms sent to fund managers on Friday..

Investors were offered one free option for every two shares purchased. The options were exercisable at 9¢ a share with a 24-month expiry date.

ApplyDirect is an online business seeking to link employers directly with job candidates and cutting recruitment intermediaries from the process. 

The company plans to target "aggressive revenue growth, and expand its sales focus into the retail sector" in the 2018 financial year, the term sheet says..

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The biggest telco float since Telstra has been pitched as a cash machine, promising top line growth, stable earnings margins and chunky dividends for investors. 

That's the wash up from Vodafone New Zealand's global roadshow, which included the company's first pitch to Australian fund managers ahead of a $4 billion-odd sharemarket listing slated for early next year. 

It sounds like the roadshow stirred up a reasonable amount of local interest. It's the first time in two decades fundies have been shown a big incumbent telecommunications provider, and the industry structure across the Tasman is similar to Australia. 

Vodafone NZ boss Russell Stanners and finance director John Tombleson told fundies the company was the biggest in the NZ mobile market with more than 42 per cent share, and the No.2 player in fixed line with 30 per cent. 

The NZ company reported $NZ2 billion ($1.8 billion) revenue and $NZ462 million EBITDA in the 2017 financial year, according to a presentation given to potential investors. 

ASX-listed Spark NZ is the obvious comp. Spark shares are trading at 8.7-times historical earnings according to S&P Capital IQ, which would suggest about a $NZ4.02 billion enterprise value for Vodafone NZ.Telstra, for comparison, is trading at about 6.5-times. 

The question is how much Vodafone Group wants to sell and how heavily geared the dual-listed company will be. Vodafone Group and its bankers - Deutsche Craigs/Deutsche Bank, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and UBS - will be working on potential capital structures in coming months. 

While it's early days, it's understood fundies were told to think about a $NZ2 billion-odd IPO, which is big enough to ensure it falls on to the radar of Australian and offshore funds, as well as Kiwi institutional and retail investors. 

The other question is about capital expenditure. Fundies were told about the ample spectrum available for mass mobile use across the Tasman, which should help reduce the capex requirements. However, 5G is the next step up and will require investment in coming years. 

Boutique research house Field Research told clients earlier this week that the capex profile would go a long way in determining Vodafone NZ's value on the listed market. The firm reckons the float will generate "good" fund manager interest given its size and leverage to the 5G rollout. 

Fundies expect to see Vodafone NZ back on the road early next year, soon after the February reporting season. Vodafone Group has told its own shareholders it wants to have the float done in 2018. 

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Macquarie Atlas Roads is one step closer to moving out of home after long-time parent Macquarie Group took what's likely to be its second last cheque from its ageing tenant. 

Macquarie sold its final 11.5 per cent stake in Macquarie Atlas in an after market block trade on Thursday, as Street Talk revealed, for about $460 million. 

The trade removed a potential obstacle for both parties, as they prepare for internalisation talks. 

Macquarie manages Macquarie Atlas and has done since its inception. However, Macquarie Atlas under the watch of chairman Nora Scheinkestel and adviser Adara Partners, is preparing to cut ties with the Australian funds group and investment bank and install its own management team.

The pending internalisation - which was announced November 20 - is said to be at the stage where Macquarie Atlas is still preparing for talks with Macquarie.

Macquarie is waiting to get involved, because historically internalisations have not come cheap and the Nicholas Moore-led company would no doubt like a decent payout for handing over the keys. 

So Macquarie swiftly hit the sell button on Thursday night before it became constrained by internalisaiton talks and potentially compromised by inside information. 

Macquarie's equities desk ran a bookbuild and had narrowed the price range for the Macquarie Atlas selldown to between $6 and $6.10 at the time of publication.

Analysts reckon Macquarie's next cheque - for internalisation - could be worth up to 6.5-times the annual management fee, or about $200 million. 

Whatever the case, Macquarie is a renowned seller and appeared to time its exit neatly on Thursday. The move may also clear the air for the commencement of a flagged $1 billion Macquarie share buyback. 

The group sold only hours after institutions had scrambled for a $70 million parcel of Transurban Group shares, left over from the company's $1.9 billion rights issue. 

While the auctions were on different scales, Transurban showed once again that fundies are ready to play in deals. 

Meanwhile, fast money funds will mark December 14 in their diary for next year.

Macquarie's equities desk's blast of Macquarie Atlas selldown terms was exactly one year after their rivals Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley were doing the same thing for Santos. 

The now in-play oil company surprised just about everyone with a $1.5 billion institutional placement  on December 14 last year, in what marked the end of ECM deals for 2016. 

In a normal year, Macquarie Atlas' trade would signal a similar fate. However, with blocks and secondary raisings flying around like confetti in this week, equities desks will be pitching for a few days yet. 

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It's pinstripes on aeroplanes as Australia's private equity types re-focus on another local happy hunting ground; New Zealand. 

This time the target is privately-owned Kiwi company Stevenson Construction Materials which, as the name suggests, specialises in building materials and concrete for residential, infrastructure and commercial developments. 

Street Talk understands PwC's New Zealand office has been hired to explore strategic options for the business, which could include a sale.

Initial sale documents suggest the company could be worth as much as $NZ300 million depending on the buyer's capital expenditure expectations. 

Mid-market Australian private equity firms have been targeted as part of the auction. New Zealand is a favourite investment destination for a handful of local firms, who have made plenty of money investing across the Tasman in the past two decades. 

The winning bidder is likely to be the one that takes the most aggressive view of the NZ economy under new prime minister Jacinda Ardern, and particularly infrastructure investment and housing construction. 

Sources said a "teaser" document had already been circulated to potential acquirers in Australia and New Zealand, while the sale will formally get underway once the information memorandum is distributed after Christmas. 

Tyrekickers were told Stevenson Construction Materials was expected to report about $NZ100 million revenue in the 2017-18 financial year, and was forecast to generate close to $NZ30 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. 

As always, prospective buyers are already thinking about likely capital expenditure required at Stevenson, which in-turn would impact its ability to service debt under a leveraged buyout scenario.

Valuing the company looms a trade off between Stevenson's capex requirements and upside from the expected acceleration in building activity.

Importantly, Street Talk understands Stevenson Construction Materials' mining business is not part of the sale. Stevenson Resources owns and operates two quarries located at Drury and Huntly on the country's north island. 


 

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Macquarie Group has raised $457 million from the sale of its 11.5 per cent stake in Macquarie Atlas Roads Group. 

It's understood the bank's equities desk priced the bookbuild at $6 on Thursday night. 

Macquarie Atlas shares closed at $6.36 on Thursday. 

It comes after the price had been narrowed to $6 to $6.10, according to sources. 

The bank's equities capital markets desk launched the block trade after market. 

Macquarie was initially calling for bids for the 76 million shares from $5.80 a share and up to a maximum of $6.10 a share.  

Bidding levels were set at $5.80, $5.90, $6 and $6.10 a share, according to terms sent to fund managers. 

The stock last closed at $6.36 and has rallied 27 per cent this year.

Macquarie Group's decision to sell comes as the company is set to lose rights to manage the tollroad company. 

 

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