Freelancer.com makes strong debut on stock market

Photo credit; Andreas Poike on Flickr

Photo credit; Andreas Poike on Flickr

Australian online freelancing website Freelancer.com made a strong debut on the ASX Nov. 15, surging by as much as 400%.

Freelancer raised about A$17.55 million by selling 35.1 million new shares or only 8.1 percent of the company, capitalising on a revival in the Australian IPO market and strong interest in non-resources stocks.

The stock was offered at A$0.50 per share and traded at A$1.60 by 0243 GMT, valuing the four-year-old Sydney-based company at A$697.6 million.

“On the face, the price is telling us that this float is underpriced,” said CMC Markets strategist Michael McCarthy.

“But because they only sold a small amount of the 436 million shares, that’s not a problem for them. What they’ve essentially done is establish a market value of this company.”

CEO Matt Barrie holds 46% of the tightly held business, a stake worth about A$321 million after Friday’s jump in the share price. Investment fund Startive Capital owns another 39%.

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One Response to “Freelancer.com makes strong debut on stock market”

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