Australia's PEP in $541m partial exit from Veda

According to a regulatory filing, the private equity firm sold 269.45 million shares at A$2.15 apiece. The price represents a 2.3% discount to Wednesday's closing price of A$2.20. The divestment came after PEP shares came out of escrow following the release of the Veda's first full-year results on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)

PEP acquired its stake in Veda in 2007 in a joint deal with Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity, the pair paying A$963 million for a 100% stake. It raised A$341 million when it floated Veda on the ASX last year, while retaining a 64% stake in the business.

Veda operates primary credit bureaus in Australia and New Zealand and is now a principal source of consumer credit information. The company forecasts that demand for its data-driven services will increase as consumers seek not only information about themselves but ways to ensure they are not subject to fraud and misreporting of their true financial position.

Veda shares surged more than 7% on Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected earnings. Revenue came to A$302 million for the 2014 financial year versus A$268 million for the previous year. Net profit for the period was A$22.7 million against A$9.4 million a year earlier.

PEP's sell-down could herald more exits from companies that have listed over the past year, with about A$3 billion worth of shares due to come out of escrow.

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• Topics
• Exits
• Financials
• Australasia
• Exit
• Financial Services
• Australia
• Pacific Equity Partners
• Sell down