Onsite Rentals cancels planned IPO

SYDNEY: Australian industrial equipment contractor Onsite Rental decided to cancel its planned initial public offering (IPO), two sources familiar with the situation said, becoming the country’s 6th aborted listing this month.

Onsite Rental was hoping to raise up to A$253mil (Us$172.4mil) in a listing that would price shares at up to 9.6 times forecast profit, according to the Australian Financial Review.

It decided not to proceed with a planned bookbuild due to a lack of investor interest at that price, one of the sources with knowledge of the situation said. The people declined to be identified because the details were private.

The weakness of the Australian IPO market comes despite an 18% jump for the stock market this year and record-low official interest rates, as investors demand lower prices to protect against the possibility of post-float market losses.

New IPOS have raised just Us$416mil in the first nine months of 2019, the lowest amount for the period since 2012, according to Refinitiv data.

Earlier this month, online realty company Propertyguru, juicemaker franchise owner Retail Zoo, coal seam gas services firm MPC Kinetic, and consumer lender Latitude Financial all cancelled their perspective IPOS due to poor demand.

Last week, international student services business Education Centres of Australia postponed plans for an IPO and listing on the Australian Securities Exchange, the Australian Financial Review reported.

Education Centres Australia did not immediately return requests seeking comment.