TME
12/01/2015 11:10
ASSET
NOT PRICE SENSITIVE
REL: 1110 HRS Trade Me Group Limited
ASSET: TME: Trade Me acquires stake in peer-to-peer lender Harmoney
12 January 2015
Trade Me acquires stake in peer-to-peer lender Harmoney
Trade Me has acquired a 15 per cent stake in lending platform Harmoney
(harmoney.com), New Zealand's first peer-to-peer lending company, for $7.7m.
The Auckland-based company was founded in July 2013, and is led by consumer
finance entrepreneur Neil Roberts. Harmoney is currently the only licensed
peer-to-peer lender in New Zealand.
Peer-to-peer lending is where investors loan money directly to unrelated
borrowers via an online platform, rather than the lending occurring via a
traditional financial institution like a bank.
Trade Me CEO Jon Macdonald said the investment was a great fit. "Harmoney and
Trade Me share a common purpose in that we are both all about providing Kiwi
consumers with a safe, trusted, scalable, efficient online platform to
undertake a transaction - the Trade Me platform is all about items changing
hands, and Harmoney's platform is all about dollars changing hands."
Mr Macdonald said consumer finance and peer-to-peer lending were proving
sustainable and successful overseas, although it was a fledgling industry
locally. "It is early days but we think there's a lot of potential for P2P
lending to work well in New Zealand, and of course consumer finance is a
large and well-established industry. To us it looks like an area of the
market that will undergo a long-term structural shift online - and we believe
Harmoney is well-placed to take advantage of this."
He said Trade Me would bring several things to the table including its
trusted consumer brand, broad audience and its ability to cross-promote
Harmoney products in a targeted and relevant way.
Harmoney CEO Neil Roberts said it was fantastic to have Trade Me on board as
a key investor and partner. "The investment is a great endorsement for
Harmoney but more importantly we gain a strategic partner and distribution
channel with deep domain knowledge of building and running an online
marketplace.
"Trade Me operates the country's most popular online marketplace with more
than 700,000 domestic browsers visiting it every day. Combining Trade Me's
experience and distribution with Harmoney's proven ability to bring
innovative financial services product to market is the most exciting part of
this transaction."
As part of the shareholding, Trade Me will appoint a director to join the
Harmoney board of directors. Mr Macdonald said Trade Me chief financial
officer Jonathan Klouwens would take on this role.
-ends-
Contacts:
Media: Paul Ford, Trade Me, [email protected] or 021 809 589
Investors: Colin Rohloff, Trade Me, [email protected]
End CA:00259676 For:TME Type:ASSET Time:2015-01-12 11:10:35
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