News: ZIP Australia's Zip up on $146.2 mln financing, promise to pay down debt

July 18 (Reuters) - Shares in buy-now-pay-later firm Zip (ZIP) rose more than 13% on Thursday after it said it had raised A$217 million ($146.19 million) in equity placement, letting the company pay down its corporate debts early.

Zip completed a fully underwritten private placement of A$1.56 a piece and said it will issue a non-underwritten share purchase plan which could raise up to A$50 million.

BNPL companies like Zip let clients split payments into interest-free installments while purchasing and earn their income from charging a commission from merchants.

Earlier this week the company flagged fourth-quarter transaction volumes surging 19% to A$2.6 billion and revenue raging 22.1% higher than last year. Zip's share price has nearly tripled so far this year.

On Thursday, the stock rose as high as A$1.815 by 0547 GMT, logging its best trading session since Mar. 7.

For Zip, the U.S. outperformed the other regions, with quarterly revenue there jumping nearly 45% and transaction volumes increasing by over 40%.

Last year, Zip inked multiple prospective deals in that country, saying it was the firm's largest opportunity due to a horde of underserved customers seeking credit.

"U.S. transaction volumes growth continued to outpace expectations rising 42% in fourth quarter, we see further upside as Zip penetrates higher spend verticals," analysts at UBS said in a note.

($1 = 1.4843 Australian dollars)