SmartPay seeks sharemarket listing

Shell company Cube Capital announced today it has conditionally agreed to buy electronic payment company SmartPay Ltd.

The deal, subject to due diligence, is essentially a reverse takeover, with SmartPay gaining a back door listing to the NZX.

It would see Cube Capital issue SmartPay with 100 million of its shares and change its name to SmartPay Holdings Ltd.

Cube Capital will be hoping the latest deal is a matter of "third time lucky".

Cube started life on the NZX as a furniture company called Damba, before reinventing itself as a technology investor.

So far it has struggled to find a suitable investment, with a proposal to buy a group of IT companies from JP & BM Holdings falling over last year after Cube failed to reach an acceptable "value proposition" from the deal.

Shares in Cube last traded on February 1 at 4.5c, against a year high of 8.9c and a low of 3c.

SmartPay was established in 2004. It supplies electronic payments systems, electronic pre-paid mobile phone top-ups, international calling cards and eftpos solutions.

The company is planning future growth in a broad range of pre-paid services in New Zealand and internationally.

"Having looked at this area of the payment market, the Cube board is extremely pleased to have secured this opportunity for Cube shareholders," Cube executive chairman Simon Wallace said.

The deal is expected to be put to a shareholder vote in April or May.

It is being managed by FAR Financial Services and Wellington-based Investment Bankers, who most recently worked on the backdoor listing of Lombard via Pure New Zealand and last year for Beauty Direct on the listing of Life Pharmacy.

- NZPA