Keypath Education drops on Australian market debut (updated)

Adore Beauty

02/06/2021 04:49

(Adds background on Keypath's financials, Nuix)
    June 2 (Reuters) - Keypath Education International Inc
 KED.AX  slumped as much as 8.4% in its Australian market debut
on Wednesday, the latest Macquarie-led  MQG.AX  initial public
offering (IPO) to underperform after its listing.
    Shares of the Chicago-based company that offers online
educational courses for universities were down as far as A$3.40,
before recouping some ground to trade at A$3.5 — still around
5.7% below its IPO price of A$3.71. 
    The IPO was seen by some as a test for Macquarie after it
and Morgan Stanley brought Nuix Ltd  NXL.AX  to the market in
December to a stellar debut, only for the software provider to
now trade at less than half its IPO price following a second
downgrade to revenue forecasts.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2NH0KO urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2NI0S7
    Other recently-listed companies have also struggled since
their debuts, such as online retailer Adore Beauty Group
 ABY.AX , which trades around 40% lower than its IPO price.
    Keypath is yet to turn a profit since its founding in 2014,
and forecasts losses in both fiscal 2021 and 2022, according to
its prospectus. 
    Around 45% of the company's revenue comes from Australia,
where universities are under intense pressure from border
closures due to the pandemic that has made it difficult for
international students - a key source of income - to return. 
    About a third of the A$212.1 million ($164.72 million)
raised in the IPO has been earmarked, according to the
prospectus, for potential growth. Keypath said it is eyeing
opportunities to expand in Southeast Asia.
    
($1 = 1.2877 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Anushka Trivedi and Nikhil Kurian Nainan in
Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Uttaresh.V)
 ((Anushka.Trivedi@thomsonreuters.com; +918061823241;))