Melbourne private equity firm BGH Capital and US-based global investment firm Sixth Street are working together on an offer for church donations and communications technology company Pushpay Holdings (NZX/ ASX: PPH).
The New Zealand-founded company announced on 24 May that the two firms had informed it that they had “entered into a co-operation agreement with respect to a potential transaction involving Pushpay”.
The two firms also revealed they had jointly acquired a substantial stake in the company. Their disclosures to Pushpay showed they held more than 1.14 million shares giving them more than a 20% stake.
Pushpay’s ASX share price increased from $1.11 on 23 May to close at $1.30 on 25 May.
Pushpay had announced on 26 April (APE&VCJ, Apr 2022) that it had received unsolicited, non-binding and conditional expressions of interest or approaches from third parties looking to acquire the company. The company’s board had appointed Goldman Sachs as financial adviser.
In the 24 May announcement, the company said that since the April announcement it had “received additional interest from multiple parties”.
Pushpay noted that it had not entered into an agreement with any party. It was continuing with a process with multiple parties which was still at an early stage. The process would explore the potential for a transaction that would be in the best interests of all shareholders. There was, however, no certainty the process would result in any transaction.
Pushpay’s technology is used by many church organisations internationally including Hillsong in Australia. The company’s major market is in the US.
Sixth Street co-led a $US1 billion investment in travel experience marketplace Airbnb in April 2020.
Image: Hillsong church uses Pushpay’s technology.