Homestar Finance backers set for IPO

Australian non-bank lender Columbus Capital, which has the Homestar Finance lending brand, is reportedly preparing the company for an IPO.

It would value the entity at $750 million, according to the AFR Street Talk column.

Homestar has been providing home loans since 2004, while the Origin MMS business was previously ANZ’s wholesale distribution arm, and ranks as Australia’s oldest non-bank brand.

Columbus grew its mortgage business by nearly 50% in 2019 for a $20 million profit after tax.

Homestar Finance has a variable rate of just 1.79%, but to get the rate borrowers need to a 40% deposit on a loan of less than $850,000.

Columbus Capital's residential mortgage book is $6.7 billion.
mer lender Homestar in 2018

Its founders were Andrew Chepul, who was previously at FirstMac, and Ilias Pavlopoulos, who was previously at CBA.

Columbus is one of the country's biggest non-bank lenders, alongside FirstMac, Liberty, Resimac, La Trobe Financial and KKR-backed Pepper Group, which is lining up a listing itself on a similar timetable, according to the AFR.