No IPO as PEXA finally sold

Property Exchange Australia Limited (PEXA) has been sold to a consortium headed by Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), alongside Link Administration Holdings Limited and Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners Inc..

It submitted a bid which has now been accepted by shareholders holding a majority of PEXA's shares. 

The long touted Property Exchange Australia float was recently scrappe, paving the way for Link Group and its partners to take a majority stake.

PEXA assists members, such as lawyers, conveyancers and financial institutions, to lodge documents with Land Registries and complete financial settlements electronically. 

States across Australia have been moving across to the platform as the country aims for loans to become 100% digital.

The consortium will pay an enterprise value of up to $1.6 billion, depending on the level of final acceptances to the trade sale offer received by PEXA’s shareholders.

CBA was already a key stakeholder in the e-conveyancing platform.

CBA chief executive officer Matt Comyn said having been a key stakeholder in PEXA since its inception in 2011, the decision represented its continued commitment to "support the property industry as it transitions towards an innovative, fully digital, settlements process that aims to provide improved experiences for customers.” 

CBA will invest a further $50 million, totalling approximately $100 million invested in PEXA to date. 

This will result in an increase in its ownership stake from 13.1% to 16%.