Direct listing on NZX planned for next Monday 22 November, 2021.

Auckland, NZ. TradeWindow, a trade-tech company helping importers, exporters, freight forwarders, and customs brokers working on the frontline of global trade, plans to list on the NZX next week, subject to final regulatory approvals.

The proposed listing date is 22 November 2021, and the company will list with an implied market capitalisation of $79.1 million under the stock ticker TWL.

The New Zealand founded company provides a comprehensive digital trade platform covering compliance, operations management, data sharing and storage, internal and external stakeholder collaboration, and end-to-end supply chain traceability.

Alasdair MacLeod, the company’s independent chairman, said the direct listing would further cement the company’s status as a trusted partner for large commercial enterprises and government agencies, as it looks to rapidly scale.

“As a software solutions provider for those on the frontline of global trade, trust and transparency are key. The disciplines and disclosures required of us as a listed entity will support our role as a trusted intermediatory for our customers and partners. These include the many listed companies, co-operative entities and governments who use our software solutions to enable their international trade,” Mr MacLeod said.

Global supply chains are complex networks of organisations. A single transaction typically requires the collaboration of over 20 entities, the production of 10 to 20 documents, and the exchange of approximately 5,000 data field entries.

TradeTech solutions like those offered by TradeWindow provide supply chain participants with the digital tools needed to be faster, more flexible, more accurate, more resilient, and more efficient. The global trade in goods amounted to US$18.9 trillion (2019). Supply chain costs are estimated to represent 10-20% of this figure, which equates to approximately US$2.8 trillion of white space to be claimed by TradeTech solutions. Within the TradeTech market it is estimated that digital trade solutions alone could reduce trade costs by 14.3% and boost global trade by up to US$1 trillion per year.

Since its inception in 2018, leading organisations across the dairy, meat, horticulture, seafood, timber, consumer products, manufacturing, and logistics sectors have trusted in TradeWindow’s solutions to facilitate internal business processes. Some of these leading customers include Synlait, Open Country Dairy, Greenlea Premier Meats, ANZCO, Silver Fern Farms, T&G Global, Sealord, Independent Fisheries, Cedenco Foods, Whittakers, Pan Pac Forest Products, Wallace International, Airwave Australia, Hanes, and UB Freight.

The company will join the NZX as a direct listing – also known as a compliance listing – rather than an Initial Public Offering or IPO. A direct listing means that the shares will be listed on the main NZX board and can be bought and sold as with any other listed shares. However, there will not be an additional issuance of shares to investors at the time of listing and the company’s founders are not selling down their shares at this time. The company is not currently seeking to raise further capital following an oversubscribed capital raise of NZ$15 million that closed in September 2021.

Leading the recent investment round was existing strategic and largest single shareholder ASB Bank, which provides trade finance to hundreds of New Zealand exporters. Nigel Annett, Executive General Manager for Corporate Banking at ASB said, “TradeWindow is already making a tangible difference for Kiwi exporters. Listing on the NZX is a key milestone in TradeWindow’s journey as it seeks to transform the way businesses experience the international trade process.”

Quayside Holdings Ltd, the majority shareholder of the Port of Tauranga, is also a strategic shareholder, and another notable name to join the share register in the recent capital raising was Anna Mowbray, a co-owner of ZURU Group. She joined TradeWindow’s share register alongside Perth-based Rae Family (who established and sold the challenger fuel brand Gull), two family offices which formerly owned Sonfrana Unilines and Pacific Direct Line respectively, and the Wiltshire family in New Zealand.

Key advisors to TradeWindow’s NZX listing include Northington Partners (financial) and Russell McVeagh (legal). The company’s auditors are KPMG.

“We look forward to introducing TradeWindow to a wider pool of investors through the NZX and providing a pathway for them to get involved in the wider Australasian export story at a time when trade is so critical for ongoing economic recovery,” Mr MacLeod said.

The company’s listing profile is available here.