USA—Waystar, a healthcare payments company, made its Nasdaq debut on Friday.
Its shares opened at US$21 per share, slightly below the initial public offering (IPO) price of US$21.50.
The stock traded as high as the IPO price earlier in the session before closing at US$20.70, indicating a 3% decline from the opening price.
This marked one of the year’s largest deals, with Waystar raising US$968 million in its U.S. IPO.
The company, backed by Swedish private equity firm EQT AB and Canadian pension fund giant CPPIB, sold 45 million shares in the offering.
The IPO market has been largely dormant since late 2021, but Waystar’s successful debut suggests that the demand for new listings remains open.
The company’s stock is now trading under the ticker symbol “WAY.”
Waystar’s revenue for the quarter ending March 31 was US$224.8 million, representing an 18% increase from the same period last year.
The company reported a net loss of US$15.9 million for the quarter compared with US$10.6 million a year ago.
Waystar intends to use the proceeds from the offering to repay outstanding debt.
“We are using the proceeds of the IPO to reduce our leverage, exposure and improve our capital structure and really position the company effectively for that durable long term path of continuing to transform a healthcare industry,” Waystar CEO Matt Hawkins told Reuters in an interview.
Waystar’s market capitalization is approximately US$3.5 billion.
It offers healthcare payment and revenue cycle management tools and facilitates over 5 billion annual transactions.
Waystar was formed in 2017 through the merger of Navicure and ZirMed.
Waystar’s IPO shows that the market for new listings remains open, despite the recent pullback of aluminium recycler Novelis from its stock market debut.
The company’s successful debut also highlights the growing interest in digital health companies, with several other health tech companies having gone public this year.
For all the latest healthcare industry news from Africa and the World, subscribe to our NEWSLETTER, and YouTube Channel, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, and like us on Facebook
Be the first to leave a comment