Spenda (ASX:SPX) has agreed to sell its invoice financing portfolio to Grapple for $2 million, subject to portfolio performance. Under the agreement, on completion Grapple will pay an initial $500,000, with a further deferred consideration of $1.5 million to be paid over 10 equal monthly instalments of $75,000, plus a balloon payment of $750,000 on or before 31 March 2026, subject to performance conditions and adjustments if customers exit between the completion date and 28 February 2026.
The sale will release $2.3 million in first-loss capital and provide an additional $4.3 million in available working capital. Although the transaction is expected to reduce gross profit by approximately $50,000 per month, this is offset by operational cost savings of about $600,000 per annum.
Spenda and Grapple will also enter into a referral agreement for an initial period of 24 months. Under this arrangement, Spenda will earn a referral commission based on 100 per cent of the net interest margin for the first year and 50 per cent for the second year, in respect of all deals successfully referred from November 2024.
In addition, certain key Spenda employees involved in managing and servicing the loan book will transfer to Grapple on completion, and Spenda will pay a break fee of $170,000 to its credit provider for early termination of the facility. The transaction, which allows Spenda to focus on its core SaaS and payment services by removing lending risk, is expected to complete on 28 February 2025.
