Realestate.com Gets $2m Cash Injection

[Sydney, AUSTRALIA] Realestate.com.au has secured a AUS $2 million (US $1.2 million) loan from major shareholder Macquarie Bank, keeping the company afloat in anticipation of a poor forecast for the real estate industry over coming months.

Macquarie Bank, which will now control over 20 percent of the Realestate portal, has a further option to convert the “working capital” loan facility into shares at any time in the future.

The loan principal is repayable as to 25 percent of any funds raised by the Realestate from the grant or issue of securities or, by Macquarie Bank converting the balance of its facility to ordinary securities at the weighted average price of the Realestate’s shares.

The shares will cost Macquarie Bank around 20c each, equivalent to the value of 20 percent of the company or ten million shares.

The loan may be the rescue token for Realestate, whose cash reserves were reportedly estimated as low as AUS $1.9 million in June, causing industry speculation the company may become another victim consigned to the dot com wasteland.

However, Realestate said it had deferred completion of a deal with RealENZ to establish a common Internet platform with its New Zealand counterpart.

Both partners have agreed to defer completion of the transaction until after the shareholders have ratified the shares issued since the Company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in December last year.