Openpay
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Openpay Group, founded in Melbourne in 2012, was an Australian buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) company listed on the ASX. Unlike Afterpay's short-cycle model, it specialized in longer, larger instalment payment plans; its merchant partners included Bunnings, Beaurepaires, Repco and Kogan, and in 2022 it was named Canstar's Outstanding Value BNPL provider.
02 / Openpay FAILURE REASONS
Failure factors supported by the current evidence
Openpay's cash-flow position depended on continued financing. It did not receive the funds sought under a working-capital facility, after which receivers were appointed.
The company did not receive the working-capital funding it sought.
Continuing operating cash losses left the business dependent on external capital.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Market retreat
Openpay withdrew from the United Kingdom and United States markets.
- Trading suspension
Trading was suspended while the company addressed its funding arrangements.
- Receivership
Receivers were appointed in February 2023 and new transactions stopped.
- Delisting
Openpay was removed from the ASX official list in August 2023.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
Openpay requested an ASX trading halt on February 1, 2023 after breaching loan covenants: a utilisation notice under its working capital facility with AH Meydan was due January 31 but was never paid.
- 02
On February 3, 2023 receivers from McGrathNicol were appointed to sell the business on behalf of secured creditors; about 80 employees were laid off.
- 03
The company had reported a loss of A$82.4 million for the year to June 2022 (after A$63.1 million in 2020/21) and was burning about A$18 million in cash per quarter, with shares down 58% over the prior 12 months.