Pentanet becomes the latest telco to IPO; shares nearly triple

West Australian telco Pentanet (ASX:5GG) has completed an IPO and listed on the ASX this morning.

Pentanet differs from recent telco IPOs like Aussie Broadband (ASX:ABB), Uniti (ASX:UWL) and OptiComm (ASX:OPC) because it is being based over in Perth – where it is currently servicing over 8,000 subscribers.

It intends to use the IPO proceeds to expand onto the East Coast.

Pentanet also claims it will be part of the rollout of “the next wave of subscription-based entertainment services”. The company has formed an alliance with NASDAQ-listed NVIDIA to roll out its technology to Australia in 2021 to enable cloud gaming.

It also hopes to roll out a next generation gigabit fixed-wireless technology developed by Facebook which will enable higher speeds and be another alternative to the NBN.

Pentanet raised $22.5 million at 25 cents per share and reported strong demand for its IPO. Shares began trading at 1pm (AEDT) and rose to 70 cents – a 180 per cent premium to its IPO price.

Pentanet (ASX:5GG) share price chart

IPO marks “the next step” for Pentanet

The company was started back in 2017 by brothers Timothy and Stephen Cornish.

The latter of the pair told shareholders he sold his house to build the company’s first telecommunications tower after being frustrated by Perth’s slow internet and the lack of local support in the market.

“We are very proud to be taking the next step in the growth of our company, thanks to the incredible support so far of our subscribers who have joined the Pentanet Fixed Wireless network,” Stephen said.

“The IPO has allowed our customers and team to join us as part of the next stage of Pentanet’s growth journey.”

The company’s IPO announcement today concluded telling shareholders Stephen’s vision was to “digitise Perth” and create a global hub for esports and gaming, backed by high-bandwidth low latency internet services.