PaySauce seeks NZD $4m to fund Australian expansion

New Zealand payroll software company PaySauce has launched a NZ$4 million equity raise as it prepares to enter the Australian market in early 2026.

The capital raising combines a placement of about NZ$3 million with a NZ$1 million share purchase plan for New Zealand-based investors. The offer price is NZ$0.26 per share, a 7.1% discount to the company's last closing price of NZ$0.28.

PaySauce plans to use the proceeds to fund its expansion into Australia. The company has scheduled the launch of its Australian operations for February 2026.

The structure of the offer is intended to widen the company's investor base and increase trading liquidity in its shares.

Offer details

The offer comprises a placement to institutional and other investors and a share purchase plan for eligible existing and new investors residing in New Zealand. PaySauce expects to issue about 15.4 million new shares across both components.

New shares will rank equally with existing fully paid ordinary shares from the time of issue. The company has received a trading halt from NZX to facilitate the placement process. PaySauce expects to update the market on the outcome of the placement on Wednesday, 17 December 2025.

Under the share purchase plan, investors may apply for up to NZ$50,000 of new shares at NZ$0.26 per share. The plan carries no brokerage, commission or transaction costs for participants. If applications exceed the NZ$1 million target, PaySauce may scale back allocations at its discretion, with reference to applicants' holdings on the record date.

Shareholders on the record date will have their applications preferred over non-shareholders if scaling occurs. Cameron Partners is acting as financial adviser on the offer. The capital raise is not underwritten.

Australian push

PaySauce provides cloud-based payroll and workforce software for small employers across 14 jurisdictions in the Asia-Pacific region. The company focuses on micro-businesses.

Chief Executive Asantha Wijeyeratne is relocating to Melbourne. He will work with PaySauce Australia Executive Director Chris Ridd as the business enters the Australian market.

"PaySauce has established a strong record for consistent growth in revenue and solid earnings and cash flow. From these strong domestic foundations, we have developed a market-leading payroll solution for micro-businesses and funded our launch into Australia, a market of around 700,000 micro-businesses that remains largely underserved," said Asantha Wijeyeratne, Chief Executive, PaySauce.

The company describes Australia's micro-business sector as a key growth opportunity. It intends to consider acquisitions alongside organic expansion.

"The capital raising we are launching today will give us the flexibility to pursue this opportunity across the Tasman and consider bolt on acquisitions that will accelerate our growth in this market. We also expect the new capital will broaden our investor base, enhance liquidity and enable better recognition of the value we are creating," said Wijeyeratne.

Minimum holding move

Alongside the capital raise, PaySauce has moved to consolidate small holdings on its share register. The board has set a minimum holding threshold at NZ$500 of shares. The company cites the cost of servicing a large number of very small registers and the difficulty for investors in selling small parcels once brokerage is taken into account.

The minimum holding equates to 1,786 shares. The calculation is based on the average market price of PaySauce shares at market close on Friday, 12 December 2025.

The board has resolved to use its power of sale for any parcel that remains below the minimum holding as at 15 March 2026. The process applies only to investors who hold their shares directly on the PaySauce register. It does not affect beneficial holders who invest through custodial platforms such as Sharesies.

PaySauce will send notices about the minimum holding programme to affected shareholders together with the share purchase plan booklet. Small shareholders can use the plan to increase their stake above the minimum threshold without brokerage costs.

Product footprint

PaySauce's software provides digital onboarding, payments and employee management tools that run on any device. The platform includes rosters, mobile timesheets and payroll calculations.

The system integrates with banking services and accounting software. It includes automated payments, PAYE filing, labour costing and general ledger entries.

The company also offers PayNow, an earned wage access feature for employees of its customers. The product allows workers to access pay they have already earned before the standard payday and presents itself as a free alternative to payday lenders.

PaySauce expects to release further information about the share purchase plan to NZX in line with the opening of applications.