Shares in used car sales platform Carma experienced a significant drop during its initial trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Within the first hour of trading, the stock price fell by 10 per cent. Currently, Carma shares are trading around $2.43 each, marking a double-digit percentage decline from its initial public offering (IPO) price of $2.70.
Carma, which provides an online marketplace for buying and selling used vehicles, debuted on the ASX on Wednesday. The Sydney-based company, co-founded in 2021 by Lachlan MacGregor, formerly a portfolio manager at Alphinity and Platinum, had sought an enterprise valuation between $270 million and $300 million prior to its listing.
The company has attracted investment from a number of prominent backers, including Tiger Global, General Catalyst, Five V Capital, Terrace Tower Group, Entrée Capital, and Avenir Growth. Earlier this year, Regal Partners also joined as an investor through a $30 million convertible note raising.
Carma aims to streamline the process of buying and selling used cars, offering consumers a convenient and transparent online platform. It is unclear what factors contributed to the share price decline during the first day of trading, but market analysts will be observing the stock’s performance closely in the coming days.
