Qwave Capital Steps Up Pressure to Acquire IOU Financial

The nuclear scientists in venture capital clothing have laid out their case to IOU Financial’s shareholders that they would be better served if they were running things. In a letter distributed on Monday by Qwave Capital, the firm trying to acquire IOU, they criticized the lender’s state of affairs.

In all, IOU continues to demonstrate that it cannot grow profitably and compete effectively within its current model. This is made worse by the fact that, because IOU does not have sufficient capital, conservative lenders are reluctant to provide IOU access to capital at competitive rates. In comparison, OnDeck, IOU’s major online lending competitor, had raised far more capital when at the same stage of development that IOU is at today. OnDeck can now attract the lower interest funds it requires to lend out to customers and support its profitable growth in the U.S. and Canada.

Qwave chastised IOU’s board members for decisions it didn’t feel aligned with the best interests of the company.

“IOU transactions have allowed Board members and insiders to maintain their dominant interest in IOU and purchase shares for below-market value,” they wrote.

And continued:

“For instance, IOU recently completed a private placement financing at $0.40 per share, a 20% discount to Qwave’s Offer and the private placement’s original $0.50 per share price. IOU completed the $0.40 per share offering even though Qwave’s offer was on the table and IOU had confirmed offers at $0.50 per share on its books. Parties related to IOU management subscribed to approximately 17% of the offering at the discounted offer price.”

Judging by the rest of the letter, IOU shareholders will certainly have a lot to consider. You can read a full copy of it here.

Sean Murray is the President and Chief Editor of deBanked and the founder of the Broker Fair Conference. Connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on twitter. You can view all future deBanked events here.