25 Mar 2014

Dotcom company to list on NZX

12:03 pm on 25 March 2014

An online-storage and encryption business founded by Kim Dotcom is set to be listed on the New Zealand stock exchange through a backdoor listing in a deal worth $210 million.

Kim Dotcom.

Kim Dotcom. Photo: RNZ

Mega's shareholders have agreed to a conditional agreement for all of its shares to be acquired by the shell company, TRS.

Mega was launched in January last year: its executive staff include Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk, who are Mr Dotcom's co-accused in the global internet piracy prosecution.

Mega's major shareholder, with a stake of 26.49 percent, is Mona Dotcom, Kim Dotcom's wife.

The deal will be funded by the issue of 700 million TRS shares to Mega's shareholders at 30 cents each.

TRS currently has 1.1 billion shares on issue, but this will be consolidated down before the deal is completed, leaving existing TRS shareholders with one percent of the business.

Once the deal is complete, Mega's shareholders will then own 99 percent of TRS, which will change its name to Mega.

Mr Dotcom stepped down as a director from the Mega business in August last year, but remains a principal strategist.

Mega calls itself the privacy company, and says its users control the encryption for the data they store.

It says it has seven million registered users, with new registrations exceeding 20,000 a day.