Investors buying into the IPO of small-cap medical device distributor Lifehealthcare on Thursday see an opportunity to gain exposure to defensive earnings in...

Investors buying into the IPO of small-cap medical device distributor Lifehealthcare on Thursday see an opportunity to gain exposure to defensive earnings in the healthcare sector at a good price. Lifehealthcare will list with a market capitalisation of about $85 million after raising over $76 million. Jack Collopy of Perpetual said the company was attractively priced, offered strong dividend yield and had a solid balance sheet. Perpetual had taken a small position in its micro-cap fund. Mr Collopy said they could not offer investors hard assets or strong IP, but on the flipside it also escaped potential cost blow-outs associated with research and development. There's some positives and negatives to having healthcare exposure but without the specific products, he said. Investors Mutual equity analyst Daniel Moore said attractive qualities of the IPO included the potential to consolidate the fragmented distribution sector, as well as a capable salesforce. Read more: (VIEW LINK)