The owners of RateCity are looking for external investors, with an offshore party a preferred target for the capital raising. The website is one of two primary internet-based sources of comparisons and pricing on consumer finance products. InfoChoice is the other. NineMSN and the private company of Cannex founder Andrew Willink are the current owners. NineMSN is said to have been sympathetic to the need to inject additional capital into the joint venture, but PBL and CVC, as the ultimate controlling entity, were cool on the plan. PBL has agreed, however, for a dilution in its 50 per cent stake through the capital raising. Crescendo Partners are assisting RateCity on the sale. The advisers are striving to drum up interest from offshore entities with complementary models, and have distributed around 100 copies of the information memorandum on RateCity. Talk in the market is that RateCity aims to sell a one-third stake and raise $25 million from any capital raising, which would value the business at $75 million. The business, formed in 2006, is said to now be break even. Revenues are not clear.RateCity draws its data from Cannex, which Willink continues to own through family companies. Andrew Willink said yesterday the credit crunch affected demand for only some of the services of RateCity. He said there was less demand for mortgage information, and fewer clicks on the "apply" buttons on the paid links on RateCity (and which is the source of most of RateCity's revenue from financial institutions). He said demand increased over recent months for savings and term deposit products. He said there was no decline in demand in the credit card and personal loan verticals. He said credit cards represented about a third of all click throughs for information.