(Reuters) -Private equity-backed Jefferson Capital and its existing investors raised $150 million in a Nasdaq initial public offering after pricing its shares at the lower end of the projected range, the firm said in a statement on Wednesday.

Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Jefferson sold roughly 10 million shares, at $15 apiece, as it looks to capitalize on the favorable market trend for fresh offerings. The company had marketed its shares at a range of $15 to $17 each.

Founded in 2002, Jefferson purchases and manages charged-off and bankruptcy receivables with operations mainly in the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the UK.

The company, which competes with PRA Group and Encore Capital Group in its core U.S. market, was acquired by J.C. Flowers from buyout firm Flexpoint Ford in 2018. 

Private equity investment firm J.C. Flowers will own about 68.9% of it post-IPO. 

Jefferson will start trading on Thursday under the ticker symbol "JCAP" on the Nasdaq. Jefferies and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods are the lead underwriters for the offering.

A hot streak in the U.S. IPO market has supported strong debuts from several companies in recent weeks, after a tariff-driven slowdown earlier in the year forced several firms to postpone or shelve their flotation plans. 

(Reporting by Pritam Biswas and Devika Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Mrigank Dhaniwala)