Spring is in the air, and companies are clearly in a mood to raise cash. A lot of these have been share placings but the reasons given have been varied. Placings rather than rights issues are always prejudicial to private shareholders as they are generally unable to participate, unless an “open offer” is included.
The share placing at IDOX (IDOX) was covered in the January issue of the ShareSoc Informer Newsletter and there is now a report on the AGM of that company here, where shareholders raised the issue again.
Cello Group (CLL) undertook a placing to fund the acquisition of Defined Healthcare – they raised £15 million to do so, but the placing share price was at a small premium to the previous market price. although the price moved up significantly after the placing was announced.
Learning Technology Group (LTG) did a placing to finance the acquisition of NetDimensions.
TrakM8 (TRAK) raised £1.66 million through a placing at 65p so as to reduce the company’s bank debt and strengthen its balance sheet. This was at a significant discount of 17% to the previous market price. The directors of the company took up a large number of the shares on offer.
One company that is doing a full rights issue is property business Segro (SGRO) although they had done a placing recently. The new transaction is to raise £573 million to finance the acquisition of the balance of an interest in Airport Property Partnership they did not already hold. However, the rights issue is being done at a discount of 28.9% to the previous closing price. Although investors can sell the “rights”, if they don’t and otherwise do not take them up then they will be diluted. Investors in Royal Bank of Scotland will not have happy memories of their heavily discounted rights issue in 2008.
One interesting recent announcement was from South African gold mining company Pan African Resources (PAF). They have apparently been “book building” to finance the development of a new gold mine at Elikhulu. But the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), where PAF is dual listed, has a rule that a company cannot issue shares at a price that is in excess of a 10% discount to the 30 day volume weighted average price. But as the current share price is lower, they have decided not to undertake an equity issue at this time and will finance development in other ways for the time being.
Now would that not be a good rule to adopt in the UK? It might make shareholders a lot happier because there are grumblings about all the above.
Roger Lawson
