New Zealand and Australia gaming operator SkyCity Entertainment Group has announced that it has finalized the institutional component of its equity raising action and will move ahead with the retail component of the capital increase.
According to a Friday statement by the firm, the Placement and Institutional Entitlement Offer ‘raised gross proceeds of approximately NZ$195 million ($113.5 million), with strong take up from investors’.
The group highlighted that the Institutional Entitlement Offer, of approximately NZ$159 million ($92.55 million), saw 95 percent of institutional shareholders elect to take up their entitlements.
The Retail Entitlement Offer will now open on August 26th and close on September 4th, with the same price point of the institutional offer.
Speaking of the move, which had faced some opposition from shareholders, SkyCity Chief Executive officer Jason Walbridge noted that “We are pleased with the success of the Institutional Offer, and the strong take up from eligible institutional investors. The equity raise will strengthen SkyCity’s balance sheet, allowing us to better navigate the current environment and execute on our near-term priorities”.
The company is now set to resume normal trading on Friday on the New Zealand Stock Exchange and Australian Securities Exchange. Trading of the new shares is expected to begin on August 28th, with the shares ranking equally with existing and fully paid ordinary shares of SkyCity quoted on the exchanges.
