Blacks Leisure, the leading British outdoor retailer, wants to raise £22 million (€25.2m-$34.9m) through a private placement and an open offer, to be invested in the company’s turnaround plan and on up to 35 store openings. Some 40,740,742 ordinary shares are to be issued for this purpose (for a placing and open offer of 20,370,371 new shares and a firm placing of 20,370,371 shares). For all of them, the issue price was set at 54 pence per share, which represents a discount of 4.4 percent from their closing price on Feb. 4. Net of expenses, the transaction would raise about £20.28 million (€23.2m-$32.2m). The placement still has to be approved by a shareholders meeting on Feb. 24, and the new shares are expected to be listed the next day. The proceeds will be used to speed up Blacks Leisure’s recovery plan by opening outdoor stores and refurbishing existing stores. Furthermore, they should enable the group to cancel its seasonal peak working capital facility of £7.5 million(€8.6m-$11.9m).
