White Star raises $5m for Spookfish acquisition

Perth-based explorer White Star Resources says it has raised about $5.1 million and completed due diligence on its acquisition of unlisted technology business Spookfish.

In a statement today, White Star said the offer of 145 million shares at an issue price of 3.5 cents per share closed fully subscribed.

The offer was conducted under the lead management of Forrest Capital.

It also announced the completion of technical due diligence after undertaking aerial surveys over the Perth metropolitan area and the state’s South West, using Spookfish’s patented camera system technology.

“The company was encouraged by the results of aerial surveys and the performance of the Spookfish Technology Demonstrator,” White Star said in a statement.

“The company now looks forward to further rigorous testing of the Spookfish technology and developing the Spookfish commercial offering.”

White Star conducted the raising to finance the pilot program of the Spookfish camera technology, and to comply with ASX listing rules in order to change the nature of the company's activities from those of a mineral exploration company to a geospatial imagery firm.

The raising was originally capped at $4 million, however after receiving investment commitments last year from technology entrepreneur Simon Hackett, along with Brent Stewart and Hoperidge Capital and Navitas boss Rod Jones, the raising was increased to $5 million.

White Star anticipates the acquisition of Spookfish, along with Geospatial Investments, to be completed in coming weeks.

The Spookfish acquisition is one of 23 backdoor listings announced in 2014 involving companies based in Western Australia.

See next week’s print edition of Business News, which will have a comprehensive review of these backdoor listings.