Belmont-based mineral sampling equipment manufacturer Essa Australia Ltd has raised $5.6 million through a placement to fund the establishment of a manufacturing facility in Brazil, among other activities.
The full text of a company announcement is pasted below
Essa Australia Limited (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has successfully placed 6,000,000 new fully paid ordinary shares at $0.93 per share to raise a total of $5.6 million.
The placement was managed by Taylor Collison Limited stockbrokers and was made to a range of new and existing institutional, sophisticated and professional investors. The Board of Directors of the Company is pleased with the strong level of support for the issue.
The proceeds of the placement will be used by Essa to:
- establish a manufacturing facility in Brazil;
- pay the balance of the deferred consideration for the acquisition of STACE Pty Limited;
- upgrade Essa's IT systems;
- undertake research and product development;
- provide working capital for the expansion of Essa's automation equipment business; and
- provide general working capital for the Company's expected growth.
The placement is not subject to shareholder approval. The new shares to be issued pursuant to the placement will not participate in the final dividend of 3.0 cents per share payable on 2 October 2007.
Following the placement, Essa's expanded issued capital will be 50,000,000 fully paid ordinary shares. The Board of Directors are confident of an increase in earnings per share in 2007/08 on the expanded capital base.