Subiaco-based olive oil producer Piquant Blue Ltd has raised $3 million to develop markets in selected regions of the United States for its Red Island brand of premium Australian extra virgin olive oil.
The capital raised will also be used to build up the company's inventory and to launch new products in the Australian market.
In 2004, Piquant Blue secured a distribution deal of its Red Island extra virgin olive oil with European food retailer Oil and Vinegar.
Below is the full announcement:
The Directors of PQB are pleased to confirm a capital raising of $3.0m by the issue of 10,000,000 fully paid ordinary shares at 30 cents each. This placement has been made to institutional investment funds managed by Acorn Capital Limited and other private investors. The issue falls within the Company's capacity to issue securities under ASX Listing Rules 7.1 and is made pursuant to Section 708 of the Corporations Act.
Participation in this placement confirms Acorn Capital's continuing interest and support for the Company, following its earlier participation in August 2005 in a $2m capital raising. Acorn Capital is Australia's leading micro-cap specialist investment management company located in Melbourne. It provides discretionary investment management services to institutional investors and currently has over $500m under management.
The capital raised will be applied to building up inventory and developing markets in selected regions of the United States of America for its Redisland brand of premium Australian extra virgin olive oil. The fresh capital will also be applied to the launch and accompanying inventory build-up of new products in the Australian market.
PQB's sales in the Australian market for premium olive oil continue to grow rapidly, particularly for the Redisland supermarket brand. Scan data from the major supermarket chains in Australia confirms that Redisland is among the top three (by value) of all extra virgin olive oil brands. In conjunction with its major customers, new related products have been developed and introduced to Australian supermarkets under the Redisland brand, and are already contributing to sales growth.
The Company has commenced the development of Redisland sales into the mainstream US supermarket stores and a review is underway to establish its own distribution and logistics capability in that market.
