Swick raises $5m, buys tech business

Swick Mining Services has raised about $5 million from investors to fund the buyout of minority shareholders in a mineral analysis and measurement technology company in which it already owns a major stake.

Perth-based Swick said it would pay $2.9 million in cash to acquire the 29.5 per cent stake it didn’t already own in Orexplore AB, a tech company that has created a portable X-ray mineral scanner with the potential to provide accurate, real-time assay and structural analysis in the field.

Swick has spent $6.6 million investing in Orexplore since 2013, excluding today’s acquisition.

Swick will wholly acquire Orexplore post-transaction, with the target’s management team to remain with the business.

Orexplore will be the founding component of a new division of Swick, named the ‘mineral technology’ division.

“To progress our service offering to the next stage of the value chain was a logical step but to do so with such a novel, powerful and beneficial product is very exciting,” Swick managing director Kent Swick said.

“The Orexplore technology is a potential game changer in exploration, allowing Swick to reposition itself as a mineral information provider.”

In order to fund the acquisition, Swick has raised $4.9 million from investors through the placement of 20 million shares at 24.5 cents each, representing a 3.9 per cent discount to the company’s last closing price.

Euroz Securities acted as lead manager to the raising.

Swick shares were 1.9 per cent higher to 26 cents each at 10:30am.