Quindell Portfolio has announced that it has concluded its recent funding discussions and has increased available working capital to circa £80m through a combination of the issue of new equity, existing headroom on working capital facilities and the agreement of additional banking facilities to support its growth beyond the Board’s 2 pence EPS target for 2013.
£20m has been raised through the placing today of 153,846,153 ordinary shares of 1p each with a major new institutional investor. This placing is in addition to the £26.5m placing of shares to existing and new institutional shareholders announced by the Group on 2nd November.
This strategic investment in Quindell has been made following the successful conclusion of an intensive period of due diligence incorporating the investor’s own research into the group and the markets in which it operates, as well as a number of discussions and meetings with insurance industry commentators and experts and a series of meetings with the group’s executive management team.
Having worked closely with the team at Royal Bank of Scotland over an extended period, the group has also now received credit committee approval for an initial £13m of additional banking facilities from RBS, subject to final documentation. The group is continuing its discussions with its bankers on a broader consolidation of its banking facilities, which incorporates its existing £32m of drawn down facilities, approximately £20m of undrawn existing facilities, and the additional the £13m facility announced today.
The company intends to use the proceeds from the Placing and its additional banking facilities to fund its working capital requirements for the significant organic growth in relation to the contracts for which it has received verbal confirmations and/or entered into full contract and thereby support its growth beyond the Board’s 2 pence EPS target for 2013.
Rob Terry, chairman and group chief executive of Quindell said "I am delighted that this major new institutional investor has demonstrated their significant support for Quindell through the placing. This, combined with the newly agreed working capital facilities will provide Quindell, in combination with our existing unused banking facilities, with funding of approximately £80m to support organic growth significantly beyond our stated 2p EPS target for 2013. The group is continuing to see unprecedented opportunities for organic growth in what is a unique time in the UK insurance industry's evolution. Having this additional working capital will enable us to capitalise on this opportunity to obtain significant market share and further enhance our positioning in the market."
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