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The mortgage aggregator has completed the final phase of a $60-million equity raise aimed at strengthening its underlying financial position amid the COVID-19 crisis.
The Australian Finance Group (AFG) has completed the retail component of its fully underwritten entitlement offer of fully paid ordinary shares priced at $1.15 per new share.
The offer, which closed on 2 June 2020, raised approximately $10.1 million, with approximately 8.8 million new shares issued to eligible investors.
However, the offer was under-subscribed, representing approximately 78 per cent of the new shares available for issuance under the retail entitlement offer.
As a result, over 2.5 million new shares will be allocated to the underwriter of the retail entitlement offer. The new shares are expected to be issued on Wednesday, 10 June, before commencing trading on the ASX on the following day (11 June).
In total, AFG has now raised approximately $57 million on market. While this falls short of the $60-million target announced in June, the remaining $2.9 million will be covered by the 2.5 million shares allocated to the underwriter.
This follows the completion of the institutional portion of AFG’s entitlement offer, which raised approximately $46.9 million.
The equity raise was designed to strengthen its capital position amid the COVID-19 pandemic and support future growth of AFG Securities and other ongoing growth initiatives.
At the time of the announcement, AFG stated that up to $55 million would be put aside to build a capital buffer, provide liquidity and support growth in the AFG Securities lending book, while approximately $5 million would be used to bolster technology investment.
[Related: AFG announces $60-million equity raise]