Gentrack raises $26M from retail investors

Gentrack raises $26M from retail investors as part of $90M debt paydown

By Sophie Boot

July 30 (BusinessDesk) - Gentrack Group said it raised about $25.8 million in a stock offer to retail investors, in the second part of a two-stage share sale aimed at raising funds to repay debt used for a recent flurry of acquisitions.

Total take-up under the retail entitlement offer, which closed on July 26, was 68 percent, Auckland-based Gentrack said in a statement. The company is now offering a retail shortfall bookbuild for 1.93 million entitlements, being run today.

The previous institutional entitlement offer, which was run earlier this month, raised about $31.5 million, and its shortfall bookbuild of 3.4 million entitlements achieved a clearing price of $6.69 per share, a premium of 50 cents per share over the offer price of $6.19 and a discount of 19 cents per share to the theoretical ex-rights price of $6.88. The $90 million capital raise is fully underwritten by Deutsche Craigs and UBS New Zealand.

The funds raised will go towards repaying bank debt taken on after a series of four acquisitions totalling $138 million before earn-out payments, which the utilities software developer says will leave it with almost no bank debt and give it a strong enough balance sheet to make more acquisitions.

In June, Gentrack bought UK-based energy data analysis software and services provider Evolve Analytics for an enterprise value of $44 million, adding to last year's acquisition of UK billing and customer information systems firm Junifer Systems for $74.6 million and European airport software developers Blip Systems and CA Plus for about $20.3 million.

The shares last traded at $6.90, and have risen 4 percent this year. The stock is rated an average 'hold' based on three analyst recommendations compiled by Reuters, with a median target price of $6.69.

(BusinessDesk)

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