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(Alliance News) - Auction Technology Group PLC on Friday said it has raised GBP244.0 million from a share placing to help fund its acquisition in the US of LiveAuctioneers.
Auction Technology late Thursday had said it has agreed to buy Platinum Parent Inc, the holding company of New York-based arts and antiques marketplace LiveAuctioneers, for an enterprise value of USD525 million.
The London-based online auction operator said it will finance the acquisition through debt financing of around USD204 million and USD19 million through key LiveAuctioneers management rolling no less than 35% of their existing holding into Auction Technology shares.
The remainder will be financed from the placing of 20.0 million new shares.
Early Friday, Auction Tech confirmed that JP Morgan Securities PLC and Numis Securities Ltd placed the shares at 1,220.00p, raising GBP244.0 million. The placing shares represent 20% of the company's total prior to their issue, and the price was a 6.6% discount to their close of 1,306.00p on Thursday.
The stock was down 0.2% at 1,303.79p early Friday. Auction Tech listed on the Main Market in February at 600p per share, and the stock has more than doubled in value since.
The company now has a GBP1.30 billion market capitalisation and will join the FTSE 250 index of London mid-caps on Monday next week.
Chief Executive Officer John-Paul Savant and Chief Financial Officer Tom Hargreaves each subscribed for 4,098 shares in the placing.
Auction Technology said the acquisition will add a leading marketplace to its portfolio, bringing 1,600 auctioneers, 120,000 bidders and more than USD2 billion of total hammer value. The deal is conditional on approval from shareholders, and several antitrust authorities, including in the UK and US.
By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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