LONDON (Alliance News) - Brewing Dolphin Holdings PLC raised GBP60 million through a share placing following a series of acquisitions, it said Friday, including a new one in Ireland.
The company said it placed 19.7 million shares at a price of 305 pence each. The placing price is a 5.0% discount to Brewin's closing price of 321p on Thursday in London.
The stock was trading 4.7% lower on Friday in London at 305.80p a share.
Liberum Capital Ltd and RBC Europe Ltd were acting as joint bookrunners for the placing. Following the admission, the company has 303.1 million shares overall.
"We are pleased to report the successful completion of the equity placing, which enables us to maintain a strong regulatory capital level and have continued financial flexibility for further development opportunities," said Chief Executive David Nicol.
Over the last 12 months, Brewin has invested GBP70 million in new businesses as well as some internal new businesses, it noted.
The placing, it said, will allow it to "maintain a strong regulatory capital level", giving it the financial flexibility needed for further development.
The wealth manager has bought the Irish wealth management unit of Anglo-South African bank Investec PLC for around EUR44 million.
The firm, which confirmed mid-April it was in talks with Investec, said this builds on its plan to expand Irish operations, creating a "top three" wealth management business in the republic.
The Investec business has offices in Dublin and Cork, with funds under management of EUR2.9 billion as of the end of March.
The acquisition and placing have been announced alongside Brewin's interim figures for the six months to March, a "strong" period for Brewin.
Total funds at period-end were GBP42.4 billion, up from GBP39.7 billion year-on-year though slightly lower from the GBP42.8 million figure at the end of September last year.
Brewin's total income was 0.3% higher at GBP162.3 million, which the company said was mainly due to "largely flat" average funds over the six months.
Adjusted pretax profit fell 8.2% to GBP35.6 million, with the statutory figure declining 13% to GBP29.7 million.
Discretionary funds were GBP37.5 billion, down slightly year-on-year, with new flows offset by investment performance, Brewin said. Net fund flows were GBP800 million, rising GBP200 million year-on-year.
Brewin has held its interim dividend flat at 4.4p per share.
