After claiming no requirement to raise further funds at its interim results in July, AIM-listed e-procurement software and services provider, @UK, has done just that not once but twice since. Back in December, management raised £0.5m placing 4.5m new shares at 11p – a couple of percent above the prior price. And today the company confirmed it has raised a further £0.3m, placing another 2,8m new shares at the same price, though now a 7% discount.
The rationale for the first fund-raising was to “take the company to the next level in terms of contracts it can win”; that of the second is “to provide additional funds for marketing, sales and working capital”. A recent positive trading upate (see @UK optmistic after beating expectations) gave no hint of the need for a second placing - quite the contrary, actually. The placings leave @UK chairman Ronald Duncan and family holding just under 27% of the stock.