Investment holding company African Rainbow Capital (ARC) Investments has successfully raised R750-million from shareholders following a recent rights offer to the market.
The company said in September that it was seeking to raise R750-million with the intention of deploying the capital in new investment opportunities that may become available, as well as strengthening investee companies in the portfolio.
The rights offer closed on October 2 and 83.1% of available rights offer shares (over 226.8-million shares) were subscribed for as the majority of shareholders elected to follow their rights by taking up additional shares at R2.75 a share.
The remaining 16.8% of shares (over 45.9-million shares) will be taken up and paid for by ARC, which was underwriting the rights offer in full.
In total, over 272.7-million shares were made available to shareholders.
Commenting on the outcome of the rights offer, ARC co-CEO Johan van der Merwe said the company wants “to be ready” for the relevant investment opportunity that may come the company’s way.
“We are fully aware of the fact that, in the current trading environment, mainly characterised by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and a contracting economy, significant uncertainty exists which may bring about key opportunities. With this in mind, we want to position ourselves and respond timeously to any opportunity that is aligned with our investment mandate.”
ARC will now move to the next phase, which is to assess where the newly available capital will be put to best use and which will support the company in its focus to deliver market-related returns to its shareholders.