18th Sep 2014 08:30
LONDON (Alliance News) - Earthport PLC Thursday said it has raised GBP26.6 million before expenses through a share placing with new and existing institutional investors, with the funds earmarked to accelerate its expansion and presence in Asia.
In addition, the cross-border payments service provider said the funds will be used to strengthen its balance sheet in support of significant client and product opportunities in the pipeline, as well as to invest in North America and Europe.
Earthport said it raised the funds through a placing and subscription of 65.1 million new shares at 40.85 pence each.
Earthport said it is on course to reach breakeven on a run-rate basis before the end of this financial year for its current businesses.
According to Earthport, Oppenheimer funds have subscribed for 41.0 million of the new shares under the placing, which will equate to an 8.62% stake of Earthport's enlarged issued share capital.
"Earthport has achieved significant progress over the last year, having added and gone live with several major customers. Contracted clients now include two of the top five banks globally, and four of the top 20 banks in the US. Strong operational and financial progress has been achieved. Transactional revenues continue to grow as expected based on existing and new client relationships," Chief Executive Hank Uberoi said in a statement.
"The company is entering a new phase of expansion as adoption of Earthport's innovative international payments service continues to gather momentum," Uberoi said.
"The additional funds will be used to accelerate opportunities including bringing forward plans for further geographical expansion, particularly in Asia and to continue expanding in North America and Europe. We are delighted to have received such strong demand from sophisticated institutional investors and to have their support as we enter our next phase of growth," the CEO added.
Earthport shares were Thursday quoted down 2.3% at 43.00 pence per share.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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