4th Jun 2015 08:41
LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in fishing tackle retailer Fishing Republic PLC were trading higher as they debuted on London's AIM market on Thursday, while NextEnergy European Solar Utility PLC outlined plans to float on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange.
Fishing Republic shares were up 13.3% at 17 pence on Thursday, after the company issued 10 million shares at 15 pence per share to raise a total of GBP1.5 million. Its market capitalisaton upon admission was GBP3.56 million.
The company is one of the largest fishing tackle retailers in the UK by floor space and says it sees scope for growth given the fragmentation of the fishing tackle retailer sector. In intends to grow its presence in the market both through organic growth and acquisitions.
The proceeds from the placing will be used to back its expansion plans.
"I am delighted that Fishing Republic has joined AIM and I look forward to this new phase of development for our business. We see an exciting opportunity to build Fishing Republic's presence in a highly fragmented sector and the company's admission to AIM will assist us in realising our growth ambitions," said Steve Gross, Fishing Republic's chief executive.
Elsewhere, NextEnergy European Solar Utility PLC, an investment company, said it is planning to float on the main market, though it did not provide any details on how much it intends to raise via its subscription and placing.
The company is planning to invest in utility-scale solar assets in the European Union, excluding the UK, with an initial focus on the Italian and Spanish markets.
It has appointed Mirabella Malta Ltd to perform investment management services and the manager has delegated discretionary portfolio management activities to Mirabella Financial Services LLP. The portfolio manager will receive investment advice from NextEnergy Capital Ltd, part of the NEC Group.
The company has the right of first offer on NextEnergy Capital's pipeline under the terms of the management agreement, with more than 1.3 gigawatts peak of assets already identified for potential acquisition and talks started or bids made on in excess of 427 megawatts peak of projects, representing nearly EUR500 million of equity investment.
The proposed chairman of the NextEnergy European Solar Utility board is Stefano Preda, formerly chairman of the Italian Stock Exchange, with the other board members comprising Javier Herrero, the former chief executive of Iberdrola, Paolo Braghieri who is currently CEO of GE Capital subsidiary Interbanca, and Anne Tutt, currently a non-executive director of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.
"The Southern European solar PV market has seen a rapid growth in installed generating capacity, undertaken in a very short time frame and financed principally by non-industrial investors. As a result, these markets are highly fragmented and do not operate at an optimum level. Consolidation by an industrial player with a long-term investment horizon can drive operating and technical improvements as well as cost and financing synergies," said Michael Bonte-Friedheim, CEO of NextEnergy Capital.
NEC Group is already the investment manager to London-listed NextEnergy Solar Fund Ltd, which has raised GBP246.6 million that was invested into about 217 megawatts peak over sixteen acquisitions in UK solar power plants since it floated in April 2014.
NextEnergy European Solar Utility is targeting a dividend of between three and five euro cents in 2015, eight euro cents per share in 2016, and nine euro cents in 2017 once the potential upsides of the investment opportunity have been realised. It is targeting aggregate returns to investors that equate to a levered internal rate of return of between 10% and 12%. It also targets an element of capital growth from re-investing excess cash flows generated beyond the dividend.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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