Manchester print services-turned software group Grafenia PLC has raised around £2.72m through the issue of unsecured bonds via its facility with the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
AIM-listed Grafenia put a facility in place on the Frankfurt exchange in 2020 to issue up to £50m of “perpetual bonds.” It issued £3m of bonds at the time to bolster cashflow and its M&A plans, followed by a further £5m of bonds in September 2022 at the time of the acquisition of ecomms specialist Vertical Plus. The latest bonds are believed to have been issued at around 85 per cent of a total £3.2m value, with interest payable at six per cent pa from July 2023.
The bond issue follows Grafenia’s £2.5m acquisition of Watermark Technologies last week and the new funds are expected to be used to fund further acquisitions as the group continues to reposition itself as a software business.
Acting CEO Gavin Cockerill said: “Over the last 12 months we have invested in building the structure required for us to be a serial acquirer and permanent home for vertical market software businesses. The funds being raised via the bond placing are for further potential acquisitions we currently have in the pipeline. We’re pleased with the ongoing progress being made with our acquisition strategy.”
The firm’s share price hit a 52-week high of 7.00p last month and is up eight per cent over the past year.
