Benchmark raises £36m through share placing for project
BIOTECH FIRM Benchmark Holdings, which develops vaccines to keep fish healthy rather than using antibiotics to treat disease, has conditionally raised £36m through a placing and intends to raise up to a further £7m by way of an open offer.
The Sheffield-based firm said the money will be used to scaleup CleanTreat, its system for removing medicinal residues from treatment water which is integral to the commercial delivery of BMK08, the firm’s sea lice treatment.
Peter George, inset, executive chairman of Benchmark, said: “We are preparing to launch BMK08, our novel medicinal treatment to combat sea lice, one of the main biological challenges in salmon farming.
“This requires scaling up CleanTreat, our proprietary system that removes medicinal residues from treatment water, and which is integral to the delivery of BMK08. Having reviewed a number of funding options, we strongly believe that an equity raise is the optimal funding strategy to deliver this scale.
“I am pleased that existing and new shareholders have placed their confidence in us to drive Benchmark to finally deliver on its enormous potential. The actions we will take in 2020 will deliver a profitable business, leading the future direction in key areas of sustainable aquaculture.”
Around £19m of the net proceeds from the placing will be used to fund the commercial development of Benchmark’s CleanTreat system. A further £16m will be used to provide additional working capital to fund the business until the proceeds from the planned disposals (anticipated to amount to between £30m and £35m before costs) are received. Capital will then be released to fund the company’s SPR shrimp roll-out and new species programmes
The fundraise is structured as a placing to raise £36.4m (£35m net of expenses) and an open offer to qualifying shareholders to raise up to £6.6m.
The net proceeds of the proposed open offer will be used to support the company’s working capital requirements. The issue price of 40p per share is a 10 per cent discount to the closing price on January 29.