Investment firm John Laing Infrastructure Fund (JLIF), a new entrant on the FTSE 250, has announced the placing of just under 29.4m new ordinary shares, the proceeds of which will partly be used to repay debt following previously announced acquisitions.
The shares will be issued at 105.5p per share, and collectively represent up to 7.0% of the current issued share capital of the firm.
The exact number of shares issues will be determined at the close of the placing.
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The remainder of the proceeds are anticipated to be used for future secondary market purchases, which the company is currently eyeing up.
JLIF has access to bank facilities totalling £60m and the placing will allow the firm to pay down existing debt and enable it to use its bank facilities to take advantage of acquisition opportunities, the company said.
JLIF has also been notified by John Laing Investments that they will be seeking to place up to 14,285,714 shares in a secondary placing.
On the operational side, JLIF announced the completion of the acquisition of a 100% stake in Roseberry Park Hospital from John Laing for £13m.
Since the start of 2011, JLIF has completed the acquisition of stakes in a further 15 projects and made investments in existing projects, totalling £154.3m, with one further, namely a 15% stake in the Newcastle Hospital project for £10m, expected to close in the current quarter.
The fund is comprised of 34 operational, availability based, private finance intiative/public-private patrnetship global infrastructure projects with an estimated value of £425.1m. The majority of projects have been acquired from the John Laing Group, and seven investments have been acquired from third party vendors.
Paul Lester, Chairman of JLIF, said: "JLIF has grown rapidly since its launch in November 2010, investing in a portfolio which now comprises 34 projects and delivering total returns to our shareholders of 13.76% to April 25th 2012. The fast moving secondary market presents a number of opportunities for JLIF and the placing will provide us with greater flexibility to take advantage of these opportunities as they arise."
The share price fell 0.93% to 106.10p by 09:39.
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