Alliance Aviation has completed the retail leg of its entitlement offer, raising $636,000 from just 10.6% of the shares available. The shortfall will be allotted to sub-underwriters, taking the company’s total capital raising to approximately $40 million.
- 10.6% retail take-up across 113 shareholders
- $636,000 raised in the retail offer
- 9,005,906 shortfall shares to sub-underwriters
- Approximately $40 million raised in total
- New shares expected to trade from 21 September
Retail shareholders take up only 10.6%
Alliance Aviation Services Limited (ASX:AQZ) has completed its retail entitlement offer with a distinctly modest response: eligible shareholders subscribed for 909,226 new shares, raising approximately $636,000 from the $6.9 million available. Just 113 retail shareholders participated, including through the top-up facility.
The result does not derail the capital raising, because the offer was fully underwritten. The 9,005,906 new shares not taken up by retail investors will be allotted to sub-underwriters, leaving the company with the full benefit of the approximately $40 million equity raising.
Institutional funding carries the raise
The retail proceeds are the final piece of a larger transaction that raised approximately $33 million through the institutional entitlement offer and placement, which closed on 26 August. Alliance says the combined funds will significantly strengthen its balance sheet as it executes its turnaround strategies, although this announcement does not provide a detailed allocation of the money or quantify the expected financial benefits.
Chairman James Jackson described completion of the raising as important support for the company’s ongoing success. For shareholders, the more immediate fact is that the low retail participation has shifted most of the remaining issue to the sub-underwriters rather than leaving the company with an uncovered shortfall.
New shares scheduled for ASX trading
The new shares are expected to be issued on 18 September and begin trading on ASX on 21 September. They will rank equally with existing AQZ shares. The timetable remains indicative, so the next practical checkpoint is confirmation that the allotment and quotation occur as planned.
The financing is now substantially complete; the harder test is what Alliance delivers with the balance-sheet support. The filing gives investors the size of the funding buffer, but not yet the operating milestones that will show whether its turnaround strategies are working.
Bottom Line?
Alliance has secured the full approximately $40 million, but the next valuation question rests on execution rather than fundraising.
Questions in the middle?
- How will Alliance allocate the new funds between balance-sheet support and its turnaround strategies?
- Will the sub-underwriter allotment materially change the company’s shareholder register or ownership concentration?
- What operating milestones will demonstrate that the strengthened balance sheet is translating into improved performance?