Smash repair business AMA Group launches $55m raise
Australia’s biggest smash repair chain AMA Group launched a $55 million equity raise on Thursday morning, calling in stockbroker Canaccord Genuity to round up investors.
AMA chief executive Carl Bizon is leaving.
Shares were priced at 7.5¢, a 35 per cent discount to the last close price. Proceeds will be used to repay senior bank debt and provide working capital and liquidity, according to a term sheet seen by Street Talk.
The raise, which was first flagged by Street Talk, comes as AMA chairman and chief executive bow out of the business after a tumultuous period of pressure on earnings and the balance sheet.
AMA’s shares have tumbled nearly 40 per cent this year. Its auditors have raised concerns about its ability to continue as a going concern.
This latest fundraising comes despite the board insisting 12 months earlier that more capital was not required at AMA, which has almost 130 shops under brands including Gemini.
The raise comes amid a trifecta of small-cap industrial deals on the ASX on Thursday. Cannacord won all three roles, acting on a $55 million raise for audiovisual networking business Audinate and a $50 million raise for fleet management solutions company Eroad. Dual-listed Eroad was raising at NZ70¢ a share, a 50 per cent to the last close.
Sources said the Eroad deal launched without requiring a commitment from 18 per cent Volaris, which raided the company’s register in June.
Elsewhere, Uranium explorer Toro Energy was seeking $4 million from investors via an institutional placement, with options attached. The offer was priced at 1¢ per share, a 16.7 per discount to the last close.
Cannacord were rounding up final bids by 5 pm on Thursday.
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