Fishing Republic raises over £3.7m on share placing

Fishing tackle retailer Fishing Republic said on Monday it raised over £3.75m through a "heavily-oversubscribed" placing of over 10m ordinary shares of 1p each at a price of 35p per placing share on AIM, the London Stock Exchange’s junior market, against the backdrop of sharp falls in the wider marketplace.

One of the UK’s largest fishing tackle retailers by floor space, the company said the funds from the placing will be used to support the company’s expansion as it hopes to build a significant market presence in the “fragmented fishing tackle sector”.

The 35p placing price represents an 8.7% discount to the company's 30 day volume weighted average price prior to 23 June 2016. The placing was brokered by Northland Capital Partners.

Shareholders Bill Currie, Iain McDonald and Sir Terry Leahy subscribed to over 6m placing shares in aggregate, which equates to 15.9% of the company's issued share capital immediately following admission. The shares will be held by Tilney Nominees.

Chairman James Newman subscribed for 28,571 placing shares. Following admission, he will hold 161,906 ordinary shares in Fishing Republic, which will account for 0.43% of the company's issued share capital which is enlarged by the placing. Dealings are expected to start at 08:00 BST on 29 June.

Newman said: "The placing, which was heavily oversubscribed, was well supported by existing investors and we are also pleased to welcome a number of new shareholders […] This placing is a significant step forward in Fishing Republic's ongoing development and we remain very excited about the growth opportunities ahead.''

Chief executive Steve Gross said: "We will be using the net proceeds of the placing to implement our growth strategy. In particular, we will be focusing on developing our online and digital capability, whilst continuing to expand our store network.

“Our long term goal is to consolidate the fishing tackle marketplace and build a significant market presence and we remain very positive about the opportunity for us to do so."

Fishing Republic’s shares were down 10.59% to 38p at 1700 BST.