Wellnex Life raises $9m ahead of proposed London Stock Exchange AIM listing
Healthcare business Wellnex Life (ASX: WNX) has received initial conditional binding commitments of $9 million to support its proposed dual listing on the AIM sub-market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
After receiving significant interest from UK-based institutions and sophisticated investors, the company launched the 1:1 non-renounceable entitlement offer it had previously announced earlier this week.
The entitlement offer is not conditional on the AIM listing being completed.
Book building process
Wellnex Life chief executive officer George Karafotias said the lead brokers would continue the marketing and book building processes for the placement until the entitlement offer closes on 26 February.
The company plans to complete the issue of ordinary shares from the placement and the conversion of the notes soon after that, so as to coincide with the proposed AIM listing.
Wellnex will use the funds raised to redeem the balance of convertible notes, pay the outstanding deferred consideration for the company’s Pain Away acquisition and fund general working capital.
Significant savings
“Recapitalising the balance sheet by settling the outstanding deferred consideration for Pain Away and eliminating the convertible notes will save the company $1.4m annually and provide a strong platform for revenue growth in domestic and international markets,” Mr Karafotias said.
At the same time, the company is aiming to accelerate the launch of its brands in the UK and other identified European markets and pursue additional distribution of its liquid softgel range with its current and newly identified partners.
“This is a pivotal and transformative period for the company that we expect will enhance both company and shareholder value.”
Soft gel approval
Wellnex Life achieved a breakthrough earlier this month, with a new market authorisation (MA) granted for its liquid paracetamol-plus-caffeine soft gel.
The MA comes after Wellnex made a successful submission to Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration for the latest addition to its range of liquid soft gels.
It adds to the company’s previous MAs for liquid paracetamol, liquid paracetamol-plus-ibuprofen and liquid mini-ibuprofen.