Australian Vintage has secured A$15m ($9.9m) in capital through a share offer as the vintner tries to ease its debts.
The funds were raised through two offers to existing and new investors. Australian Vintage has sold 75 million new shares of the group at a price of A$0.20 per share.
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An additional ‘retail entitlement offer’ will be opened from 18 June to 2 July, during which Australian Vintage hopes to raise A$4.9m.
As of 13 June, Australian Vintage share price has dropped to A$0.19, the group’s lowest price since 2010.
Earlier this week, Australian Vintage said if no equity was raised it expected its net debt by the end of June to stand at A$70-75m, compared to a previous estimate of A$43-50m.
As of 31 December, the group’s net debt was A$53.7m.
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By GlobalDataThe vintner has laid out numerous ways it has tried to bolster its balance sheet, including A$70m worth of asset sales in the last two years, exiting “uneconomic vineyard” leases and re-tendering UK bottling contracts.
Australian Vintage also said it had agreed “credit-approved terms” with National Australia Bank (NAB) “in principle” for an extension of its debt capacity. The group said that a debt extension by its financier would provide it with A$30m of debt capacity.
However, Australian Vintage has noted in its latest security filing that the debt capacity deal with NAB “remains subject to the negotiation” and execution of its documentation.
“The credit approved terms do not represent a binding funding commitment from NAB, and NAB has made no such representation to AVG. There is no certainty the credit approved terms agreed with NAB will convert to a committed debt facility available for use,” Australian Vintage said.
The capital push has come after merger talks with domestic peer Accolade Wines broke down last month.
Australian Vintage ended the contract of its CEO Craig Garvin last month. In a stock-exchange filing, the company said its board had fired Garvin “for engaging in conduct that, in its view, displayed a lack of judgement and was inconsistent with the values of the company and the high standards expected of its chief executive officer”.
The company said its 2023/2024 fiscal year sales are “expected” to be in the range of A$257-261m. It forecast its EBITDAS will be A$29-31m, up 11% year on year.
