CAPITAL MARKETS

Cradle Arc makes more capital headroom

Cradle Arc (AIM:CRA) is aiming to raise £2.4 million (US$3.1 million) to use as working capital for its 60%-owned Mowana copper mine in Botswana and redeem its convertible loan notes.

Staff reporter
Cradle Arc is ramping up the Mowana copper mine in Botswana

Cradle Arc is ramping up the Mowana copper mine in Botswana

The funds will be raised through a subscription at 5p per share and the accelerated exercise of outstanding warrants.   

Concerning the redemption of the convertible loan notes, Cradle reached an agreement with holders to suspend their conversion rights and redeem all the notes for staged, back-end weighted cash payments totalling £1.59 million up until their maturity at the end of December.

The company has also agreed to defer certain scheduled debt repayments totalling US$6.55 million, including some payments due to PenMin Botswana under pre-existing arrangements, until January 2019.

Cradlle also plans to increase its effective equity interest in Mowana by acquiring at least US$1.5 million in new equity in Leboam on a yet-to-be-determined fair value basis.

It said all the agreements would expand its equity capital base and provided more capital headroom as it ramped up production at Mowana and got closer to the upcoming dense media separation (DMS) expansion project.

Cradle CEO Kevin van Wouw said the transactions had simplified and strengthened the company's financial structure.

"Taking into account the shares which may potentially have been issued on conversion of the convertible loan notes, we have effectively reduced the company's fully diluted pro-forma share capital" he said.

Van Wouw added that the "increase in working capital headroom and planned additional equity investment in Leboam, reduces the group's risk profile at a time of volatile copper prices and better positions us to seek and secure the financing required to move forward with our DMS expansion project in due course".

The market was not too happy with the moves, with shares falling 6.92% Wednesday to 5.58p.

 

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