Capital Raises Weekly Wrap - 29/11/2021

The fourth week of November was an interesting mix of placements with a wide variety of sectors as well as a change in the dominant sector for the week. There were 25 companies broadly ranging from 7 different sectors raising via placements across the market.

A substantial $515m was raised in total which is quite similar in terms of the amount raised in Week 3 of November ($563m), with an average discount of 11.67%.

Placement Overview

The sector rankings have undergone a shake up as technology accelerated into the number one spot with a mammoth $273m raised via placements. This was largely achieved through two significant raises which we've provided an overview of below.

• $160m Placement from Life360 Inc (ASX:360) Life360 Inc is a technology company based out of San Francisco that's listed on the ASX who raised $160m from an institutional placement as part of a larger $280m equity raising. The net proceeds are being used towards the acquisition of Tile with any leftover funds retained as cash to ensure continued balance sheet strength as well as capacity to pursue further growth opportunities.

• $71m Placement from Serko Limited (ASX:SKO) Serko Limited is an online travel booking and expense management software company dual listed on the ASX and NZX, who raised $75m NZD (approx. $71m AUD) via a placement. The net proceeds are intended to fund the company's strategy to invest in and capture growth opportunities in their journey towards transforming an online booking tool into a global marketplace.

We also observed a lone placement in the financial sector for $105m which was solely enough to pull it up to the second highest raising sector of the week.

• $105m Placement from Pinnacle Investment Management Group (ASX:PNI) Pinnacle Investment Management Group operates as an investment management company in Australia who currently have more than $90b in funds under management. The company raised $105m through an institutional placement in order to fund their investment in acquiring a 25% stake in Five V Capital as well as replenishing balance sheet capacity following an acquisition back in 2019.

The materials sector typically has been the strongest sector but was largely absent in this review, with only $23m raised via placements. This is likely due to the expected market slowdown that occurs in the approach towards Christmas and the end of the year, and we expect this effect to become more noticeable in the weeks ahead.

The next few weeks are also a tumultuous time for the capital markets with the onset of a new coronavirus variant, with questions around its implications for Australia as well as the wider economy. It's yet to be seen how serious the effects will be.

Sector Breakdown

For a more detailed look at how the ASX sectors are performing check out: https://www.freshequities.com/ASX/sectors 

90 Days Post Placement Performance

Looking back on the past 90 days to see how companies have performed post placement takes us to the third week of July, with 12 placements undertaken.

Performance results were largely muted compared to prior weeks with Jervius Global Ltd (ASX:JRV) leading the way at a respectable 32% 90 days post raise.

Best Performers

• Jervois Global Limited (ASX:JRV) peaked at a substantial 52% 63 days post raise before pulling back to a respectable 32%.

• Whitefield Limited (ASX:WHF) - saw a slow but steady move as it stayed largely uneventful to a 6% return 90 days post raise.

• Kula Gold Limited (ASX:KGD) - flew up to a 32% gain 19 days post raise before bouncing down sharply and moving sideways to end at a small loss of 2%.

Worst Performers

• Roto-Gro International Limited (ASX:RGI) quickly peaked at 31% 4 days post raise before beginning a substantial but steady decline to a 60% decrease.

• Total Brain Limited (ASX:TTB) saw a volatile double peak of 9% and 11% at 7 and 45 days respectively post raise before falling steeply to end at a 50% decrease.

• Matsa Resources Limited (ASX:MAT) stayed negative throughout the entire 90 day period, plunging to a 68% decrease before recovering slightly to a 60% decrease at the end of the period.

Check out our Past Capital Raises page for more information on past transactions.