PriceSensitive

carsales.com (ASX:CAR) completes $428M institutional entitlement offer

ASX 200
ASX:CAR      MCAP $13.13B
18 May 2021 04:00 (AEST)
carsales.com (ASX:CAR) - CEO & Managing Director, Cameron McIntyre

Source: Sky News Australia

carsales.com (CAR) has successfully completed its underwritten one-for-6.99 institutional entitlement offer and raised roughly $428 million.

The company entered a trading halt on May 12 but did not disclose how much it intended to raise or what it would use the funds for.

Shares were priced at $17 and the offer was well supported by institutional shareholders with a take-up of roughly 83 per cent.

The share price of $17 represents a 12.9 per cent discount to carsales’ closing price of $19.51 on May 11.

Shares are expected to settle on May 21 and be issued and begin trading on the ASX on May 24.

carsales will use the funds to partially fund the US$624 million (around A$803 million) acquisition of Trader Interactive LLC.

Upon completion of the acquisition, carsales will hold a 49 per cent stake in the U.S. digital marketplace business.

“We are very pleased with the level of support we have received from our institutional shareholders, in particular domestic institutional investors who took up 99 per cent of their entitlements,” CEO Cameron McIntyre said.

“We firmly believe that this acquisition creates compelling value for our shareholders through accelerating our international growth strategy by providing us with exposure to a significant market in the United States across attractive non-automotive verticals,” he added.

carsales is now set to undertake a retail entitlement offer and will raise up to $172 million.

The retail component will open on May 19 and close on June 2.

Similar to the institutional entitlement offer, eligible shareholders will be able to subscribe for one new share for every 6.99 held.

Shares under the retail entitlement offer will settle on June 10 and be allocated on June 11.

carsales has ended the day 10.4 per cent in the red with shares trading at $17.20 in a $4.812 billion market cap.

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