AIM-listed retailer Gear4Music has raised funds to the tune of £4.2m with a placing as part of a plan to accelerate growth.
The Yorkshire-headquartered firm will use the funds to invest in the accelerated development of its bespoke IT platform as well as international expansion, including zeroing in on translation and multilingual resources.
Gear4Music will also invest a portion of the funds into its new UK head office as well as developing the firm’s German and Scandinavian hubs.
The company issued 610,000 new shares at 690 pence per share alongside 839,000 existing ordinary shares to be sold by company directors at a discount of 1.9 per cent.
Chief executive of Gear4music Andrew Wass sold a proportion of his holding of ordinary shares as part of the placing. He has agreed to a 12 month lock-in period in respect of his remaining holding.
Wass currently holds 7,886,993 shares in Gear4Music, representing 39.1 per cent of the issued shares.
“We are delighted with the level of support for our oversubscribed fundraising,” said Wass.
“We would like to take the opportunity to welcome new shareholders onto our register as well as thank our existing investors for their continued support.
“We look forward to putting the funds raised to work in the group in executing our organic growth strategy for the business.”
Advising Gear4music on the placing was law firm Walker Morris.
“It is always a pleasure to see a long-standing client grow and succeed,” said John Hamer, head of corporate at Walker Morris.
“We’ve had the pleasure of working with the company for a number of years, having previously advised at the time of Key Capital Partners’ investment in 2012 and its initial public offering in 2015.
“This latest placing is a positive move for the group to secure the funding and investment it needs to capitalise on its growth opportunities.”
The placing was conducted through an accelerated bookbuild led by Panmure Gordon (UK) acting as sole bookrunner. Squire Patton Boggs acted for Panmure Gordon on the fundraising.
Following the completion of its IPO in June 2015 Gear4Music has more than doubled its revenues from £24.2m that year to £56.1m for the year ended February 2017.