Revolution launches £15m fundraise

Revolution Bars Group is seeking to raise £15m in a share placing, while transferring trading from the London Stock Exchange to the smaller AIM.

The fundraise is by way of a firm placing and a placing and open offer at 20 pence per new ordinary share, and will be used by the group to achieve an “appropriate level of indebtedness” and emerge from the coronavirus pandemic in a position of strength.

It is conditional on shareholder approval and the transfer to the AIM.

FinnCap is acting an adviser in relation to the AIM Admission, and FinnCap and Peel Hunt are acting as joint brokers in relation to the firm placing and the placing and open offer.

The funds will help the business and recover shareholder value once its bars reopen, reduce its financial gearing, and recommence its estate refurbishment programme.

Up to £9m will be raised through the firm placing of up to 45m new ordinary shares at the issue price of 20 pence per new ordinary share.

Up to a further £6m will be raised through the placing of up to 30m new ordinary shares at the issue price subject to clawback to satisfy valid applications under the open offer.

The issue price represents a discount of approximately 42% to the closing price of an ordinary share on 4 June 2020, and a discount of approximately 23.9% to the volume weighted average price of an ordinary share for the 30-day period to 4 June 2020.

The board intends to invest, in aggregate, £132,000 in the fundraising.

The group’s lender, NatWest, increased Revolution’s total debt facilities to £37.5m last month, with the group’s net debt £22m.

The company has agreed that, conditional on the completion of the fundraising, the revised facilities will step-down by £7.5m on 31 March 2021.

This is part of a targeting reduction in net debt to 0.9x EBITDA for the financial period ending June 2022.

Meanwhile the move to AIM enables quicker and cheaper fundraisings and is a more appropriate listing venue for the company in the long term.