Saietta Group PLC (AIM:SED), the electric drivetrain specialist, said it has conditionally raised £6.7 million in new investment via a share subscription and placing involving existing and new backers.
Investors were told the proceeds would be deployed as working capital as the group gears up to meet new orders for its eDrives and to pay creditors. A tranche will go into its Saietta VNA joint venture.
At 17p a share, the newly minted equity is being sold at a 17% discount to the share price on 24 November, the point at which the fundraising plans were formally announced.
In the current sluggish market for growth company funding, the comparatively modest price drop is notable (and suggestive of an appetite for the Saietta growth story), as is the fact that the company's bankers brought in more than the £6.4 million it was initially seeking.
“We suspect these investors all see what the Saietta board sees," said chairman Tony Gott.
"[Namely], that we now have proven market demand for both of our families of eDrives from a mainstream lightweight vehicle manufacturer in our key target launch market of India, the factory is in place in Delhi and is manufacturing AFT eDrives and the supply chain is up and running.”
To deal with additional demand for those who didn’t take part in the placing, there is what’s called a broker option offering investors up to a further 5.9 million shares.
As additional orders for its radial and axial flux technology come in, the group said it will require additional investment – most probably by the end of the first quarter of next year.