Altech Chemicals Ltd (ASX:ATC) has welcomed a number of institutional investors onto its share register as a result of a AU$10 million oversubscribed share placement.
The institutions were predominantly from Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Asia.
The placement was priced at $0.14.
Funds raised will be applied to finalising the detailed design of the company’s proposed Malaysian high purity alumina (HPA) plant, completion of independent due diligence associated with finalising debt financing, closure of debt financing and for general working capital purposes.
Altech’s plan is to offer a finished product range that will include HPA tailored for the synthetic sapphire and lithium-ion battery separator sheet manufacturing sectors, two rapidly growing segments of the HPA market.
Iggy Tan, managing director, commented:
“The company is extremely pleased with the quality and calibre of institutions that have joined our share register as part of the placement.
"Most of the participants were surprised as to how advanced the company is with its HPA project, with the bankable feasibility study completed, off-take in place and the advanced nature of debt funding, all of which has transferred directly into demand for the placement, which was subsequently heavily oversubscribed.
“Institutional investor representation on the company’s share register has increased from around 9% to closer to 23% following the placement, with plans to grow it over time."
Tan also recently said that with the forecast rapid increase in demand for HPA, particularly from lithium-ion battery separator manufacturers, combined with supply expansion timeframe limitations, that there is a real possibility of a HPA supply squeeze in the short to medium term.
Kaolin resource
Altech recently updated its kaolin resource at the wholly-owned HPA project in Meckering, Western Australia.
The updated Resource measures 11 million tonnes of kaolin clay containing 45% minus 45 micron clay with a brightness of 82.7%.
This resource will feed the proposed HPA plant in Malaysia for over 250 years.
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