Eden Research plc (LON:EDEN) has raised £10.1mln through a placing and subscription to help fund the commercialisation of its insecticide products.
The AIM-listed firm said it had placed around 151.7mln new shares at a price of 6p each, a 24% discount to its Thursday closing price, raising £9.1mln.
READ: Eden Research helping to transform crop science
The company had also raised another £1mln through a subscription of around 16.7mln shares at the same price to certain institutional and other investors.
For shareholders that were not able to participate in either, Eden said it is proposing to raise an additional £500,000 by way of an open offer to qualifying shareholders of up to around 8.3mln new shares at the 6p price tag.
The company said it will use £6mln of the proceeds to develop and commercialise its insecticide products and seed treatments, while £2mln will be spent to develop the use of its Sustaine product with traditional agrochemicals.
Meanwhile, another £2mln will be put towards expanding its product portfolio in seed treatments, broad-acre crops and the home and garden market.
“As momentum continues to build, we remain focussed upon providing sustainable solutions for global agriculture. Furthermore, we are eager to accelerate the commercialisation of new products for new categories including insecticides and seed treatments. Now is the right time to invest and capitalise on the opportunities in our pipeline”, said Eden’s chief executive Sean Smith.
“The outlook for the biopesticides market is undoubtedly positive, with a clear demand from a growing consumer market for sustainably grown produce and a notable shift towards greener farming practices. Eden's biopesticide solutions combine high levels of efficacy that are comparable to synthetic pesticides and are aligned with the direction of regulatory travel, which has seen restrictions and, in some cases, the removal of conventional products from the market", he added.
The shares were 13.7% lower at 6.8p in mid-afternoon trading on Friday.