Whitbread PLC (LON:WTB), the Premier Inn hotel operator, has received a 91.4% take-up for its deeply-discounted 1-for-2 £1bn rights issue that was priced at 1,500p a share.
Whitbread announced the rights issue in May to cover what it said would be cash outflows of around £600mln while its hotels remained in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Around £80mln of cash per month is flowing out of the business while its hotels and pubs are closed or suffering from low occupancy, it said at the time, with an extra £100mln outflow predicted for customer refunds with around £130mln of capital expenditure earmarked for committed projects.
It added that the cash burn will be partially offset by roughly £70mln-85mln of employee furlough benefits during the first half of the new year, plus £120mln of business rate support.
Since the announcement of the rights issue last month, shares in Whitbread have risen by around 25% on hopes of an earlier than expected easing of lockdown restrictions.
The share issue was fully underwritten but the joint bookrunners JP Morgan Cazenove and Morgan Stanley will try to find buyers for the shares not taken up before that option is used.