Carclo looks to raise £13m via share placing

Carclo, the listed plastics technology group, is looking to raise nearly £13m via a share placing, with a view to investing in two key areas of its business and help reduce its debt.

Ian Williamson, Carclo’s chief executive, said net proceeds from the placing of 3.1 million shares – around £12.8m – would fund future capital investment in its conductive inkjet technology (CIT) and the ongoing development of its diagnostic solutions arm (CDS).

Williamson said the investment in CIT was “at the heart of the emerging market for very low-cost printed electronics”.

He added that CIT’s Fine Line Technology could exploit the touch screen market currently valued at $4bn (£2.6bn) and which is expected to double in size by 2014.

Consequently Williamson said the company expected CIT “to become the largest and fastest growing business within the group over the next couple of years”.

“The group’s strategy is to bring additional focus and resource to three other significant business opportunities in CIT: printed electronics; organic LED lighting and organic photovoltaics,” he added.

Williamson said there was "strong support for the fund-raising", given the appreciation for the technology's growth prospects, while some of the placing funds would also go towards paying down the group’s debt.

He noted that Carclo’s net debt of £18m at the end of March 2012 reflected a “comfortable level of headroom”, but that the level of indebtedness “acts as a constraint on further investment to expand the company’s technology and growth businesses”.

[ Back ]