Ocado said on Monday that it was planning to raise £575m in a share placing to help fund its expansion, and announced a new £300m banking facility.
The online supermarket said it would raise the funds though a placing of new shares, “to give the company enough liquidity to fund the requirements of its existing and expected customer commitments into the mid-term, driving strong growth and returns in the future”.
It also said it had agreed a new £300m revolving credit facility with a syndicate of “leading international banks” and reiterated the guidance provided in the full-year results in February and its latest trading statement in May.
Ocado said the placing will be conducted through an accelerated bookbuild and the price at which the shares will be placed will be determined at the close of the bookbuild.
It noted that the online grocery market continues to show “significant” growth and said it needs to “bring solutions to market even faster”.
“The urgency to bring online grocery solutions to market is at the forefront of customers’ minds,” it said. “Ocado Group is continually improving build processes to reduce time to launch, using its tried and tested technology, allowing the company to ramp up capacity at accelerated rates.”
Proceeds from the placing will allow Ocado to “capitalise on the opportunity set over the medium term”. This includes supporting its current Ocado Solutions partners as the increase in online grocery demand globally requires faster growth in fulfilment capacity; continued investment in innovation and at a faster pace; and the further expansion of its leadership position.
Ocado also announced the launch of a separate £6.9m retail offer.
