Gas and petroleum explorer Central Petroleum Ltd
(ASX:CTP) has raised $19.35 million through a placement of 75 million shares and an underwritten share purchase plan.
The equity raising will be used to ramp up exploration at the Johnstone and Surprise project areas in the Western Amadeus region.
In addition, the funds will be put towards paying for the costs of the issue and for general working capital purposes.
The over-subscribed placement of 75 million ordinary shares was made to a range of institutions and sophisticated investors at 8.6 cents per share and raised $6.45 million.
The underwriting of a share purchase plan to the level of the first 150 million shares at the same price, to be offered to existing shareholders, has conditionally raised a minimum of $12.9 million.
The issue price of 8.6 cents per share represents an 18 per cent discount to the company’s last closing price of 10.5 cents, with Central Petroleum advising the issue was heavily oversubscribed, and so resulted in a scale back of institutional demand.
Central Petroleum reported a loss of $3.8 million in the last six months of 2009.
