Rights issue oversubscribed by 207%

PRIVATE education group ADvTECH yesterday announced that its R850 million rights issue that closed last week had been oversubscribed and that the company had raised funding to pursue its growth strategy. “The proceeds provide ADvTECH with the flexibility to pursue additional greenfields and acquisitive growth opportunities for its schools, tertiary and resourcing divisions in South Africa and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa,” the group said. The rights offer of 75 million shares, which was partly underwritten by ADvTECH shareholders Coronation Fund Managers and Visio Capital, was to raise funds for the group’s strategy to expand into the rest of Africa, which was kick-started earlier this year when the group bought a private school in Botswana. “With 99 percent of shareholders electing to follow their rights, the offer was oversubscribed by 207 percent, signalling overwhelming support from shareholders for ADvTECH’s growth strategy,” ADvTECH said. Newly appointed chief executive Roy Douglas, who was instrumental in parrying a R6 billion takeover attempt by Curro Holdings, said the oversubscription of the rights issue was a vote of confidence by shareholders. “This allows us to continue exploring the many exciting opportunities that we are evaluating as part of our growth strategy,” Douglas said. ADvTECH shares on the JSE rose 1.35 percent yesterday to R13.48, which valued the company at R6.14 billion. – Banele Ginindza