Poundland aims to raise £50m to pay for 99p Stores acquisition

DISCOUNT retailer Poundland is aiming to raise £50m on the stock market to fund the acquisition of rival 99p Stores.

The Willenhall firm announced this morning that is intends to raise the money through a placing of new ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the capital of the company to institutional investors.

J.P. Morgan Securities has been appointed sole bookrunner and Shore Capital Stockbrokers is acting as co-lead manager, in relation to the placing.

The plan to raise cash was first mentioned on February 6 when Poundland
announced that it had signed a conditional sale and purchase agreement to acquire 99p Stores for £55m.

The acquisition was conditional on the approval of the Competition & Markets Authority which gave full clearance to the takeover earlier this month.

Poundland announced that it would proceed to completion of the deal by the end of the month.

The firm said the placing is consistent with the board’s desire to maintain a strong financial position to support the successful execution of its growth strategy.

It expects to complete the 99p Stores acquisition on Monday.