UK Coal’s £100m fundraising well backed

UK Coal said today that its £100m fundraising has been well-supported by shareholders.

The Doncaster-based coal producer and property group, said that 93.2% of shareholders eligible for the open offer have taken up their new shares.

UK Coal is raising the money to help reduce its debt and give it more financial headroom.

The company made 86.49m shares available under the 11 for 20 open offer at 75p each. The unwanted shares have also been taken up, which has seen £64.9m raised.

A firm placing will raise the remaining £41.7m, taking the gross proceeds up to £106.5m which provides it with the £100m plus the costs of the share offer.

Major shareholder Peel Holdings, which has a 28.28% stake, said last month it would take up its full entitlement to maintain its percentage holding through its subsidiary Goodweather.

David Jones, chairman of UK Coal, said: “Naturally, we are delighted with the response to our share issue, which puts in place an appropriate capital structure for UK Coal as we drive forward our strategy to realise the substantial value we see in our mining and property businesses. We thank our existing shareholders for their support and welcome our new shareholders.”

UK Coal shares closed unchanged at 113p last night.