WANdisco plans to raise £30m in equity fundraise

WANdisco plans a £30m equity fundraise in June to take advantage of “significant opportunities ahead” as it seeks to resume trading in its shares on AIM, it told the London Stock Exchange this morning.

The firm said resumption of share trading would be as soon as practicable, but not before completion of the proposed fundraising. It said it will require shareholder approval for issuance of new ordinary shares, which it intends to seek before auditing of its 2022 accounts at the end of June.

Chairman Ken Lever said, “We have been working at pace to deal with the issues the company has faced and create a positive path forward.  A lot has been achieved and I am particularly pleased to now have a world-class CEO and CFO in place, who are both energised to see the company through this difficult period. 

“Having now been in the business for some six weeks, there is no doubt in my mind that the company should have a very bright future given its differentiated technology. However, improvements across sales and marketing need to be made to properly take advantage of the opportunity. 

“To do this, the business needs to be urgently properly capitalised and so today we are announcing our desire to raise $30 million towards the end of June.  Unfortunately, much of this capital requirement is a direct result of the issues that led to our announcement on 9 March.  On completion of the fund raise I believe that the company can have a bright future.”

The firm said its cash balance of $8m would be sufficient working capital until mid-July. It previously announced staff cuts of 30% and reduced its annual cost base from $41 million to circa $25 million. 

It said the proposed fundraising would allow it to build balance sheet strength to take advantage of opportunities, and underpin marketing, sales and R&D infrastructure and enhance business development to speed its sales pipeline growth, commercial partnerships, and new customer launches.

It said it is developing a turnaround programme around its product offering and market opportunity, and it would base its value creation strategy around profitable and sustainable growth.