£30m fundraise completed for Morrisons retail partner

McColl’s convenience store group, which is partnered with Bradford-headquartered Morrisons, has raised about £30m through a conditional placing of 150,000,000 new ordinary shares at a price of 20p per share.

McColl’s, which operates from about 1,200 convenience stores and newsagents across Britain, has a wholesale supply deal with the Morrisons supermarket chain.

As part of this link, McColl’s is turning hundreds of its sites to a store format branded “Morrisons Daily”.

The £30m proceeds of its share placing will be used to increase the number, and accelerate the pace of rollout, of McColl’s Morrisons Daily stores, from 56 to 350 by the end of the financial year ending November 2022.

It is an increase of 50 stores against the Group’s previous target of 300 stores by the end of December 2023.

The cash will also improve the grocery infrastructure in the Morrisons Daily sites, enhancing the standard of the refit and expanding the chilled offer with more refrigeration, adding further profit potential.

And McColl’s says this means it will be able to further invest in its store estate, giving it the potential to extend the rollout of Morrisons Daily beyond 350 stores.

Each of McColl’s’ directors participated in the Firm Placing. Together they have agreed to subscribe approximately £3.19m in aggregate for 15,950,000 new ordinary shares via the Firm Placing at the offer price.

Jonathan Miller, chief executive, said: “Today’s successful capital raise represents a transformational opportunity to accelerate our strategy and capitalise on the growth opportunity available to us in food-led convenience.

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank our existing shareholders for their ongoing support and welcome all new shareholders in the company.”

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