SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Tabcorp Holdings has confirmed that it has completed the ‘retail component’ of its AU$600 million (€370 million) entitlement offer, having raised approximately AU$230 million (€142 million).
Completing the retail phase of its entitlement offer authorised following Tabcorp publishing its 2019 results, the ASX gambling group sold 8.5 million retail entitlements through the placement generating $2.7 million for company shareholders.
The transaction follows, last August’s $371 million entitlement offer raised from institutional investors, the retail entitlements represent approximately 12% of entitlements.
The proceeds of the Entitlement Offer will be used to pay down existing drawn bank debt facilities and will strengthen Tabcorp’s balance sheet and provide greater financial flexibility and additional credit metric headroom for covenant and rating purposes.
Publishing its 2019/2020 accounts, Tabcorp revealed to investors that it anticipated booking combined write-down costs of between AUS $1-1.1 billion, attributed to significant pandemic damages across its TAB retail wagering units.
Tabcorp’s outgoing Chairman, Paula Dwyer, said: “The completion of the retail shortfall bookbuild concludes the renounceable entitlement offer announced with our FY20 results. We are pleased that all of our retail shareholders who did not participate have realised value for their rights.”
Approximately 35,000 retail shareholders elected to partially or fully take up their retail entitlements, which amounted to eligible retail shareholders subscribing for approximately 31.4 million new Tabcorp shares, which raised approximately $102 million.
An additional 39.7 million retail entitlements were made available via a retail shortfall bookbuild, priced at $3.31 per retail entitlement. Eligible shareholders that did not take up their entitlements, and ineligible retail investors, will receive $0.06 per entitlement sold through the bookbuild.
