Probably not a bad result for existing shareholders (not the maximum dilution if you did not participate) considering this acquisition really came as a surprise so early on in the term of new management. Personally I couldn't contribute more capital to the company until I have seen reasonable evidence that the management is competent and the business (ex Withnalls) can earn an acceptable return on the capital in the respective businesses. That's still inconclusive in my mind. So we now have an extra 16% shares on issue and over $2m of debt to fund the initial outlay for the acquisition. Pleasingly the CEO is more aligned now with a modest stake in the company, and overall the company seems to be more focused on sustained performance and profitability. Only $550,000 equity has been raised over and above the needs for the initial transaction payment so hopefully nothing dumb will be done with this sum and over a period of time we can see if the integration and the thesis for the acquisition plays out as hoped.
AFL Price at posting:
15.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
