THQ Nordic completes share issue worth $168m
Major acquisition plans afoot with flash sale of 7.7 million shares
THQ Nordic has raised $168 million from a directed share issue as it gears up to finance a series of acquisitions.
The company announced today that it has issued 7.7 million Class B shares at $21.85 each in an accelerated book-building procedure -- essentially a flash sale to raise quick capital ahead of acquisitions -- led by Carnegie Investment bank.
Deviating from shareholders' preferential rights, THQ Nordic opted to diversify its subscribers with the move and "raise capital in a time efficient manner".
In a statement, THQ Nordic said it intends to use the proceeds on acquiring new franchises, game development studios, and toward "other objectives which complement the operations, and enable higher rate of investment in the development of the company".
The completion of the directed share issue increases the number of outstanding shares and votes by 7.7 million to 88 million and 169 million respectively.
As part of the share issue CEO Lars Wingefors and CFO Erik Stenberg have commitmented not to sell their shareholdings during a lock-up period of 180 days.