Newly-listed VMob to raise $5M in private placement

Newly-listed VMob to raise $5M in private placement, share purchase plan to follow

By Paul McBeth

Sept. 7 (BusinessDesk) - Vmob, the smart-phone voucher application firm that listed on the NZAX last week, is on the prowl for fresh capital and wants to raise up to $5 million in a private placement, with a share purchase plan to follow.

The Auckland-based company will look for funds from eligible investors on both sides of the Tasman, it said in a statement. Once that's complete, it will make an offer to shareholders who joined the company through its backdoor listing using the Velo Capital shell.

"The new capital raised will be applied towards accelerating the implementation of the company's business plan and to assist the company with funding it future working capital requirements," it said. "An update on the progress of this capital raising initiative will be provided to the market in due course."

VMob, formerly Voucher Mob, was set up in 2010 by Scott Bradley, and has attracted McDonald’s, Dominos, Hoyts, Bakers Delight and Civic Video to its platform. It pitches its application as a way mobile network operators can cash in on web-based advertising revenue that is getting diverted through platforms such as Facebook and Google.

The company used New Zealand as a pilot project and is looking to rapidly expand across South East Asia, with Indonesia its first target market.

The company posted a loss of $699,000 in the 12 months ended Mar. 31, its first full year of trading, on operating revenue of $28,000. If its growth plans pay off, it forecast the revenue base will rise to $16.6 million by 2014/15, giving it free pretax cash flow of $13.1 million.

The shares were unchanged at 8 cents yesterday, and have jumped from 3 cents since its listing on Aug. 27. That's a 1 cent premium to the issue price Velo Capital paid VMob for the 609 million shares, about 78 percent of the company's stock, issued as part of the backdoor listing.

(BusinessDesk)

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