LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Keywords Studios said on Friday that it has raised around ?100m in a placing to take advantage of acquisition opportunities.
The company placed a total of 6.9m new ordinary shares at 1,450p, which is a 6% discount to the closing share price on Thursday, with strong support from both existing and new investors.

In a statement announcing the launch of the placing on Thursday, Keywords said: "The group entered the year with a strong acquisition pipeline and the board believes there is a unique opportunity for Keywords Studios to leverage its position as the market leader to continue its acquisition strategy of high quality businesses, increasing scale and capability and further accelerating growth.

"The board feels that the placing will enable it to maintain a strong balance sheet without constraining its acquisition strategy when prospects for attractive M&A opportunities have rarely been higher."

Any acquisitions will be in line with the group's existing strategy and deliver shareholder value, it added.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "It has already made 44 acquisitions in its career and believes the Covid-19 crisis will increase the pool of potential deals as smaller companies struggle to keep going.

"An extra ?100m will now put in a strong position to add a few more companies to the group."

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