LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Legal services provider Anexo Group proposed a placing of six million new ordinary shares on Friday as part of an effort to strengthen its balance sheet to take advantage of near-term opportunities.
Anexo will sell the shares at 125p each, a discount of 9.1% to the group's closing middle-market price on 28 May, as it looks to raise up approximately £7.5m.

A secondary placing of 2.8m ordinary shares will also take place in order to help the AIM-listed firm raise another £3.5m.

In addition to strengthening its order book, Anexo will use the net proceeds to expand its advocacy and specialist litigation team with specific emphasis on funding the acquisition and processing of VW emissions cases; continue recruitment within legal services, including the opening of a new office in Leeds; and further fleet investment to reposition fleet numbers towards levels seen at the end of 2018.

As far as current trading was concerned, Anexo added that adjusted pre-tax profits were expected to be in line with expectations of £23m.

Anexo said it has continued to be cash generative in the first four months of the financial year but cautioned that it had experienced "a significant fall" in new cases in the early stages of the UK-wide lockdown due to fewer cars being on the road but said it was "encouraged" to see these numbers returning towards historically normal levels in recent weeks.

"While the board is encouraged by the performance of the group this year, including strong levels of cash collection year on year, there remains some uncertainty as to the eventual impact from the lockdown measures over an extended period of time."

As of 0935 BST, Anexo shares were down 7.60% at 127.05p.

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