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Benchmark seeking to raise £43mln via a share placing and open offer to fund commercial development of CleanTreat

Published: 19:28 30 Jan 2020 AEDT

CleanTreat is a proprietary system that removes medicinal residues from treatment water

Benchmark Holdings PLC LON:BMK) has conditionally raised £36.4mln via a share placing and the aquaculture health, nutrition and genetics business intends to raise up to a further £6.6mln by way of an open offer to qualifying shareholders to fund the commercial development of its CleanTreat system.

The AIM-listed company said the placing will be at an issue price of 40p per ordinary share, with the open offer to be priced at the same level. Benchmark shares closed trade on Wednesday at 44.50p.

READ: Benchmark heartened by progress towards launch of BMK08 in otherwise challenging year

The company has developed CleanTreat, a proprietary system that removes medicinal residues from treatment water, and which is integral to the commercial delivery of product candidate BMK08, the company's novel sea lice treatment for sea lice

In a statement, the group said its directors strongly believe the Fundraise represents the optimal scale-up strategy for CleanTreat ahead of the anticipated BMK08 regulatory approval by increasing its speed to market; delivering a higher expected return-on-investment; and maximising value for Benchmark shareholders by retaining full ownership of CleanTreat.

It added that the net proceeds will be used as follows, with £19.0mln to fund the commercial development of Benchmark's CleanTreat system to support the launch of BMK08; £16.0mln to provide additional working capital to fund the continuing business and strategy until the proceeds from planned disposals are received.

The firm also said capital will then be released to fund the company's SPR shrimp roll-out and new species programmes.

Peter George, Benchmark’s executive chairman commented: "We are preparing to launch BMK08, our novel medicinal treatment to combat sea lice, one of the main biological challenges in salmon farming.

“This requires scaling up CleanTreat, our proprietary system that removes medicinal residues from treatment water, and which is integral to the delivery of BMK08. Having reviewed a number of funding options, we strongly believe that an equity raise is the optimal funding strategy to deliver this scale." 

He added: “I am pleased that existing and new shareholders have placed their confidence in us to drive Benchmark to finally deliver on its enormous potential. The actions we will take in 2020 will deliver a profitable business, leading the future direction in key areas of sustainable Aquaculture."

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