Bulgaria's Smart Organic launches capital hike

Smart Organic will offer for subscription some 1.03 million new ordinary voting shares with a par value of 1 lev each at an issue price of 19.00 levs apiece, the company said in a bourse filing.

Current investors and those who purchase existing shares within five business days of publishing the capital increase notice will receive rights to subscribe for new shares, with each ten rights corresponding to one new company share.

The capital increase will be considered successful if no fewer than 500,000 new shares are subscribed and paid for. If all shares are subscribed, the company stands to make some 19.08 million levs in net proceeds, Smart Organic said earlier in a capital hike prospectus.

The raised funds will be used to complete the construction of Smart Organic's new production base near Sofia and could also go towards acquiring local and international companies in the organic food and beverage sector. Smart Organic is investing some 16 million levs in the facility, which will include two workshops for chocolate products, tahini and raw bars production, the company's investor ImPulse Growth [BUL:IMP] said in an earlier statement.

Karoll broker will act as investment intermediary on the capital increase process.

Last week, Bulgaria's financial regulator said it approved a prospectus for admission to trading of Smart Organic's current equity capital of 10.31 million shares with a par value of 1 lev each, along with the planned capital increase, on the regulated market of the Sofia bourse.

As of 1505 CEST on Tuesday, shares in Smart Organic traded flat at 19.70 levs on the BEAM growth market of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange.

(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)