Investec raises £85.8 million to pay down debt

South African bank, Investec plc (LSE: INVP, JSE: INP) spiked lower this morning after the company announced that it would be undertaking a book building process to raise fresh capital to tidy up its balance sheet, only to recover quickly on strong demand for the new shares.

The FTSE 250 constituent fell as low as 388 pence before bouncing back to 420 pence, and settled back to 409 pence after it announced that the placing had been completed. Merrill Lynch placed 22 million shares at 390 pence per share, raising £85.8 million before expenses. The new shares represent 4.92% of the existing ordinary shares in issue.

Investec said it would use the proceeds to buy back debt at a discount to par.

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