After being on the cusp of its original US$75-million additional public offering (APO), PROVEN Investments Limited (PIL) has returned to the market to raise new capital for its upcoming acquisitions and developments.

Following the suspension and eventual closure of its first APO, which opened close to the novel coronavirus pandemic declaration, PIL is aiming to raise US$30.3 million (J$4.4 billion) as the 10-year-old company looks to achieve its US$150-million capital base one year early and grow its asset base to US$650 million. Co-founder, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of PROVEN Management Limited (PML) Christopher Williams is confident in the ability for PIL to garner full support.

When questioned about the rationale for the lower capital raise compared to March, Williams explained that it was partially due to the regulatory changes surrounding US dollar raises which constrains the company and the smaller deals PIL negotiated after the initial downturn in the markets and region.

“The reality is that we’re operating in a different world. The pandemic has affected our operating market. Our operating market is primarily the English-speaking Caribbean which has significantly been affected. The deals that we were looking at are no longer at the table based on the prices that we’re comfortable paying. We have identified smaller deals that require less cash. The deal sizes are not as large and so we don’t need as much capital. It would not be efficient or fair to our existing shareholders to dilute them unnecessarily without opportunity. We have to be capital efficient and don’t want to raise more than you need. The strategy now is to go for several raises instead of one big raise,” Williams told the Business Report.

PROVEN’s original March offer was priced at US$0.28 /J $38.64 with the new APO being priced between 18 to 21 per cent lower from US$0.22/J$32.10 to US $0.23/J $33.50.

PIL’s normalised net profit attributable to shareholders for the six-month period ended September 30, 2020 was US$4.8 million (J$695.6 million), down 17 per cent when compared with the similar period in the previous year mainly due to lower business activity and the reclassification of Access Financial Services Limited to an associate following the partial disposal of its original 49.72 per cent stake.

PIL’s upcoming acquisitions have been valued close to US$30 million with the company’s six major real estate projects in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands being valued at US$15 million with the signature Via at Braemar and Omega Drive developments scheduled to be completed this year.

Williams indicated that company has sufficient internal liquidity to execute the deals in the near term with US$125.1 million ($18.1 billion) in cash at the end of September 2020. He also confirmed that none of the portfolio companies would be used to acquire the targets of interest.

In closing, Williams gave a reflection of 2020 and the future he expects for the pioneering company PIL has grown to become.

“The year 2020 was a sobering time for everyone. The reality is that we don’t control time and life happens. We have to pivot and deal with the challenges. All of our portfolio companies are profitable, and they’ve performed well during the pandemic. We’re now comfortable to go back to the market for additional dry powder. We’re confident that it will be successful and don’t have any further capital raise plans at this time.”