Telecoms group ITG, which is soon to be renamed Alphyra, is gearing up for a major expansion programme with a #30 million (£23.6 million) fundraising through a placing and open offer to shareholders. The money will restore ITG's cash balances, which are expected to have fallen from #24.9 million at the end of 2000 to a forecast #1.5 million at the end of this year.
The terms of the fundraising have not yet been disclosed, but the placing element is being handled jointly by Goodbody Stockbrokers in Ireland and Insinger Townsley in the UK. ITG shares fell 27 cents to #5.75 on news of the announcement. The current trading range indicates the open offer will be in the order of one new share for every five held.
ITG says part of the proceeds will be used to acquire an unnamed company involved in electronic transactions in Europe. Non-binding heads of agreement have already been signed for this acquisition.
The remainder of the funds will be used to extend ITG's operations into new markets in France and Germany.
In a separate development, ITG has gone live with top-up services for the British mobile phone group BT Cellnet in association with De La Rue Transactions Services. ITG already provides such services for Vodafone and Orange.
