Agenix raises AUD$10.3m

Brisbane-based Agenix (ASX:AGX, NASDAQ:OTC:AGXLY) has raised a total of AUD$10.3 million through a non-renounceable 1:4 entitlements offer.

The offer closed on October 17, with existing shareholders applying for over 20.7 million shares at $0.25 each, raising approximately $5.2 million.

"Thirty per cent of our shareholders took 53 per cent of the available rights," said Agenix managing director Donald Home. "We figured that we'd get a little bit more shareholder support. However the market went through a pretty big downturn right when we were out there, so to have the level of support we did get was extremely good."

Agenix also received requests for a further $1.7 million worth of stock (6.8 million shares at $0.25) which had to be limited under an oversubscription facility of a maximum aggregate of 2 million shares, worth $500,000.

"The object of this was to do right thing by those existing shareholders as much as we possibly could," said Home. "The biggest problem we had was trying to make sure that we could satisfy the people which were there."

The underwriter, Intersuisse, placed the $4.7 million shortfall under the issue (18.7 million shares at $0.25) to institutional and sophisticated investors.

"This is the first opportunity for institutional investors to get into the stock in the last seven years or more," said Home. "We recognised that a number of institutions who wanted to take a position in the company haven't been able to because we haven't done a raising for years. So they were prepared to sit there and take any shortfall that occurred."

Home said that Agenix hasn't needed to raise capital because the company's operational businesses has been producing cash, the company had cash in the bank, and a bank facility.

Intersuisse also secured participation from an undisclosed major institutional investor for 8 million shares.

Agenix is currently conducting phase II clinical trials for its blood clot imaging product ThromboView.

"Obviously the expense of that is quite significant and that's really where we required some additional funding to get us through," said Home.

The money raised will also be used to manufacture ThromboView for phase III trials and for the product's commercial launch after obtaining registration.

Agenix recently signed a multi-million dollar contract with US company Diosynth Biotechnology to begin the process of manufacturing ThromboView.

"We have to do the tech transfer to our manufacturing partner so we can get the whole thing ready for the commercial scale up," said Home.

Home said that after the raising, Agenix has enough money to "cover us past the end of this financial year".

"We haven't given any further guidance past that," he said.

Agenix shares were trading at $0.255 at the time of writing.