Polartechnics raises $11.25m; plans global push

Sydney-based medical device firm Polartechnics (ASX:PLT) has used a combination of a share placement and a share purchase plan to raise AUD$11.25 million to expand its global sales and marketing efforts and refine its production processes.

Around 25 per cent of shareholders purchased a total of $4 million in the share placement plan, with the remaining balance coming from institutional and professional investors. The capital raising was jointly underwritten by Paterson Ord Minnett and Jaguar Advisory Services.

CEO Victor Skladnev said the capital would be used to enhance the sales and marketing efforts of Polartechnic's three products, cancer screening devices TruScan and SolarScan, and clinical image management system MediScan.

"The big issue is that the products are ready to sell -- we want to ramp up our sales and marketing," he said. "A lot of our marketing effort will be overseas, the European and American markets are the most attractive to us."

The company has recently appointed a distributor in the US market for SolarScan, and is aiming to break into the Italian market with TruScreen. MediScan is already being marketed in Australasia, Europe and Asia.

In addition to the sales and marketing push, Skladnev said some of the capital would be used to reduce production costs.