BOQ completes first phase of capital raising

BOQ has announced the completion of a fully underwritten $250-million institutional share placement as part of a capital raising exercise launched on Monday (25 November).

According to the bank, the placement will result in the issue of approximately 32.1 million new fully paid ordinary shares in BOQ at a price of $7.78 per new share.

Following the completion of the placement, BOQ managing director and CEO George Frazis said: “We are pleased with the strong support we have received from investors.

“The funds raised will further increase BOQ’s buffer above APRA’s ‘unquestionably strong’ benchmark and provide BOQ with additional capacity to support implementation of our strategic transformation.”

New shares under the placement are expected to settle on 28 November and commence trading on the ASX on 29 November.

BOQ is yet to complete the second phase of its capital raising, which involves a share purchase plan (SPP) targeting an additional $25 million.

The issue price per SPP share will be the lesser of:

• the placement price; and
• the volume weighted average price of BOQ shares traded on the ASX during the five trading days up to, and including, the SPP closing date less a 2 per cent discount, rounded down to the nearest cent.

BOQ has noted that both new placement and SSP shares will rank equally with existing shares.

[Related: BOQ halts trading, launches capital raising]