Sancus issues bonds to largest shareholder as part of refinancing
Sancus has issued £2.425m in new bonds to its largest shareholder Somerston Group as part of its refinancing plan.
The Aim-listed property bridging and development lender said that following the issue of the new bonds, it has £15m-worth of bonds in issuance, of which £10.13m is held by Somerston.
“The new bonds have been issued to Somerston with accompanying warrants in respect of, in aggregate, 29,696,761 ordinary shares, representing 5.08 per cent of the company’s issued ordinary share capital,” Sancus said in a regulatory announcement today.
Under the refinancing agreement, Sancus last month extended its existing funding facility with Pollen Street from £75m to £125m, while Somerston committed additional growth capital to help the company scale up its lending.
As well as increasing its holding in the Sancus bond, Somerston has subscribed an additional £2.1m of new equity into the business and now has a 50.44 per cent share of the company’s voting share capital.
“This increase of £4.5m new cash into the business will enable the group to implement growth plans and highlights the confidence and support of their largest shareholder,” Sancus said at the time.
Sancus first proposed the refinancing in October, to support the company at “a critical juncture in its turnaround plan”.
Sancus rebranded from GLI Finance in May 2021, which it attributed to an increased focus on the alternative property finance sector.
Around the same time, shareholders voted in favour of a restructuring of the business, which included the refinancing of existing bonds and a £4m equity fundraise.