The AMP Limited (ASX: AMP) share price is expected to return from its trading halt this morning after completing its capital raising.
What did AMP announce?
This morning the embattled financial services company announced that it has successfully completed its institutional placement to raise $650 million.
According to the release, approximately 406.3 million new fully paid ordinary shares will be issued to new and existing institutional investors after the company raised the funds at $1.60 per new share.
Whilst this is a 7.5% discount to AMP's last close price, it is a 6.3% premium to the placement's underwritten floor price of $1.50 per new share.
AMP's chief executive, Francesco De Ferrari, appears to be pleased with the results of the placement.
He said: "We are pleased with the strong support we have received from investors. The funds raised will allow us to immediately implement our transformational strategy to create a simpler, higher-growth and higher-return AMP that's focused on customers."
The release explains that the settlement of the new shares under the placement is expected to occur on August 13, with allotment and trading expected to occur the following day on August 14.
What now?
AMP will now push ahead with its share purchase plan. It advised that a share purchase plan booklet with further details is expected to be despatched to eligible shareholders at the end of next week.
After which, the proceeds from both the placement and share purchase plan are expected to provide AMP with the balance sheet strength to complete the separation of AMP Life, commence the implementation of its new strategy immediately, and continue to grow its core businesses prior to the completion of the AMP Life sale.
Beyond this, AMP advised that it will assess all capital management options with the intent of returning excess funds to shareholders, subject to unforeseen circumstances.
