/ 15 February 2005

Investec raises R2,3bn via preference shares

Financial services group Investec has raised R1-billion via its public offer of preference shares, increasing the number of new shares issued from five million to 10-million to help meet demand for the shares, the company announced on Monday.

Combined with its previous private placement totalling R1,3-billion, the group has raised R2,3-billion via preference share issues.

Investec said it had received subscriptions for 39,975-million preference shares from 6 405 applications in respect of its public offer of five million preference shares, for a total value of R4,177-billion, making the issue 6,99 times oversubscribed.

As a result, it has opted to double the number of its preference shares being offered, to 10-million from five million, thus raising R1-billion.

The group also raised R1,3-billion by way of a private placement of 12,182-million preference shares.

In total, Investec will issue 22,182-million new preference shares, to be listed on the JSE Securities Exchange from February 16. — I-Net Bridge