Brightside to raise £20m

Brightside Group is set to raise £20m through a share placing.

Broking group Brightside, which includes Group Direct, Commercial Vehicle Direct and Panacea Finance, will place 90,909,091 new ordinary shares at a placing price of 22p to raise £20m (£19.1 million net of expenses).

The new ordinary shares will represent approximately 21.7% of Brightside's issued ordinary share capital immediately following admission.

The net proceeds of the placing will be used to finance and accelerate the growth of Brightside's broking, premium financing and medical reporting businesses and invest in new technology to broaden its online offering, the company said.

The company confirmed it had entered in to option agreements to acquire "certain related-party assets." In October, Brightside expressed an interest in consolidator Jelf and stated that it was seeking ways to raise capital (see: Brightside takes a shine to Jelf at start of expansion bid).

However Brightside insurance director Arron Banks said the fundraising would not be used for major acquisitions "at this stage".

Brightside chief executive Paul Chase-Gardener said: “The fundraising represents a very significant step forward for our group and the capital raised will allow us to exploit the earnings enhancing opportunities we currently possess and significantly accelerate our growth.”