Strata Investment blocks takeover bid with $8M placement

Investment firm Strata Investment (ASX:SRT) secured commitments to raise $8 million through a two-tranche placement of new Chess Depository Interests, concurrently fending off an unsolicited corporate takeover bid.

The capital raising, priced at $0.20 per new CDI, represents a substantial 25% premium to the company's last traded price of $0.16.

It will proceed across two tranches, with the initial tranche of 17.61 million CDIs scheduled for issuance on June 23 to raise $3.52 million, followed by a second tranche of 22.5 million CDIs on Aug. 3 to generate the remaining $4.5 million.

Both tranches target sophisticated and professional investors, subject to a strict twelve-month voluntary escrow restriction from their respective dates of issue.

The capital injection arrives immediately after the Strata Board unanimously rejected an indicative, non-binding acquisition proposal from Canadian firm Freedom BidCo, Inc.

Freedom had sought to acquire all outstanding Strata shares at a cash price of $0.16 per share.

Advised by external consultants, directors firmly concluded that the unsolicited offer materially undervalued Strata's underlying assets and future growth prospects.