HICL seeking to raise up to £145m

London-listed investment firm HICL Infrastructure Company is considering a new tap issuance in a bid to raise up to £145 million ($189.1 million; €169.3 million).

HICL is initially looking to raise £76 million but the FTSE 250 company said its directors would consider increasing the size of the issue should demand warrant it. HICL said it has the ability to issue up to 81,922,684 new shares to raise a maximum of approximately £145 million.

The transaction’s proceeds will be used to help HICL meet its net funding requirements. These currently stand at about £76 million, although this is set to increase to £148 million when the company closes its €87 million acquisition of a 13.8 percent interest in the A63 motorway project in France early next year. It had originally agreed to the deal in February 2015.

HICL said it may have further funding requirements in the near future, with investment adviser InfraRed Capital Partners studying a “pipeline of investment opportunities”.

The move comes a week after HICL bought a proportion of the bonds linked to the A13 Thames Gateway PFI project for £50.1 million, funded through cash resources and a revolving debt facility.