Megaport to raise $60 million to accelerate worldwide expansion

Megaport to raise $60 million to accelerate worldwide expansion

Brisbane-based technology company Megaport (ASX: MP1) has announced a $60 million capital raise to support expansion and technology development.

The company says it is undertaking the raise to accelerate expansion to new locations and markets, to undertake capacity upgrades, fund innovation and develop new technology.

The raise is comprised of $50 million in new equity via a fully underwritten placement and up to a further $10 million via a share purchase plan.

The company will issue 12.5 million fully paid ordinary shares in Megaport under the placement for $4 per share a discount of 4.8 per cent on the closing price of $4.20 on 12 March 2019.

Founder and chairman Bevan Slattery will also offer up to 5 million shares to institutional, experienced, sophisticated and professional investors via an underwritten secondary offering. Once the offer has concluded Slattery will hold 16.3 per cent of Megaport's shares.

Speaking to Business News Australia CEO Vincent English (pictured) says the company has been excited to continue with forward momentum following a strong 1H19 result.

"What's happened since our half year results is we've been highly encouraged by our shareholders and industry leaders pushing us to keep doing what we're doing and double down on the space that we're in," says English.

"We've been encouraged to really accelerate our growth, and that means the money that we will raise today will be invested in technology and our market presence in North America and in Europe and in new markets that we're not in yet."

Pictured: Bevan Slattery, founder of Megaport, Superloop and its subsidiary SubPartners, NextDC, Asia Pacific Data Centre, and PIPE Networks.

The company continued its growth during 1H19, resulting in a healthy amount of revenue.

The company's first half revenue was $15.2 million, an increase of 72 per cent from the same period ending 31 December 2017.

Total monthly recurring revenue was also up during December 2019 by $1.1 million to $2.7 million.

At the end of the first half Megaport had 1,277 customers across 386 data centres in 82 cities.

Of these data centres, 78 were located in the Asia Pacific region, 209 in North America, and 99 in Europe.

The company hopes to have a presence in 300 different locations by mid-2019.

The company's best results came from North America where revenue increased by 80 per cent during 1H19.

Monthly recurring revenue in North America was described as a "major growth milestone" by Megaport, up from $0.55 million in June 2018 to $1 million in December 2018.

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