ProTen, an Australian chicken farming business whose shares trade on New Zealand's Unlisted market, raised A$34 million ($36.5 million) to fund growth and repay financing.
The Sydney-based company exceeded its target detailed last month to raise between A$25 million and A$30 million. The company's shares, which were removed from a trading halt yesterday, last changed hands at 70c in April, valuing the company at $70.4 million.
ProTen, Australia's largest independent contract grower of broiler chickens for meat, plans to use the funds and bank debt to invest A$130 million in increasing production to an annual 72 million chickens, from 40 million, taking its share of Australian production to 11 per cent from 7 per cent. It may also expand into related protein industries. The company expects to expand its farms in New South Wales and Western Australia, where it has long-term supply contracts with Baiada Poultry, the nation's biggest chicken processor.
"Chicken is the most popular meat in Australia and is experiencing the fastest growing consumption rates globally, largely due to chicken's price advantage over other meat," said ProTen chief executive Daniel Bryant.
In November, chairman John Signal said increasing the scale of the company would set the business up for a possible "liquidity event" in the future. ProTen is considering floating on the Australian Stock Exchange, the Australian newspaper reported.
