Blue Sky looks to raise $125 million

Blue Sky Alternative Investments (ASX: BLA) has announced a capital raising of $125 million as the company looks to boost its balance sheet and provide additional funding for ongoing co-investment alongside institutional investors.

Blue Sky shares were placed in a trading halt ahead on Monday ahead of the announcement which includes a share offer at $11.50 each through a fully underwritten institutional placement to raise $100 million and a $25 million non-underwritten share purchase plan.

The $11.50 share offer is a 5.3 per cent discount to the last trading price of $12.15 on Friday and a 14.1 per cent discount to the previous 30 day VWAP ($13.38).

The $100 million placement closes on Tuesday March 6 and the share purchase plan closes on March 28.

The company requested the trading halt early Monday to continue until details of the capital raising are released or until the open of trading on Wednesday.

Last month, Blue Sky lifted its first half underlying profit by 59 per cent to $16.1 million as its fee-earning assets under management (AUM) rose by $1.2 billion to $3.9 billion.

The Brisbane-based funds manager also posted a rise in underlying revenue of 41 percent to $51.4 million, compared to 1H FY17, and says it is on track to deliver full year underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) of between $34 and $36 million.

The company says it is targeting AUM of between $5.5 billion and $6 billion by June 30, 2019, with the growth to be driven by demand from institutional investors.