BLUE SKY STARTS CAPITAL RAISE

BLUE Sky Alternative Investments (ASX: BLA) is raising equity up to $67 million via a placement to institutional, professional and sophisticated investors.

The Brisbane-based company announced its intentions Wednesday morning and then entered a trading halt.

The stock is anticipated to recommence trading when the market opens on Friday 13 May.

The placement to institutional, professional and sophisticated investors intends to raise $30 million at $6.50 per share. This represents a 9 per cent discount on the closing price of $7.16 the day before the announcement.

Ord Minnett and Morgans are acting as joint lead managers to the capital raise.

Blue Sky Alternative Investments, which is Australia's only listed diversified alternative asset manager with investments across private equity, private real estate, real assets and hedge funds, has returned 16.9 per cent per annum (net of fees) compounding to investors in its funds to outperforming market benchmarks since inception in 2006.

Mark Sowerby (pictured), Blue Sky Alternative Investments founder and managing director, said allocations to alternative assets had increased substantially in Australia over the last decade.

"Industry forecasts suggest alternatives will be the largest asset class in Australia by 2021, outgrowing domestic listed entities, and the alternatives industry by itself is anticipated to exceed $1.2 trillion by 2030," says Sowerby.

"Once we complete this raise, we will have more than $120 million in net assets on our balance sheet. This, combined with our 10-year investment track record, provides a significant platform as we rapidly scale the business and take advantage of ongoing growth in alternatives."

Blue Sky Alternative Investments will use the funds for ongoing co-investment in its managed funds and demonstrate balance sheet scale to enhance conversion of potential institutional mandates.

The company listed on the ASX in January 2012 with a market capitalisation of $33 million, which has since grown to approximately $400 million.

After entering the ASX300 in March 2016, it announced it had reached a milestone $2 billion in fee earning assets under management one month later and an institutional funding joint venture in private real estate with Goldman Sachs.