JTC raises £62m to fund US deal

(Sharecast News) - JTC has successfully raised £62m through a share placing, the professional services firm announced on Thursday. The FTSE 250 group, which provides fund, corporate and private client services, said proceeds would be used to help finance its planned acquisition of the South Dakota Trust Company.

JTC announced on Wednesday that it had agreed to buy the American firm, which provides administration services to the US personal trust sector, for $270m in cash and shares, and that it would seek to raise £62m through a placing to help fund the deal.

Nigel Le Quesne, chief executive, said: "We are delighted that new and existing investors have once again supported our growth ambitions.

"SDTC is a high-quality business with a very attractive financial profile, uniquely experience management and provides access to a sticky client base of around 1,700 high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients with a large intermediary network."

Vivek Raja, analyst at Shore Capital, said: "We like JTC for revenue visibility, earnings growth, its opportunity to compound and it high rate of cash conversation. After a hiatus on acquisition intensity, with a focus over the past year on integrating previous deals and deleveraging, SDTC sees JTC returning to M&A.

"At first glance, SDTC looks to us like a sensible deal."

JTC placed a total of 8.857m shares at 700p per share, representing a 3.2% discount to the Wednesday's closing price.

As at 0900 BST, shares in JTC were up 2% at 735.5p.