Precise Biometrics share sale pulls up far short of goal

Digital ID vendor Precise Biometrics is reporting that its rights issue netted 13.6 million new shares, which is 44 percent of what the company had hoped to get.

Fully secured through subscription commitments and underwriting agreements, Precise expects to receive 49.5 million Swedish kronor (US$4.57 million) before customary costs of 9 million kronor. The money will help fund expansion.

The subscription period ended May 29. Executives had planned to issue new shares valued at an estimated 49.5 million Swedish kronor, or US$4.75 million.

This kind of corporate finance has helped Precise maintain momentum before. It will need some juice after a disappointing fourth quarter.

“This capital injection will accelerate our ability to deliver on our growth strategy and further diversify our revenue streams,” CEO Patrick Höijer said in a statement announcing the move.

Top priority is expansion in the United States market, Höijer said. It will be used to boost product development, too, however.

The funding, he said, will “also strengthen our existing product development and our opportunities to expand our business on the mobile phone side within the Algo (fingerprint-reading software) business area to new verticals such as laptops and the automotive industry.”

Precise develops biometric software for physical access management along with its Algo line, which the company says has suffered under large phone inventories as customers hold their cash.

Shareholder had pre-emptive rights to buy the new shares. For every three ordinary shares owned, two ordinary shares would be available for the subscription price — 1.6 kronor ($0.15) per ordinary share.

The shareholder deal, called a rights issue, was secured to 100 percent through various financing commitments.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital identity  |  funding  |  Precise Biometrics  |  stocks