Australian wealth management software house Bravura is proposing to raise A$33.4 million in a rights issue to reduce its loan obligations.
The recapitalisation plan has been underwritten by private equity firm Ironbridge which in return will receive underwriting fees and entitlement to 87 million free share options in Bravura exercisable any time within the next two years at 15 cents per option.
After transaction underwriting costs, $27.7 million will be available to reduce Bravura's obligations to its bankers BOS International, which will effectively half Bravura's bank debt.
As part of the plan, Ironbridge will also take over the margin loans of Bravura executives Iain Dunstan and Simon Woodfull which are currently held by defunct financial services Lift Capital. The loans, which equate to a 30.5% stake in the company, have been the subject of an ownership wrangle since Lift Capital's collapse last year.
The dispute has rumbled on since May last year, when Bravura initially disclosed plans for a A$1.73 per share management buy out in partnership with Ironbridge that at the time valued the firm at A$272 million.
In a statement, Bravura says the new package of measures "will provide a complete solution to the uncertainty for Bravura and its executive directors created by the insolvency of Lift Capital in April 2008".