Kingsley Cooper, chairman of Pulse Investments Limited, said Thursday that the company's renounceable rights issue which closed Monday was oversubscribed by more than two million shares, but that the take-up was confined to the initial target.

The $7 per share offer gave existing shareholders the opportunity to expand their holdings and Pulse the chance to raise cash for its capital programmes in real estate and merchandising.

Some 18 million shares were offered to raise $127 million, but the subscriptions were $15 million higher, Cooper said.

"While all shareholders did not subscribe for the shares provisionally allotted to them, stock not applied for was placed in an excess pool and purchased by other shareholders," he said in a statement.

Pulse will apply to the Jamaica Stock Exchange by June 6 to list the 18 million shares.

Storage facility

The proceeds from the issue will finance the company's deeper push into markets overseas and the refurbishing of Villa Ronai, a five-acre property at Stony Hill, St Andrew, plus projects that include a storage facility at Pulse's Trafalgar Road base, the Peter Tosh Museum, and develop-ment of interactive websites.

"Pulse is experiencing a period of significant and fairly rapid growth in its business resulting in higher levels of revenues and profitability. This growth, which the company expects to continue, requires new financing," said Cooper.

"Pulse, being debt-shy after the challenges the company faced in the high interest rate regime of the 1990s, prefers equity to debt to finance its growth."

The rights issue was handled by financial advisors Capital Options, stockbrokers Barita Investments, registrar KPMG Regulatory & Compliance, and attorneys Grant Stewart Phillips & Company.

business@gleanerjm.com