FastForward Innovations Limited raises cash to fund investment strategy

() said it has raised £2.1mln through a share placing to fund its investment strategy that it said will focus on “providing investors with exposure to disruptive growth opportunities, in particular medical cannabis, that have near-term re-rating potential and would otherwise be inaccessible”.

The AIM-listed firm raised the funds through the placing of around 24.7mln new shares at a price of 8.5p each, a 1.2% premium to its closing price on Thursday and a 9.9% discount to its most recently published net asset value (NAV) of 9.43p.

READ: FastForward Innovations’ EMMAC Life Sciences selected as supplier for French medical cannabis trial

FFWD also said it has issued 2.9mln shares from its treasury to Lorne Abony, a former director, at the placing price in settlement of accrued directors fees payable in relation to the 2019 calendar year.

The company also said as part of the placing it has also issued one warrant for every two placing shares exercisable at 12.75p.

“The support that we have received from new and existing shareholders in completing this placing is extremely encouraging and is an endorsement of our streamlined strategy to focus our investments into the areas where we have significant expertise, namely, health, wellness and medical cannabis”, FastForward chief executive Ed McDermott said in a statement.

“We have had a strong start to 2021, particularly with respect to our investments in the wellness and medical cannabis space. Notably, earlier this week the merger between Yooma and Globalive moved towards completion following its approval by Shareholders marking a significant milestone for FastForward. We hope to maintain this momentum across our other portfolio companies and as we consider potential new investment opportunities in the space”, he added.

The company’s shares rose 5% to 8.8p in late-morning trading on Friday.