(Alliance News) - Sosandar PLC on Wednesday said it raised GBP5.4 million via the placing of new shares.

Earlier Wednesday, Sosandar said it hoped to raise a minimum GBP4 million from the placing and GBP500,000 from the retail offer.

Shares in Sosandar plunged 14% to 22.70 pence each in London on Wednesday afternoon.

The Wilmslow, Cheshire, England-based women's clothing retailer said 24.5 million shares were issued under the placing at 22 pence per share, conducted via an accelerated bookbuild.

No update was provided on the separate retail offer, which, earlier Wednesday, Sosandar said it would issue 2.3 million new shares under the initiative to allow existing shareholders to participate in the fundraise.

Sosandar said the proceeds of the placing would be primarily used to "accelerate the execution of its omni-channel strategy through further investment in stock, enabling increased provision of Sosandar's product range in-store with third party partners including Sainsbury's from autumn-winter 2023 onwards."

The placing proceeds will also create further balance sheet headroom to fast track other growth opportunities and enable accelerated investment in its "proven" customer acquisition model, it added.

"We are delighted to have successfully completed our placing, with both existing and new investors showing support for our business and future growth plans," said Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, co-chief executive officers.

"We see a number of opportunities for further growth both on our own site and through our third party partners in the coming months and beyond. Proceeds of the placing will provide the balance sheet flexibility to enable us to execute our omni-channel strategy, starting with increasing stock from Autumn Winter 2023 for the in-store launch with Sainsbury's, fast-tracking other growth initiatives and accelerating our proven customer acquisition model."

On Monday, the death of Non-Executive Chair Bill Murray over the weekend was announced. Sosandar said it will provide a further update in "due course".

By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News reporter

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