McColl's raises £30m to drive expansion of Morrisons Daily brand

A UK convenience store chain has announced that it has raised around £30m over the past day as it aims to transform its stores.

McColl’s, which has more than 1,000 stores across the country, has raised approximately £30m through the process, which saw it conditionally place 150 million new shares at a price of 20 pence per share.

The funding will be used to drive the conversion of McColl’s stores to Morrisons Daily stores, with the company increasing its target from 300 stores to 350 stores by the end of November 2022.

Accelerated bookbuilding occurs when companies need to raise money rapidly, and sees investors bid on discounted shares over a shortened period - in this case, just one day, following the company’s launch announcement yesterday.

Around £3.19m of the funding was raised through McColl’s directors for 15.95 million new shares.

Jonathan Miller, chief executive of McColl’s, commented: “Today’s successful capital raise represents a transformational opportunity to accelerate our strategy and capitalise on the growth opportunity available to us in food-led convenience.

“On behalf of the board, I would like to thank our existing shareholders for their ongoing support and welcome all new shareholders in the company.”