Listed milk company A2 Corporation has raised more capital while increasing sales in the Australian market.
The company, which owns and licenses intellectual property for identifying cows and producing and marketing milk with the A2 beta-casein protein, has raised $3.3 million with the placement of 33 million newshares at 10c each to AMP Capital Investors.
AMP now holds 12.8 per cent of the company on behalf of three parties including the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation.
The latest placement by A2 followed a rights issue last month which raised $11.3 million.
Chief executive Anthony Lawler said raising money in the current environment was a vote of confidence.
"What we've seen with this capital raising is a lot of current shareholders and new shareholders have looked at the A2 proposition and seen what they like for the future."
Two types of milk, A1 and A2, are usually mixed together, with the A1 beta-casein _ a gene carried by about half of New Zealand cows _ linked by some people to heart disease, diabetes and schizophrenia.
The latest A2 share placement was a culmination of interest from talks during the recent rights issue process.
"Obviously some extra capital is always welcome, especially in these times where it's obviously a difficult environment to raise capital in."
Lawler said the extra money would help A2 to keep investing, including its Australian half-owned joint venture A2 Dairy Products Australia.
Australian milk sales in May were almost triple the previous year at more than 870,000 litres _ a level which had been upheld and even risen slightly.
"We've had some great record months in Australia and it's a result of a lot of years and time and hard work."
A2 Corporation posted an annual net loss of $6.3 million for the year ending March 31 as it invested in expansion into North America, Australia, and Asia.
