Colltech closes IPO early, oversubscribed

Western Australian collagen purification company Colltech has closed its initial public offering a week early and oversubscribed.

The company set out to raise AUD$4.5 million in the IPO, with shares priced at $0.20, and has accepted an additional $0.5 million in oversubscriptions.

The placement included an in specie distribution of shares to unit holders of the company's major shareholder Australian Capital Development Fund, on a pro rata basis of one Colltech share for every two ADV shares held, with the fund retaining a residual interest of 2.3 million shares.

"All up, it was quite a successful IPO," CFO Mathew Whyte told Australian Biotechnology News.

The company expects to list on the ASX sometime on or prior to February 26, depending on how quickly it can complete the ASX listing requirements.

Most of the funds raised will be used to build a collagen extraction and purification facility, based on its novel and proprietary method for extracting the protein from sheepskins, in south-west WA. Approval to commence construction is expected to be granted shortly, and the factory is expected to be up and running by the end of the year.

The facility will produce several grades of collagen from sheepskins, ranging from low-grade insoluble collagen for use as a food additive, to high-grade soluble collagen for the medical devices industry.