Health-tech company Respiri finds demand amid the chaos; closes $2m share placement

The COVID-19 pandemic is making capital harder to come by for businesses across the board.

But listed health-tech platform Respiri (ASX:RSH) still managed to close the deal, announcing the completion of its $2m share placement yesterday.

Amid the broader market turbulence, Respiri’s offer found demand from sophisticated investors who snapped up a total of 36,363,637 shares priced at 5.5c.

That marks a 25.6 per cent discount to the the company’s last traded price of 7.4c, before it entered a trading halt on March 17.

The money will be deployed to fund product development and marketing costs for the rollout of its Wheezo device, a remote home-monitoring system for asthma sufferers.

The company is also looking to capitalise on the shift towards solutions in tele-health — the use of technology to facilitate long-distance clinical care.

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Commenting on the placement, Respiri CEO Marjan Mikel said the first tranche of capital would be allocated towards the production of 500 Wheezo units.

“We thank shareholders for their support of our capital raise, despite the significant volatility within financial markets across the globe due to COVID-19,” Mikel said.

The company is also close to finalising a distribution agreement with an Australian pharmacy chain, as it moves towards a “full commercial launch” in Australia later this year.

Across global markets, the company is also moving towards obtaining regulatory approval from the US Food & Drug Administration, Mikel said.

In addition to the $2m placement to sophisticated investors, Respiri also announced a $1m share purchase plan (SPP) giving retail shareholders an opportunity to participate in its capital raising activities.

The SPP is expected to run for three weeks from April 10. Eligible shareholders will have the opportunity to purchase up to $30,000 of stock at the 5.5c offer price.

Allotment of shares under the $2m placement is expected to occur today, although Respiri shares will remain in a trading halt until its cleansing prospectus has been lodged with the ASX.