Bookham moves to raise cash once again
Optoelectronic chip manufacturer Bookham has once again bolstered its working capital by selling equity in the company.
In a private placement of common stock with selected investors, Bookham raised around $23.5 million. The company has also issued five-year warrants that will be exercisable after March 1, 2007.
The move is just the latest in a series of financial measures that Bookham has been forced to take to improve its cash position for general working capital purposes.
Over the past year, the San Jose, CA, company has also raised cash through the sale and lease-back of its InP wafer facility in Caswell, UK, sold land that it owns, and exploited tax breaks via an aircraft leasing venture.
And despite paying off its long-term debt in early 2006, Bookham agreed a new $25 million credit facility with the Wells Fargo bank as recently as August.
According to company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, institutional investors based in the US, UK and Bermuda all took part in the latest share issue.
Enable Growth Partners in San Francisco purchased nearly $7 million in stock, while the London-based Leonardo Capital Fund bought nearly $6 million.
In its most recent financial statement, Bookham said that it had around $38 million in cash on its balance sheet, but the company has been rapidly burning through its cash for many years.
Among its remaining assets is the Paignton, UK, manufacturing site that is in the process of winding down operations and will provide Bookham with another cash-raising option.
