Capital Best to Offload Shares ECI Group IPO
Capital Best looks set to offload its shares in ECI Group, which sells ecigarette brands and has announced the terms for its IPO. The company plans to raise $150 million by offering 33.3 million shares, of which 15 per cent belong to shareholders, at a price of $4.50 that would then have a market value of nearly $700 million.
The company is currently trading on the OTC Bulletin Board and has acquired several brands, including Ten Motives, Must Have and Vapestick, all based in the UK and sell their products across Europe, FIN, Victory, Victoria and El Rey. The company's latest acquisitions comprise 68 per cent of the revenue for the six months to June 2014. The IPO follows a China-based designer and manufacturer, Kimree, a company that filed for a listing in late September. Wells Fargo and Canaccord Genuity are the main underwriters for the flotation.
The FDA proposed earlier in the year that it had chosen not to ban online sales, while more than half of all states have restricted the sale of the products to minors, or those of 18 years and under. Also, the World Health Organisation said it intended to ban these products in public places and at work, while researchers and advocates claimed they saved lives and did far less harm to smokers.
ECI Group was founded in 2010 and plans to list on the NASDAQ after it booked just under $50 million in revenue for the six months to June, which included $34 million from its recent acquisitions of Ten Motives, FIN and Must Have. The company said that in addition to their own offering, shareholders would be offering nearly 5 million ordinary shares.
Leonard Kane, an analyst for Capital Best said, "There is growing public awareness about the dangers of smoking and the ecigarette market is becoming an emerging industry. Since first being released on the market in 2005, the global ecigarette market has grown rapidly and, in the US alone, sales have mushroomed to an annual growth rate of 115 per cent. It is also estimated that the total market could easily increase to $10 billion in a year or so."
Earlier in the year, ECI Group signed a major agreement with the investment arm of the Mansour Group to provide up to $60 million of equity capital, one of the largest companies in the Middle East and Africa with a broad range of business interests from the car industry to consumer goods and is one of the leading retailers and distributors in the region. With prospects of smokers turning to ecigarettes to help them turn away from smoking, Capital Best will be offloading its shares in the company.
The company is currently trading on the OTC Bulletin Board and has acquired several brands, including Ten Motives, Must Have and Vapestick, all based in the UK and sell their products across Europe, FIN, Victory, Victoria and El Rey. The company's latest acquisitions comprise 68 per cent of the revenue for the six months to June 2014. The IPO follows a China-based designer and manufacturer, Kimree, a company that filed for a listing in late September. Wells Fargo and Canaccord Genuity are the main underwriters for the flotation.
The FDA proposed earlier in the year that it had chosen not to ban online sales, while more than half of all states have restricted the sale of the products to minors, or those of 18 years and under. Also, the World Health Organisation said it intended to ban these products in public places and at work, while researchers and advocates claimed they saved lives and did far less harm to smokers.
ECI Group was founded in 2010 and plans to list on the NASDAQ after it booked just under $50 million in revenue for the six months to June, which included $34 million from its recent acquisitions of Ten Motives, FIN and Must Have. The company said that in addition to their own offering, shareholders would be offering nearly 5 million ordinary shares.
Leonard Kane, an analyst for Capital Best said, "There is growing public awareness about the dangers of smoking and the ecigarette market is becoming an emerging industry. Since first being released on the market in 2005, the global ecigarette market has grown rapidly and, in the US alone, sales have mushroomed to an annual growth rate of 115 per cent. It is also estimated that the total market could easily increase to $10 billion in a year or so."
Earlier in the year, ECI Group signed a major agreement with the investment arm of the Mansour Group to provide up to $60 million of equity capital, one of the largest companies in the Middle East and Africa with a broad range of business interests from the car industry to consumer goods and is one of the leading retailers and distributors in the region. With prospects of smokers turning to ecigarettes to help them turn away from smoking, Capital Best will be offloading its shares in the company.