Ted Baker raises £105m to help it through COVID-19 crisis

Ted Baker has confirmed that it has raised £105m through a share issue to help shore up the business during the COVID-19 crisis and to fund its transformation plan.

The company raised gross proceeds of approximately £95 million by way of a Placing and Open Offer and Firm Placing and additional gross proceeds of up to approximately £10 million by way of an Offer for Subscription.

As a result of the issue, which closed yesterday, Ted Baker's founder and former CEO Ray Kelvin is no longer its largest single shareholder having seen his stake slashed from 35% to 15.8%. Investor Toscafund nearly doubled its stake to 26.4% making it now the largest shareholder.

Earlier this month Ted Baker revealed that it had swung to a £79.9m loss before tax in the 12 months to 26 January compared to a profit of £30.7m last year as it was hit by £84.6m of non-underlying expenses, mainly comprising total charges of £45.8m related to inventory, £16.2m related to impairment of store assets, £7.6m related to losses on the disposal of its Asian business and £6.5m for legal and professional costs. Total revenues were down 1.4% to £630.5m.

At the same time its new CEO Rachel Osborne announced “Ted’s Growth Formula”, a transformation plan designed to get the business back on track. The plan covers three areas: “Stabilising the company’s foundations”; “Growth drivers”; and “Operational” excellence. Ted Baker said that its plans should lead to a more profitable business running on a lower cost base.

The funds raised from the share issue will help fund the plans.