Malaga-based Cool Clear Water Beverages Ltd said it has "no intention to imminently list" on the stockmarket, despite reports at the weekend that a successful capital raising had paved the way for an IPO.
Malaga-based Cool Clear Water Beverages Ltd said it has "no intention to imminently list" on the stockmarket, despite reports at the weekend that a successful capital raising had paved the way for an IPO.
Managing director Richard Bevan said the water supply company, which employs 28 staff and has an office in Brisbane, is in fact awaiting shareholder approval to undertake a $7 million capital raising to help it execute an aggressive growth plan.
"We have no intention to imminently list because the market is not conducive to listing at the moment," he said.
"Ultimately, the fact is we wouldn't be able to achieve the valuation we're looking for, which is what we're raising the money for.
"We need to look at our goals and why we're raising capital and that's to fund our growth plans."
Cool Clear last week finalised its acquisition of rival water supplier Billabong Water Quality Management Pty Ltd for an undisclosed sum.
The move is the first of Cool Clear's robust expansion plans to become Australia's largest provider of point-of-use water systems and gives it more than 50 per cent market share.
The decision by Cool Clear to hold off on an initial public offer comes at a time when few companies are listing.
So far this month, only six have launched an IPO, including Phosphate Australia Ltd, Malagasy Minerals Ltd, Legacy Iron Ore Ltd, APAC Coal Ltd, Kilgore Oil & Gas Ltd and Waratah Gold Ltd.
The listing debuts of West Perth companies APAC and Kilgore fell short of being desirable; both businesses succumbed to the market downturn during their IPO, debuting well below their issue prices.
Creative media company Adventure Learning Channel Worldwide Ltd this month stalled plans for its ASX listing after lowering its IPO to $2.5 million from $3.5 million.
And the failure of Pankaj Oswal's Burrup Holdings Ltd to make an appearance on the stockmarket epitomised the dwindling enthusiasm of WA companies opting to go public.
It was the second time the $2.5 billion Burrup float was postponed, a prime example of the turbulent times faced by businesses over the 2008 financial year.
Mr Bevan said it was for those reasons that Cool Clear, which installs tailor-made mains-fed water filtration systems, has put listing on the ASX on the backburner.
He said growing the business into a major Australian player was on the agenda before going public.
"There's an opportunity to establish a good platform for our business to become the leading national provider of these point-of-use filtration systems and we're looking right now to get a key presence in Sydney and Melbourne," Mr Bevan said.
He said with 5,500 clients already and that number growing at 15 per cent each year, the opportunities to expand in the "dynamic market sector" was exciting.
