White Star to acquire Spookfish, raise $4m

White Star Resources has gained backing from Perth businessmen Rod Jones and Brent Stewart, who plan to invest in a $4 million capital raising to support the acquisition of Spookfish and Geospatial Investments.

White Star said the raising, under lead management of Forrest Capital, would be achieved through the issue of 115 million shares at an issue price of 3.5 cents per share.

The Perth-based exploration company said it had attracted Hoperidge Capital and Mr Stewart as new cornerstone investors.

Hoperidge Capital is the family office of Rod Jones, who is co-founder and managing director of education provider Navitas.

Mr Stewart established marketing research and consulting business Market Equity, which was bought by Aegis PLC in 2005.

Subject to the achievement of specified milestones, White Star will issue 360 million shares to its vendors, and will issue 25.2 million shares to its advisors as part of the completion of the acquisition.

If the deal is approved by shareholders in December, then White Star will change its name and will be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange as Spookfish Ltd.

White Star signalled a reshaping of its business in June, when it entered into a conditional agreement to acquire Spookfish, a geospatial imagery firm that focuses on high-resolution imagery solutions for the government and corporate sectors.

In August, White Star bought a 12.5 per cent interest in Spookfish for $1 million cash.

 White Star’s share price rose by 2.8 per cent to 3.6 cents per share at 11:10am.