Australia's Mesoblast plunges to record low after discounted placement

Mesoblast

05/12/2023 24:47

** Shares of Australian biotech firm Mesoblast Ltd  MSB.AX 
plunge as much as 24.7% to their record low of A$0.305
    ** MSB marks its worst intraday drop since Aug 4, and stock
is worst loser in the ASX All Ordinaries index  .AORD 
    ** MSB on Monday announced placement and entitlement offer
to raise up to A$97.0 mln ($64.19 mln)
    ** Co to issue about 323 mln new shares, nearly half of
MSB's current free float of 658.4 mln shares, according to LSEG
data
    ** Shares to be issued at A$0.30 per share, a discount of
21.9% to MSB's last close on Nov 30
    ** MSB shares were on a halt on Dec 1 and Dec 4
    ** About 4.9 mln shares change hands, vs the 30-day average
of 2.8 mln shares
    ** MSB stock down 53.5% this year, as of last close

    ($1 = 1.5110 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru)
 ((Sameer.Manekar@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sameer_manekar))