PSC Insurance Group has raised $80 million through a share placement to fund merger and acquisition opportunities in the UK and Australia.

The company says it has received binding commitments for the placement of 17.78 million shares to selected institutional and sophisticated investors at an offer price of $4.50 per share.

The raising will enable the company to pursue its growth strategy, while not increasing debt in uncertain times, PSC says.

“The group has a good pipeline of acquisition opportunities,” it says. “In particular, we are considering acquisitions of UK and Australian commercial broking businesses, with a number under due diligence.”

PSC has completed 12 acquisitions since January last year for a total base purchase price of around $119 million. The deals include the purchase of Trust Insurance Services and Abaco Insurance Brokers in the UK and Alliance Insurance Broking Services in Australia.

An investor presentation released today says $85.7 million of capital has been deployed and $32.9 million remains payable, which will be paid largely via an expanded debt facility and existing cash balances.

Bell Potter Securities and E&P Corporate Advisory were joint lead managers for the capital raising, with the shares to be issued on March 16.