Minoan, which specialises in travel and leisure holdings, completed its protracted sale of Glasgow-based Stewart Travel earlier this year to further focus its attentions on its resort project.
In a trading update, Minoan said the £525,000 it will raise through its share placement, which has been organised by Cornhill Capital Limited, includes £100,000 from its directors.
“The net proceeds of the placing... will be used to provide general working capital to support the development of the group, in particular its resort project in Crete, and to settle certain existing liabilities,” said Minoan.
The group will issue 31 million ordinary shares of 1p each at a price of 2.5p per share in total, 10 million of which will be used to settle liabilities of £250,000.
Minoan agreed a £6.5 million deal in September to dispose of Stewart Travel, at which time it said the sale would allow it to “concentrate on optimising the value of the group’s luxury resort project in Crete”, for which it has now been granted “outline planning consent”.
The project dates to 2007 but has undergone various iterations amid planning and legal scrutiny. The cost of the project, which Minoan says will be “a new landmark for tourism in Greece”, is estimated to run to around €250 million.
Situated on the Cavo Sidero peninsula, the resort will be set in more than 6,000 acres of land, with 28km of coastline. The proposed build will compromise less than 0.5% of the site with more than 90% left in its natural state.
Minoan first broached the sale of Stewart in December last year.
