Jet2.com and Jet2holidays parent Dart Group has taken further action to firm up its finances to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus crisis.
Dart said following consultation with a number of its major shareholders, an offering of just shy of 30 million shares had raised approximately £172 million additional equity for the business.
This sits in addition to the £300 million commercial loan Dart secured from the government’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility last week, and an existing £100 million credit facility Dart has already fully drawn.
It is the latest in a series of measures designed to bolster the company’s "liquidity headroom" amid what executive chairman Philip Meesen described as "this most challenging of trading environments".
In total, Dart placed 29,781,894 shares at £5.77 a share, and said demand was "significantly oversubscribed".
"The group is grateful to both existing shareholders and new investors for their significant support of this equity issue at no discount to the prevailing share price," said Meeson.
"The board believes the proceeds of the placing, together with the recently confirmed Bank of England £300 million Covid Corporate Financing Facility (currently undrawn) and the group’s fully drawn revolving credit facility of £100 million, will provide the group with additional headroom to deal with this most challenging of trading environments."
Meeson added: "The board remains of the belief that once able to do so, our customers will be determined to enjoy a well-deserved Jet2 holiday and that Jet2.com and Jet2holidays will continue to have a thriving future, taking millions of UK holidaymakers annually to the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands and to European leisure cities."