The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price closed the session today at $18.27, up 3.4% in a stellar day for the market.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished 0.87% higher at 7,015.6 points.
Over the past two months, Flight Centre shares have really taken off, alongside several other ASX travel stocks, as the global 'revenge travel' trend runs wild despite rising inflation everywhere.
So, ASX investors who participated in Flight Centre's share purchase plan (SPP), launched on 9 February and completed last week, must be feeling pretty pleased.
How did SPP participants make 25% in just a week?
The SPP gave existing shareholders the opportunity to buy up to $30,000 worth of additional Flight Centre shares at a price of $14.60.
So, everyone who did that has generated a quick capital gain of 25.95% in just over a week.
Approximately 4.1 million shares were issued to SPP subscribers last Monday.
The shares commenced trading on the ASX the following day at an opening price of $18.30.
As reported previously, the SPP and a corresponding $180 million institutional capital raise will pay for the $211 million acquisition of United Kingdom-based luxury travel brand, Scott Dunn.
Flight Centre announced the acquisition on 31 January. Investors were excited by the news and pushed the Flight Centre share price up by 15% in their enthusiasm.
How did the Flight Centre share purchase plan go?
The SPP was meant to raise $40 million but was massively oversubscribed.
Some 104,719 Flight Centre shareholders were eligible to participate, and 19,304 did so.
On average, shareholders applied to increase their holdings by just under $20,000 each.
The applications totalled $350 million, making the SPP oversubscribed by a factor of nine.
This prompted Flight Centre to increase the SPP offer to $60 million and conduct a pro-rata scaleback.
In a statement, Flight Centre explained:
Given the very high level of interest, applications were subsequently scaled back on a prorata basis having regard to the relative shareholding of eligible shareholders as at Record Date …
All eligible shareholders who made a valid application were allocated a minimum of 35 shares with a value of $511.
Flight Centre directors benefit big-time from SPP
A series of notices lodged with the ASX reveal that several Flight Centre directors invested in the SPP.
Among them, the largest parcels of 2,054 Flight Centre shares went to CEO Graham 'Skroo' Turner, who purchased through a family trust, and non-executive chair Gary Smith, who bought through his super fund.
Turner now holds 16.59 million Flight Centre shares and Smith owns 25,675 shares.
