It's looking like the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on its way to a happy finish to the trading week this Friday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has added a comfortable 0.17% and is back over 8,220 points. But ASX 200 share HMC Capital Ltd (ASX: HMC) is putting that gain to shame this Friday.
HMC shares are on fire today. The ASX 200 property share returned from a trading halt this morning, and what a return it was. Before today, the last price HMC shares traded at was the $9.21 closing price investors saw back on Wednesday afternoon.
But this morning, those same ASX 200 shares opened at $9.55 each before climbing as high as $10.24. The company is presently hovering just below that high, asking $10.22 a share. That's up a whopping 10.97% for the day.
Additionally, that $10.24 high watermark also represents a new all-time record high for the HMC Capital share price.
After today's gains, HMC shares are now up a huge 678.1% in 2024 to date, as well as up 130.7% over the past 12 months.
So, what on earth is going on with this ASX 200 share, which is seeing these records broken this session?
Why is this ASX 200 share at a new record high today?
Well, it seems today's new highs are closely linked to the trading halt from which HMC has just returned. This trading halt was initiated to allow the ASX 200 share to undertake a capital-raising program. This capital raise allowed investors to buy additional HMC shares for a price of $8.25 each.
This morning, upon the resumption of trading, HMC declared the program an unmitigated success, with $300 million raised. The proceeds from this issuance of new shares will go towards the $1.94 billion acquisition of data centre company Global Switch Australia.
HMC has big plans for its data centres, with the ASX 200 share planning on establishing two new data centre investments. One will reportedly be an unlisted managed fund, and the other an ASX-listed real estate investment trust (REIT). Global Switch's 26-megawatt data centre, which is located in the prime Sydney CBD, will be the 'seed asset' for the REIT. This REIT has been given the initial name 'DigiCo Infrastructure REIT'.
Given the HMC capital share price reaction to this news today, it seems investors are beyond excited about these plans. Let's see how they unfold from here.
