Fastjet (Dar es Salaam) parent fastjet plc says it has raised GBP50 million (USD75 million) through the issuance of 5,000,000,000 new ordinary shares to new and existing investors as well as fastjet management.
The budget carrier plans to use the funds to bolster its nascent Fastjet Zambia (Lusaka), Fastjet Zimbabwe (FN, Harare International), Fastjet Kenya (Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta), and Fastjet South Africa (Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) subsidiaries as well as to procure additional A319-100 aircraft, of which it currently has four.
"Net proceeds from the Placing will be deployed in two key areas – expansion working capital and the launch and growth of operations in Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe," it said in a London Stock Exchange filing. "fastjet will use funds raised in excess of that needed for its working capital requirements to commence an aircraft acquisition programme of used Airbus A319 aircraft."
The LCC is planning to roll out additional domestic Tanzanian flights as well as new regional services to Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta and Mombasa in Kenya, Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Lilongwe International in Malawi. The exploitation of Ugandan Fifth Freedom traffic rights is also under consideration.
