Billabong’s market value falls by half following capital raising launch

Shares in troubled Aussie surf wear icon Billabong International plunged nearly 50% after coming out of a trading halt this morning.

Its shares were 90 cents, falling 49.2%, following last week’s earnings downgrade and the launch of a $225 million capital raising.

Billabong has completed the institutional component of its accelerated pro-rata renounceable entitlement offer and had raised about $155 million, or 79% of the new shares available.

Billabong launched the capital raising just months after knocking back a $3.30-a-share takeover offer.

This article first appeared on SmartCompany.