South China travel group Et-china.com is issuing £5.5 million of zero-coupon convertible bonds for acquisitions and marketing.

Och-Ziff, a £15 billion New York-based ‘alternative’ asset management firm, Ellerston Capital, a fund manager controlled by the Australian Packer family’s Consolidated Press Holdings, and LFG Group, a fund controlled by the Lowy family of Australia, are the buyers of the bonds. They will not be listed, cannot be transferred without AIM-quoted Et-China.com’s consent and can be converted into shares at an initial 115p – though that price will be reset automatically every six months.

The company, which is based in Guangzhou, operates a dedicated electronic ticketing service for China Southern Airlines and its subsidiaries. President and chief executive officer Matthew Ng says Et-china.com will use the funds raised to pursue ‘strategic acquisitions’ among tour operators and travel agents and to boost its successful marketing campaign in the frequent independent travel sector.

Floated last August at 127p, shares in Et-china.com fell to 76.5p in February, but have now rallied to 113p, up 0.5p this morning. They value the company at £37.7 million and have speculative appeal.

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ET-China	AIM	£29.66m	90.00p	0.00p
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Other company articles:
Et-china.com raises £5.5m			06/05/2008
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ET China			22/02/2008
Newcomer - Et-china.com			03/08/2007