Whitbread investors agree to scoop up all of 1 billion pound cash call

(Reuters) - Premier Inn owner Whitbread Plc said on Wednesday it has found buyers for all of its 1.01 billion pounds ($1.29 billion) rights issue, with 91.4% subscribing for new shares at 1,500 pence apiece and the remaining buying in at 2,550 pence a share.

The rights issue of 67.3 million new shares was priced at 1,500 pence per share in May at a 37% discount and was aimed at beefing up the company's balance sheet to weather the coronavirus crisis.

Whitbread said it procured subscribers for 5.8 million "rump" shares at 2,550 pence apiece, at roughly a 3.4% discount to the stock's last close and equating to about 149 million pounds.

Shares in the company have gained about 10% since the rights issue was announced on May 21 and were trading 4% lower as of 1100 GMT. They have lost nearly 36% of their market value since the start of the year.

($1 = 0.7827 pounds)

(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Ramakrishnan M.)