Obtala Limited (OBT) has announced several major changes, ranging from a new company name to an updated corporate strategy. The African focused forestry company will now be listed as WoodBois Limited.
WoodBois also reported an intended subscription by new and existing investors to raise £2.7mln through the issue of 49,735,883 new ordinary shares of £0.01 each in the company. Each new ordinary share will come at an issue price of 5.5 pence.
The funds raised will be used to further develop and grow the company’s forestry and timber trading activities focused in Gabon, the Ivory Coast, and Denmark. Specifically, the new capital will serve to drive up funds available for trade finance and additional capital investment in Gabon’s production capacity.
Personnel changes are also in the cards for Woodbois: Hadi Ghossein, formerly responsible for WoodBois’ forestry production division, has been tapped as Deputy Chairman; Zahid Abbas, an expert in the timber trade, joins as Head of Trading Division; Jacob Hansen, WoodBois’ co-founder, has accepted the role of COO.
WoodBois also issued a strategic update as part of the company revamp. Over the past 12 months, WoodBois’ timber operations are responsible for more than 98% of 2018’s turnover while the agricultural business lags behind. So, the company has decided to focus its energies on the forestry and trading division and “seek a strategic partner or fully spin out the agriculture business.”
Moving forward, the company’s key objective is becoming cash-flow positive. To this end, WoodBois has decided to keep its assets in Mozambique but with a discerning eye trained on the export regulation coming from Mozambique authorities.
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