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Australia's Austrim Nylex to raise A$100 mln

MELBOURNE, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Australian automotive and plastics group Austrim Nylex Ltd said on Monday it planned to raise A$100 million ($65 million) selling new shares at a 32 percent discount to its closing price last Friday and change the group's name.

The announcement came as the company, which makes products ranging from car seats to garden hoses, said its loss narrowed to A$69.8 million in the year ended June 30 from A$152.8 million a year earlier, although the latest results were still riddled with asset writedowns.

Shares in the faded manufacturing group sank 19 percent to 29.5 cents, giving the group a market capitalisation of A$73 million, with the sale of new shares set to nearly triple the number of shares on issue. Austrim Nylex said it would use about A$70 million of the share sale proceeds to cut debt and use the remainder towards working capital and the costs of the capital raising.

"The equity raising, coupled with divestments of non-core operations, will significantly cut the debt burden that the company has struggled under in recent years," Chairman Dick Nitto said in a statement.

The company planned to raise A$80 million through a fully underwritten placement of 320 million ordinary shares at 25 cents a share.

In addition, it aimed to raise A$20 million through a partially underwritten share purchase plan priced at the lesser of 25 cents a share or a 2.5 percent discount to the 30-day volume weighted average price of its shares on the date of the offer.

The company said it would ask shareholders to vote in November to drop the Austrim name, and rechristen the company Nylex Ltd, taking advantage of a well-recognised name. ($1=A$1.54)