Bagir Group trousers £2m to expand clothes manufacturing plant

(ShareCast News) - Fashion manufacturer Bagir Group raised £1.97m in a discounted equity placing in order to expand its Ethiopian manufacturing operations. The capital raised will be used to develop an unused production hall in its Ethiopia factory which will enable it to produce up to 3,000 trousers per day for the likes of H&M and Haggar, and upgrade the local market production hall by buying new sewing equipment.The AIM-listed company raised £1.97m from the subscription of 46.22m shares and a placing of 10.1m shares at a discounted 3.5p each.Chief executive Eran Itzhak, said "Our Ethiopian manufacturing site only began production recently and is already attracting the attention of some of the world's leading retailers. This additional investment is therefore timely and should help generate significant returns."The company said following securing Swedish fashion retailer H&M's first international order in November, it sought to expand in Ethiopia to increase capacity and add additional production in its Ethiopian factory.It is also in the process of manufacturing a trial order for Haggar Clothing, a US retailer of men's smart trousers, which is scheduled for delivery before the end of the year.Shares in Bagir Group were down 2.5% to 3.90p at 0945 GMT.