Benzinga | Feb 1, 2021 05:59AM EST

Agora Shares Soar Premarket On Raising $250 Million From Private Placement

* Agora, Inc. (NASDAQ: API) has raised $250 million via private placement by issuing new Class A ordinary shares representing 4.5% of its total float.

* Agora did not mention the intention of using the proceeds from the new capital raise. However, last week, it acquired Easemob, an instant messaging API and cloud service provider in China, in an all-cash transaction. It did not disclose the purchase price of the deal.

* The sale is estimated to close by February 2021.

* Agora had $635.37 million in cash and equivalents on the balance sheet at the end of the September 2020 quarter.

* Price action: Agora shares are up by 23% at $69.50 in the pre-market session on the last check Monday.