The record round of capital raisings at the start of the COVID-19 crisis in Australia is likely to be followed by another surge in companies seeking capital as the economic impact of the pandemic becomes apparent, Herbert Smith Freehills has said in a report.

In its  report, COVID-19 capital raisings: what we learned, the international law firm found over A$26 billion ($18.2 billion) was raised in the 15 weeks between 18 March 2020 and 30 June 2020, in particular by resources, consumer discretionary, IT and real estate companies.

There were 80 raisings of at least A$25 million each and nine 'mega' raisings of over A$1 billion each, leading to an average raise size of A$333 million, HSF said.

The surge in raisings is significantly above previous years and came in more of a rush than during the global financial crisis.

While the peak in activity has now slowed, the unprecedented level of capital raising could be repeated in the coming months, said Michael Ziegelaar, Herbert Smith Freehills partner and co-head of equity capital markets in Australia.

"The initial rush to raise funds in response to the uncertainties associated with Covid-19 has since slowed. Funds raised and number of raisings peaked in the week between 27 April and 1 May and have generally trended down since," he said in a statement.

"However, as the effect of Covid-19 on FY21 performance becomes clearer and we face the slow recovery of the global economy, there may be a second bumper round of capital raisings in August in conjunction with the announcement of full year FY20 results."

The report also stated that companies might raise capital with convertible debt structure or "other innovative capital raising structures in more difficult cases," if a market downturn makes it difficult to raise funds by placement.

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