Some of the money raised will be used to fund the acquisition of a 50% holding in Diema Vision, a Bulgarian cable satellite broadcaster. Over the next two years Apace will acquire a further 16% of the company.

Diema's channels cover sport - including exclusive rights to the English Premiership, films, news and pay-per-view.

The placing, which the company said attracted new and existing institutional investors, included a £1.6m investment from its chairman, Didier Stoessel, and the deputy chairman, Chris Rowlands.

Mr Rowlands, a former HTV boss, invested £200,000 in shares in the company when he joined in September. He led HTV, the Wales and west country ITV franchise, for four years until it was bought by Clive Hollick's United News & Media in 1997.

He then became the chief executive of Television Corporation, overseeing the production of Channel 4's cricket coverage and the purchase of Robot Wars by producer Mentorn. Mr Stoessel is a former chief executive of HSBC Investment Bank.

Apace, which floated on AIM in April, makes sports and entertainment programmes and negotiates deals for product placement and programme sponsorship.

Source: http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1655160,00.html