Admission to AIM and First Day of Dealings

RNS Number : 4113U

Cornerstone FS PLC

06 April 2021

 

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6 April 2021

CORNERSTONE FS PLC

("Cornerstone" or the "Company")

ADMISSION TO AIM AND FIRst day of dealings

Cornerstone FS plc, the cloud-based provider of international payment, currency risk management and electronic account services to SMEs, announces that admission of its entire issued and to be issued share capital to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange ("Admission") will become effective and dealings will commence at 8.00 a.m. today under the ticker "CSFS". The Company's ISIN is GB00BNG7CD28 and its SEDOL is BNG7CD2 .  

Cornerstone has successfully placed 3,664,648 new ordinary shares ("Placing") at a price of 61 pence per ordinary share. The Company has raised gross proceeds of £2.69 million comprising £2.24 million via the Placing and £450,000 via Convertible Loan Note Facilities. The shares sold under the Placing represent approximately 18 per cent of the Company's issued share capital. On Admission, the market capitalisation of the Company will be approximately £12.4 million.

Cornerstone's Business

Cornerstone's strategy is to build a significant business in the provision of payment services, foreign exchange and currency risk management. The Company makes it easy for SMEs to handle international payments and currency. The Company's primary customer base is small and medium sized enterprises: generally businesses with fewer than 250 employees. It also provides services for some HNWIs, some of whom are owners or directors of SME customers. The Company currently has over 740 clients.

Cornerstone has developed and built, in-house, its own proprietary cloud-based software platform. The platform can be fully customised to allow third parties and marketing partners to integrate it into their own businesses and websites presenting it as their own branded platform. This platform is currently provided, on a white label Saas basis, to approximately 26 third-party client aggregators.

Use of Proceeds

The funds raised will enable Cornerstone to pursue a combination of acquisitive and organic growth, building on the capabilities of the Company's technology platform. The ability to use the Company's shares as acquisition currency is a significant part of its growth strategy. Additionally, funds will also be used to pay the costs of the IPO and develop a broader range of products and services.

Julian Wheatland, Chief Executive Officer of Cornerstone, said: "We are pleased to announce our successful placing and admission to AIM. It is an important milestone and a key element of our strategy. We already have more than 700 customers who give us a strong financial foundation and we plan to build on that to fuel value creation.

"The 'non-financial institutions' segment of the market is highly fragmented with many smaller players struggling to cope with the ever-increasing regulatory demands and the costs of acquiring up-to-date technology.  At the same time, SME customers are seeking better quality and more bespoke services than are provided by the major financial institutions that dominate the FX market. This provides us with a clear opportunity for our offering, which, with our strong board, excellent management team and highly scalable platform, we are well-placed to deliver.

"We'd really like to thank our current investors and welcome new ones as we embark on the next phase of our development." 

SPARK Advisory Partners Limited is acting as Nominated Adviser and Peterhouse Capital Limited and Pello Capital Limited are acting as Joint Brokers in relation to the Admission.

Cornerstone's Admission Document, giving full details about the business, is available to download from the Company's website - www.cornerstonefs.com. 

Enquiries

For further information please contact:
Cornerstone FS plc Julian Wheatland, Chief Executive Judy Happe, Chief Financial Officer	Tel: [phone]
SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nomad) Mark Brady Neil Baldwin	Tel: [phone]
Peterhouse Capital Limited (Joint Broker) Heena Karani Lucy Williams	Tel: [phone]
Pello Capital Limited (Joint Broker) Dan Gee Mark Treharne	Tel: [phone]
Luther Pendragon (Financial PR) Harry Chathli Claire Norbury Joe Quinlan	Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editor

Board of Directors

Elliott Michael Mannis, CPA, CA, Non-Executive Chairman  

Elliott is the Chairman and shareholder of London Bridge Capital, an FCA authorised corporate finance firm. Previous roles have included Chief Executive at D1 Oils, an AIM-listed biofuels business, and Group Finance Director at AWG, the FTSE 250 holding company for Anglian Water.

Julian David Wheatland, CEng, Chief Executive

Julian has an extensive track record of scaling technology businesses and has held numerous directorships in private and public companies. This includes Chief Executive of a £400m international technology investment portfolio at Consensus Business Group; CEO of Hatton International, a finance and technology advisory firm that he established; and CFO and COO, and subsequently CEO, of the SCL/Cambridge Analytica companies.

Judy Amanda Happe, ACA, Chief Financial Officer

Judy is an experienced corporate executive and CFO with a background in fundraising, mergers and acquisitions and post-deal integration. Most recently, she was CFO of XenZone (now AIM-listed Kooth plc). Judy commenced her career as a chartered accountant with Saffrey Champness.

Glyn Anthony Barker, FCA, Independent Non-Executive Director  

Glyn's current roles include Chairman of Berkeley Group plc (residential property development) and of Irwin Mitchell (law firm) and Senior Advisor to Novalpina Capital (private equity). Glyn was previously Managing Partner of PwC UK and Senior Independent Director of Aviva plc (insurance).

Daniel Song Mackinnon, Independent Non-Executive Director  

Daniel is a corporate financier who began his career with Rothschild before joining Emerald Investment Partners as Investment Director. He has worked on a variety of transactions across multiple sectors, jurisdictions and public as well as private markets, including the IPO of Cairn Homes plc, raising €440m on the LSE Main Market.

Gareth Maitland Edwards, Non-Executive Director  

Gareth was a partner at law firm Pinsent Masons LLP, where he was Global Head of Corporate and International Development Partner. He brings significant public markets experience, including having acted on the AIM Disciplinary and Appeals Committee. Gareth is currently a strategic consultant and an Executive Director of London Bridge Capital and holds several directorships at LSE-quoted companies, including Chairman of Honye Financial Services Limited and of Nightcap plc.

Philip Barry, Non-Executive Director  

Philip co-founded FXPress in 2010. Previously, he helped manage the foreign exchange exposure of a company portfolio and worked in both the financial and property sectors.

 

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