£10m Fundraise by way of an Accelerated Bookbuild
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN ADMISSION DOCUMENT AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE OR FORM PART OF ANY OFFER OR INVITATION TO SELL OR ISSUE, OR ANY SOLICITATION OF ANY OFFER TO PURCHASE OR SUBSCRIBE FOR, ANY ORDINARY SHARES IN THE CAPITAL OF THE COMPANY, NOR SHALL IT (OR ANY PART OF IT), OR THE FACT OF ITS DISTRIBUTION, FORM THE BASIS OF, OR BE RELIED ON IN CONNECTION WITH OR ACT AS ANY INDUCEMENT TO ENTER INTO, ANY CONTRACT OR COMMITMENT WHATSOEVER.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE RETAINED VERSION OF EU REGULATION 596/2014 AS APPLIED IN THE UK ("MAR"). IN ADDITION, MARKET SOUNDINGS (AS DEFINED IN MAR) WERE TAKEN IN RESPECT OF THE PLACING WITH THE RESULT THAT CERTAIN PERSONS BECAME AWARE OF INSIDE INFORMATION (AS DEFINED IN MAR), AS PERMITTED BY MAR. THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS SET OUT IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. THEREFORE, THOSE PERSONS THAT RECEIVED INSIDE INFORMATION IN A MARKET SOUNDING ARE NO LONGER IN POSSESSION OF SUCH INSIDE INFORMATION RELATING TO THE COMPANY AND ITS SECURITIES.
Bidstack Group Plc
(" Bidstack " or the " Company ")
Proposed Fundraise of £10 million
Launch of proposed Placing by way of accelerated bookbuild
and
Notice of General Meeting
Bidstack Group Plc (AIM: BIDS), the native in-game advertising group,announces its intention to raise £10 million (before expenses) through a conditional placing ("Placing") and a subscription by certain Directors and others ("Subscription") (together the "Fundraise"). The Fundraise is conditional on, amongst other things, the approval by Shareholders of resolutions granting authority for the Directors to issue ordinary shares at a General Meeting to be held at 11:00 a.m. on 19 July 2021 at Plexal, 14 East Bay Lane, The Press Centre, Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London, E20 3BS ("General Meeting").
Fundraise Highlights:
· The conditional Fundraise is proposed to raise £ 10 million through the proposed issue of 500,000,000 new ordinary shares of £0.005 each ("New Ordinary Shares") at 2.0 pence per Placing Share ("Issue Price").
· The Placing will be conducted by way of an accelerated bookbuild process arranged by Cenkos Securities plc ("Cenkos") which will be launched immediately following this Announcement, in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in Appendix 1 to this Announcement and which is expected to close on 2 July 2021. A further announcement will be made in due course, confirming the final quantum raised and number of shares to be issued pursuant to the Placing, once the bookbuild is closed.
· Part of the Placing is expected to be raised under the Enterprise Investment Scheme and/or from Venture Capital Trusts.
· Certain Directors and others have indicated a willingness to subscribe for New Ordinary Shares by way of a subscription directly with the Company.
· Issue Price represents a 33.3 per cent. discount to the closing mid-market share price of 3.0 pence on 30 June 2021, being the last practicable dealing date prior to the pricing of the transaction, and a 33.3 per cent. discount to the 10 day volume weighted average price ("VWAP") of 3.0 pence per Ordinary Share up to and including 30 June 2021 .
· The net proceeds of the Placing raised under EIS and/or from VCTs is proposed to be used to fund the development of a platform to allow commercial rights owners, such as sports league bodies and global sport teams, to have control over the content that appears in their licensed Intellectual Property.
· The balance of the net proceeds of the Fundraise will be used to fund working capital requirements in connection with product strategy, technology and research and development, commercial growth in core markets, particularly the UK and the US and further marketing to educate and enable sales.
· Cenkos is acting as Broker in connection with the Placing and SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (" SPARK ") will be acting as the Company's nominated adviser (" Nomad ").
Background
Bidstack's technology has made targeted in game advertising available to buy programmatically, for the first time, unlocking the worlds digital advertising budgets for gaming studios while enhancing the realism of gaming environments by injecting brand messaging seamlessly into appropriate spaces within the virtual worlds.
Bidstack is now working with over 20 games including five games across three AAA game studios such as Sega, Codemasters and Ubisoft. A further six AAA games are available to the Company through partnership agreements. It also has six new esports team collaborations and has signed VR game studio, Rezzil, a leading platform for training elite footballers. It is operating in genres covering racing, stadium and open world environments.
The Company has established a sales network in core markets and is working with the world's leading brands across verticals such as consumer packaged goods, financial services, telecommunications, technology, retail and luxury. The UK and US are core markets for its direct sales team made up of eight sales people split between agency and brands. It has signed five agreements with the largest agency holding groups. Campaign sizes and briefs are growing due to the rising adoption of in-game advertising supported by Bidstack's brand uplift studies.
Bidstack is playing an active and vocal role within the IAB, the industry body, and with third parties to define a new ad category. Bidstack was the first multi-platform in-game advertising company to gain IAB Gold Standard 1.1. Bidstack has signed with Moat by Oracle to verify its ads are free from invalid or fraudulent activity and is also working with Nielsen and Comscore.
Bidstack has rolled out an accreditation programme to educate and certify partners in non-core markets and has now signed up over 25 new partners to its approved partner network, enabling local brands to reach gamers, and extending the reach of its direct sales network to monetise non-core markets.
The Company's objectives to accelerate recurring revenue growth include building an open exchange industry standard and infrastructure in order to standardise the way in-game ads are transacted and measured allowing always on advertising to transition into high scale growth. Bidstack intends to continue building its proprietary programmatic technology features focusing on control and transparency, self sign-up and on-boarding, planning and forecasting tools and strengthening safety features with Pubguard to prevent fraudulent or malicious ads.
The Board believes that Bidstack is well positioned to capitalise from market tailwinds in gaming and shifts in media spend to chase eyeballs and that its business model is at an inflection point with significant commercial progress made across publishers and advertisers. The Company's product roadmap is focused on enabling frictionless scale and creating lucrative commercial rights opportunities with publishers and license holders. The ambitious leadership team is supported by an exceptional and experienced global network of advisors.
Proposed New Director
Bidstack is also pleased to announce the proposed appointment of Bryan Neider to the board as a Non-Executive director and Chair of the Audit Committee, subject to Admission of the New Ordinary Shares. Bryan brings more than 25 years of leadership experience from his time with Electronic Arts (EA) where he played a key role in its IPO, oversaw global business development efforts, served as CFO and COO for EA's development studios and headed up its Global Operations team. Further information about Bryan and this appointment is contained in a separate RNS published by the Company today.
James Draper, Chief Executive Officer, Bidstack commented:
"We are extremely pleased with the level of interest we have received from new and existing shareholders. Bidstack's market opportunity is developing in line with our expectations and on completion of the Fundraise, the Company will be well funded and ready to capitalise on that opportunity. This is an exciting time for Bidstack. With a strong balance sheet, we can invest with confidence to further mature our technology and leadership teams, including the Board, and acquire the skills and experience we will need to make the most of the opportunities ahead of us.
"Our products have attracted interest from companies across the world who want to utilise our technologies to increase revenues, while protecting the gamer's experience within and around the games they play and on the devices they play them on.
"We intend to continue investing in areas of the business that will help establish our core in-game proposition as the quality stamp of this emerging category within the advertising industry, while building clear differentiators into our value proposition, driven by commercial prospects and feedback.
"Our commercial execution across the US, UK, EMEA and the rest of world is making tangible progress as our technology, built from our Latvian and UK offices, is attracting interest from some of the world's biggest gaming studios.
"I would like to say thank you to our team for their continued superb output and we look forward to updating the market on our journey, in due course."
Use of Proceeds
The net proceeds of the Placing raised under the Enterprise Investment Scheme and/or from Venture Capital Trusts is proposed to be used to fund the development of a platform to allow commercial rights owners, such as sports league bodies and global sport teams, to have control over the content that appears in their licensed IP.
The balance of the net proceeds of the Fundraise will be used to fund working capital requirements in connection with product strategy, technology and research and development, commercial growth in core markets, particularly the UK and the US and further marketing to educate and enable sales.
General Meeting
The allotment of the New Ordinary Shares will be subject to the approval by Shareholders at the General Meeting of resolutions (" Resolutions ") granting authority to the directors to allot the New Ordinary Shares free from pre-emption rights. A circular (the " Circular ") containing further details of the Fundraise and the General Meeting to be held on 19 July 2021 is being posted to Shareholders on or around 2 July 2021 and will be available to view on the Company's website.
Please note that, due to restrictions on personal movement and social distancing measures implemented by the UK Government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, special measures will be adopted for the General Meeting to protect the health and safety of the Company's shareholders (" Shareholders "). The Board requests that no Shareholder attends the General Meeting in person. Any Shareholders that do attend may be refused entry. Only those who are required to form the quorum will be guaranteed to be able to attend in person and those Shareholders will constitute the minimum quorum for the meeting to take place. Shareholders are encouraged to vote in respect of their shares by appointing the Chairman of the Company as proxy and the votes at the meeting will be taken on a poll.
Application for Admission
Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the New Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM (" Admission ").
Admission is expected to become effective and trading in the New Ordinary Shares will commence for at 8 a.m. on or around 20 July 2021.
Admission will be subject to shareholder approval of the Resolutions. Following Admission, the New Ordinary Shares and will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares in issue.
The Placing Agreement
Pursuant to the terms of the Placing Agreement, Cenkos, as agent for the Company, has conditionally agreed to use its reasonable endeavours to procure subscribers for the Placing Shares at the Issue Price. The Placing Agreement is conditional, amongst other things, on none of the warranties given to Cenkos and SPARK being or becoming untrue, inaccurate or misleading in any respects on or before Admission.
Under the Placing Agreement, the Company has agreed to pay to Cenkos and SPARK a fixed sum and/or commissions based on the aggregate value of the Fundraise, and the costs and expenses incurred in relation to the Placing.
The Placing Agreement contains customary warranties given by the Company in favour of Cenkos and SPARK in relation to, amongst other things, the accuracy of the information in this announcement and other matters relating to the Group and its business. In addition, the Company has agreed to indemnify Cenkos and SPARK (and their respective affiliates) in relation to certain liabilities which they may incur in respect of the Placing.
Cenkos and SPARK have the right to terminate the Placing Agreement in certain circumstances prior to Admission. In particular, in the event of breach of the warranties, the occurrence of a material adverse change or if the Placing Agreement does not become unconditional.
Expected timetable
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Announcement of results of the Placing |
2 July 2021 |
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Posting of Circular and Notice of General Meeting |
2 July 2021 |
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Last time and date for receipt of Proxy Forms for the General Meeting |
11:00 a.m. on 15 July 2021 |
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General Meeting |
11:00 a.m. on 19 July 2021 |
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Announcement of Results of General Meeting |
19 July 2021 |
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Admission and commencement of dealings in the New Ordinary Shares |
By 8:00 a.m. on 20 July 2021 |
|
CREST accounts credited in respect of the New Ordinary Shares |
By 8:00 a.m. on 20 July 2021 |
|
Dispatch of definitive share certificates for applicable New Ordinary Shares |
Within 5 business days of 20 July 2021 |
Current Trading
In 2020, Bidstack made strong and tangible progress towards its ambition to become a global leading advertising and monetisation platform for interactive entertainment. Bidstack has proven its initial concept through bringing premium advertisers into the world of gaming, securing exclusive contracts with household name game developers and building the technology infrastructure to enable both sides to seamlessly transact.
Bidstack's strategy has been to take no shortcuts from either a technological or commercial perspective. This is now paying off, with significant advertising agencies and brands planning around the Company's premium inventory and with its technology providing transparent reporting on campaign performance.
The Board believes that Bidstack is now well established, both in terms of technology and revenue generation. It is vital for Bidstack to consolidate its leading position through execution and scaling its value proposition into new markets.
The Company has started the year steadily and expects to have generated revenues in excess of £800,000 by the end of the half year. The pipeline looks robust with strong contributions expected from the US and growth in agency, approved partners and brands direct relationships. The Company continues to expect to deliver revenues for the year in line with market expectations, albeit second half weighted. In addition, the Board has been focussed on controlling total operational costs of the Group going forward as it starts to rebalance capital deployed to reflect the shift from product development to commercialisation.
Share Options and new Long Term Incentive Plan
To provide appropriate incentivisation to its directors, management and staff the Company proposes to create options over up to 15 per cent of the enlarged issued share capital of the Company.
It is envisaged that approximately five per cent of the enlarged issued share capital of the Company will comprise options granted under the Company's existing Enterprise Management and Unapproved Share Option Schemes which will be available to directors, managers and staff and are likely to be options exercisable at the market price on the date of grant, exercisable three years after the date of grant.
Following completion of the Fundraise, the Company proposes to adopt a new Long Term Incentive Plan ("LTIP") to incentivise certain of the Company's founders, executive directors and other senior managers. It is envisaged that LTIP awards will comprise approximately five per cent of the enlarged issued share capital of the Company and will be subject to performance criteria linked to clear financial objectives. LTIP awards are likely to be exercisable at nominal value from the third anniversary of the relevant award.
The remaining five per cent of the enlarged issued share capital of the Company is envisaged to be made available to option holders subject to performance criteria requiring exceptional returns for the Company and its shareholders.
The person responsible for arranging the release of this Announcement on behalf of the Company is Donald Stewart, Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Contacts
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Bidstack Group Plc James Draper, CEO |
via Buchanan |
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Cenkos Securities Plc (Bookrunner & joint broker) Michael Johnson / Dale Bellis (Sales)
Cenkos Trading Desk
Giles Balleny (Corporate Finance)
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+44 (0) 20 7397 1933 / +44 (0) 20 7397 1928 +44 (0) 207 397 1946 / +44 (0) 207 397 8951
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SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nomad) Mark Brady / Neil Baldwin / James Keeshan |
+44 (0) 203 368 3550 |
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Stifel Nicholas Europe Limited (Broker) Fred Walsh / Luisa Orsini Baroni
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+44 (0) 20 7710 7600
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Buchanan Communications Limited Chris Lane / Stephanie Watson / Kim van Beeck |
+44 (0) 20 7466 5000 |
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Notes to Editors:
About Bidstack
Bidstack is a provider of native in-game advertising that is dynamic, targeted, and automated, serving the global video games industry across multiple platforms. Its proprietary technology is capable of inserting adverts into natural advertising space within video games. The key benefit of native in-game advertising over non-native variants (e.g. video rolls and banner ads) is that it appears authentic and "natural" to the environment and does not adversely affect the gamer's experience. Using Bidstack's technology, advertisers can rapidly change their campaigns in real time, in response to market trends and business needs. Advertisers can target the users they want to reach based on age, gender and location. Bidstack's proprietary API technology integrates across multiple video games platforms (mobile, PC and console), opening up in-game advertising opportunities at scale.
About the Advertising Technology Sector
Investment in the Advertising Technology market is growing rapidly with global media spend projected to grow to $526 bn in 2021. Demand-side growth in advertising is combined with the ever-increasing popularity of gaming content and the rise in the amount of time viewed on streaming platforms such as Twitch and YouTube Gaming.
Details of the Placing
1. INTRODUCTION
The Company has today announced that it intends to conditionally raise £10 million (before expenses), pursuant to the Fundraise.
The Issue Price of 2.0 pence per New Ordinary Share represents an approximate 33.3 per cent. discount to the closing middle market price of 3.0 pence per Existing Ordinary Share on 30 June 2021, being the last practicable dealing date prior to the pricing of the transaction, and a 33.3 per cent. discount to the 10 day volume weighted average price ("VWAP") of 3.0 pence per Ordinary Share up to and including 30 June 2021.
Part of the Placing is expected to be raised under the Enterprise Investment Scheme and/or from Venture Capital Trusts. The net proceeds of the VCT/EIS Placing is proposed to be used to fund the development of a platform to allow commercial rights owners, such as sports league bodies and global sport teams, to have control over the content that appears in their licensed IP.
The balance of the net proceeds of the Fundraise will be used to fund working capital requirements in connection with product strategy, technology and research and development, commercial growth in core markets, particularly the UK and the US and further marketing to educate and enable sales.
The Fundraise is conditional, inter alia, on the passing of the Resolutions by Shareholders at the General Meeting, which has been convened for 11:00 a.m. on 19 July 2021. If the Resolutions are passed, the New Ordinary Shares are expected to be allotted after the General Meeting.
Admission is expected to become effective and dealings in New Ordinary Shares are expected to commence at 8:00 a.m. on 20 July 2021.
Should Shareholder approval not be obtained at the General Meeting, the Fundraise will not proceed. Neither the Placing nor the Subscription have been underwritten.
Definitions used in this document are set out in Appendix II below.
2. BACKGROUND TO AND REASONS FOR THE FUNDRAISING
Background
Bidstack's technology has made targeted in game advertising available to buy programmatically, for the first time, unlocking the world's digital advertising budgets for gaming studios while enhancing the realism of gaming environments by injecting brand messaging seamlessly into appropriate spaces within the virtual worlds.
Bidstack is now working with over 20 games including five games across three AAA game studios such as Sega, Codemasters and Ubisoft. A further six AAA games are available to the Company through partnership agreements. It also has six new esports team collaborations and has signed VR game studio, Rezzil, a leading platform for training elite footballers. It is operating in genres covering racing, stadium and open world environments.
The Company has established a sales network in core markets and is working with the world's leading brands across verticals such as consumer packaged goods, financial services, telecommunications, technology, retail and luxury. The UK and US are core markets for its direct sales team made up of eight sales people split between agency and brands. It has signed five agreements with the largest agency holding groups. Campaign sizes and briefs are growing due to the rising adoption of in-game advertising supported by Bidstack's brand uplift studies.
Bidstack is playing an active and vocal role within the IAB, the industry body, and with third parties to define a new ad category. Bidstack was the first multi-platform in-game advertising company to gain IAB Gold Standard 1.1. Bidstack has signed with Moat by Oracle to verify its ads are free from invalid or fraudulent activity and is also working with Nielsen and Comscore.
Bidstack has rolled out an accreditation programme to educate and certify partners in non-core markets and has now signed up over 25 new partners to its approved partner network, enabling local brands to reach gamers, and extending the reach of its direct sales network to monetise non-core markets.
The Company's objectives to accelerate recurring revenue growth include building an open exchange industry standard and infrastructure in order to standardise the way in-game ads are transacted and measured allowing always on advertising to transition into high scale growth. Bidstack intends to continue building its proprietary programmatic technology features focusing on control and transparency, self sign-up and on-boarding, planning and forecasting tools and strengthening safety features with Pubguard to prevent fraudulent or malicious ads.
The Board believes that Bidstack is well positioned to capitalise from market tailwinds in gaming and shifts in media spend to chase eyeballs and that its business model is at an inflection point with significant commercial progress made across publishers and advertisers. The Company's product roadmap is focused on enabling frictionless scale and creating lucrative commercial rights opportunities with publishers and license holders. The ambitious leadership team is supported by an exceptional and experienced global network of advisors.
Reasons for the Fundraise
The Board believes that the new funds will give Bidstack a clear runway to develop its products and business, including a new "white label" offering for sports rights holders and others, to help consolidate Bidstack's position as the industry leader in the field of native in-game advertising.
Having established solid relationships with major advertising agency groups, Bidstack now has considerable evidence that its customers trust it to provide them with a safe and authentic environment to monetise their brands and intellectual property. In addition Bidstack's games-publisher partners hold our technology in high regard due to its stability, strong creative controls for ad approvals and the Company's quality revenue generation capability.
Bidstack's strategy remains to take no shortcuts from a technical or commercial perspective, even if this is at the expense of some short term opportunities, and the Fundraise will allow us to stick to this strategy.
With the commercial, operational and proprietary data and technology Bidstack has created, following the Fundraise the Board believes Bidstack will be well positioned to fulfil its ambition to become a global leading advertising and monetisation platform for interactive entertainment.
3. USE OF PROCEEDS
Part of the Placing is proposed to be raised under the EIS and/or from VCTs. The net proceeds of the Placing raised under the Enterprise Investment Scheme and/or from Venture Capital Trusts is proposed to be used to fund the development of a platform to allow commercial rights owners, such as sports league bodies and global sport teams, to have control over the content that appears in their licensed IP.
The balance of the net proceeds of the Fundraise will be used to fund working capital requirements in connection with product strategy, technology and research and development, commercial growth in core markets, particularly the UK and the US and further marketing to educate and enable sales. In particular Bidstack intends to:
· continuing working with publishers, advertisers, DSPs and industry bodies to build the technology to standardise the way in-game advertising is transacted and measured and continue working with the IAB in establishing a taxonomy for native and display in-game advertising , including formats, ad sizes, copy and best practices;
· continue developing its proprietary technology stack to retain in-house control and visibility on costs through building further tools including open exchange toolsets, eSports monetisation features, self-sign-up and on-boarding, programmatic campaign set-up, optimisation, planning ans forecasting features; and
· continue to develop Pubgaurd's technology to help prevent malicious ads across mediation platforms, websites and ad exchanges.
4. CURRENT TRADING AND PROSPECTS
In 2020, Bidstack made strong and tangible progress towards its ambition to become a global leading advertising and monetisation platform for interactive entertainment. Bidstack has proven its initial concept through bringing premium advertisers into the world of gaming, securing exclusive contracts with household name game developers and building the technology infrastructure to enable both sides to seamlessly transact.
Bidstack's strategy has been to take no shortcuts from either a technological or commercial perspective. This is now paying off, with significant advertising agencies and brands planning around the Company's premium inventory and with its technology providing transparent reporting on campaign performance.
The Board believes that Bidstack is now well established, both in terms of technology and revenue generation. It is vital for Bidstack to consolidate its leading position through execution and scaling its value proposition into new markets.
The Company has started the year steadily and expects to have generated revenues in excess of £800,000 by the end of the half year. The pipeline looks robust with strong contributions expected from the US and growth in agency, approved partners and brands direct relationships. The Company continues to expect to deliver revenues for the year in line with market expectations, albeit second half weighted. In addition, the Board has been focussed on controlling total operational costs of the Group going forward as it starts to rebalance capital deployed to reflect the shift from product development to commercialisation.
5. DETAILS OF THE FUNDRAISE
The Company expects to raise £ 10 million (before expenses).
The Fundraise has not been underwritten and is conditional, inter alia, upon:
a) the passing of the Resolutions;
b) the Placing Agreement becoming unconditional in all respects (other than Admission) and not having been terminated in accordance with its terms; and
c) Admission occurring by not later than 8:00 a.m. on 20 July 2021 (or such later time and/or date as the Company and Cenkos may agree, not being later than 8:00 a.m. on 31 July 2021).
Accordingly, if any of the conditions are not satisfied or waived (where capable of waiver), the Fundraise will not proceed, the New Ordinary Shares will not be issued and all monies received by Cenkos or the Company (as the case may be) will be returned to the applicants (at the applicants' risk and without interest) as soon as possible thereafter.
The Company proposes to issue the New Ordinary Shares at the Issue Price, which represents a discount of 33.3 per cent. to the closing mid-price of 3.0 pence on 30 June 2021, being the last practicable dealing date prior to the pricing of the transaction, and a 33.3 per cent. discount to the 10 day volume weighted average price (VWAP) of 3.0 pence per Ordinary Share up to and including 30 June 2021. Having considered the price at which the Ordinary Shares are currently traded, and other market factors, the Directors have resolved that the Issue Price is appropriate.
Details of the Placing
Pursuant to the terms of the Placing Agreement, Cenkos, as agent for the Company, has conditionally agreed to use its reasonable endeavours to procure subscribers for the Placing Shares at the Issue Price. The Placing Agreement is conditional, amongst other things, on none of the warranties given to Cenkos and SPARK being or becoming untrue, inaccurate or misleading in any respects on or before Admission.
Under the Placing Agreement, the Company has agreed to pay to Cenkos and SPARK a fixed sum and/or commissions based on the aggregate value of the Placing, and the costs and expenses incurred in relation to the Placing.
The Placing Agreement contains customary warranties given by the Company in favour of Cenkos and SPARK in relation to, amongst other things, the accuracy of the information in this announcement and other matters relating to the Group and its business. In addition, the Company has agreed to indemnify Cenkos and SPARK (and their respective affiliates) in relation to certain liabilities which they may incur in respect of the Placing.
Cenkos and SPARK have the right to terminate the Placing Agreement in certain circumstances prior to Admission. In particular, in the event of breach of the warranties, the occurrence of a material adverse change or if the Placing Agreement does not become unconditional.
Although the Company currently expects to satisfy the relevant conditions for those Placing Shares subscribed under EIS/VCT, and the Directors are not aware of any subsequent change in the qualifying conditions or the Company's circumstances that would prevent the Placing Shares subscribed under EIS/VCT from being eligible for EIS and VCT investments on this occasion, neither the Directors nor the Company, nor Cenkos, nor any of their respective directors or officers, employees, affiliates or advisers give any warranty or undertaking or other assurance that relief will be available in respect of any investment in the Placing Shares subscribed under EIS/VCT, nor do they warrant or undertake or otherwise give any assurance that the Company will conduct its activities in a way that qualifies for or preserves its status. As the rules governing EIS and VCT reliefs are complex and interrelated with other legislation, if Shareholders, or other potential investors, are in any doubt as to their tax position, require more detailed information, or are subject to tax in a jurisdiction other than the United Kingdom, they should consult their professional adviser.
Rights of the New Ordinary Shares and application for Admission
The New Ordinary Shares will, when issued, be credited as fully paid and will be issued subject to the Company's articles of association and rank pari passu in all respects with the Existing Ordinary Shares, including the right to receive all dividends and other distributions declared, made or paid on or in respect of the Ordinary Shares after the date of issue of the New Ordinary Shares and will, on issue, be free of all claims, liens, charges and encumbrances.
Application will be made for Admission of the New Ordinary Shares and it is expected that Admission will become effective and that dealings in the New Ordinary Shares will commence at 8.00 a.m. on or around 20 July 2021 (or such later time and/or date as the Company and Cenkos may agree with the Company, being not later than 8:00 a .m. on 31 July 2021).
Important Notices
This announcement contains 'forward-looking statements' concerning the Company that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Generally, the words 'will', 'may', 'should', 'continue', 'believes', 'targets', 'plans', 'expects', 'aims', 'intends', 'anticipates' or similar expressions or negatives thereof identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond the Company's ability to control or estimate precisely. The Company cannot give any assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to have been correct. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this announcement. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise publicly any of the forward-looking statements set out herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.
Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to be a forecast, projection or estimate of the future financial performance of the Company or any other person following the implementation of the Placing or otherwise.
The price of shares and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the full amount invested on disposal of the shares. Past performance is no guide to future performance and persons who require advice should consult an independent financial adviser.
This announcement is not for publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States of America. This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale into the United States. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, except pursuant to an exemption from registration. No public offering of securities is being made in the United States.
The distribution of this announcement and the offering of the Placing Shares in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. No action has been taken by the Company, Cenkos Securities plc or SPARK Advisory Partners Limited that would permit an offering of such shares or possession or distribution of this announcement or any other offering or publicity material relating to such shares in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required. Persons into whose possession this announcement comes are required by the Company, Cenkos Securities plc and SPARK Advisory Partners Limited to inform themselves about, and to observe, any such restrictions.
This announcement is not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into Australia, Canada, Japan or the Republic of South Africa or any jurisdiction into which the publication or distribution would be unlawful. This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or issue or the solicitation of an offer to buy or acquire shares in the capital of the Company in the United States, Australia, Canada, the Republic of South Africa or Japan or any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation would be unlawful or require preparation of any prospectus or other offer documentation or would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
Cenkos Securities plc, which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting as bookrunner to the Company in relation to the Placing and is not acting for any other persons in relation to the Placing. Cenkos Securities plc is acting exclusively for the Company and for no one else in relation to the matters described in this announcement and is not advising any other person and accordingly will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of Cenkos Securities plc, or for providing advice in relation to the contents of this announcement or any matter referred to in it.
SPARK Advisory Partners Limited, which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting as nominated adviser to the Company in relation to the Fundraise and is not acting for any other persons in relation to the Fundraise. SPARK Advisory Partners Limited is acting exclusively for the Company and for no one else in relation to the matters described in this announcement and is not advising any other person and accordingly will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of SPARK Advisory Partners Limited, or for providing advice in relation to the contents of this announcement or any matter referred to in it.
This announcement has been issued by, and is the sole responsibility of, the Company. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by Cenkos Securities plc or SPARK Advisory Partners Limited or by any of their respective affiliates or agents as to or in relation to, the accuracy or completeness of this announcement or any other written or oral information made available to or publicly available to any interested party or its advisers, and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed.
APPENDIX I - TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE PLACING
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR INVITED PLACEES ONLY REGARDING THE PLACING SHARES.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT (INCLUDING THIS APPENDIX) IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO OR FROM AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. THE CONTENTS OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED BY ANY REGULATORY BODY.
NEITHER THIS ANNOUNCEMENT NOR ANY PART OF IT CONSTITUTES OR FORMS PART OF ANY OFFER TO SELL OR ISSUE OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO ACQUIRE, PURCHASE OR SUBSCRIBE FOR PLACING SHARES IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH AN OFFER OR SOLICITATION IS OR MAY BE RESTRICTED (SAVE FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM) OR UNLAWFUL.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT AN OFFER OF SECURITIES FOR SALE INTO THE UNITED STATES. THE PLACING SHARES HAVE NOT BEEN NOR WILL BE REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT, UNDER THE SECURITIES LEGISLATION OF ANY STATE OF THE UNITED STATES OR WITH ANY SECURITIES REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF ANY STATE OR JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES. THE PLACING SHARES HAVE NOT BEEN AND WILL NOT BE APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED BY THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, ANY STATE SECURITIES COMMISSION OR ANY OTHER REGULATORY AUTHORITY IN THE UNITED STATES, NOR HAVE ANY OF THE FOREGOING AUTHORITIES PASSED UPON OR ENDORSED THE MERITS OF THE PLACING OR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENCE IN THE UNITED STATES. THE PLACING SHARES MAY NOT BE OFFERED, SOLD OR TRANSFERRED, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES OR TO, OR FOR THE ACCOUNT OR BENEFIT OF, ANY US PERSON (AS SUCH TERM IS DEFINED IN REGULATION S UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT). THERE WILL BE NO PUBLIC OFFER OF THE SECURITIES WITHIN THE MEANING OF SECTION 4(A)(2) OF THE SECURITIES ACT MADE IN THE UNITED STATES. THE PLACING SHARES CANNOT BE OFFERED, RESOLD, PLEDGED OR OTHERWISE TRANSFERRED IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO US PERSONS.
THE RELEVANT CLEARANCES HAVE NOT BEEN, NOR WILL THEY BE, OBTAINED FROM THE SECURITIES COMMISSION OF ANY PROVINCE OR TERRITORY OF CANADA. NO PROSPECTUS HAS BEEN LODGED WITH, OR REGISTERED BY, THE AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION OR THE JAPANESE MINISTRY OF FINANCE. THE RELEVANT CLEARANCES HAVE NOT BEEN, AND WILL NOT BE, OBTAINED FROM THE SOUTH AFRICA RESERVE BANK OR ANY OTHER APPLICABLE BODY IN THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA IN RELATION TO THE PLACING SHARES AND THE PLACING SHARES HAVE NOT BEEN, NOR WILL THEY BE, REGISTERED UNDER OR OFFERED IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY STATE, PROVINCE OR TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA. ACCORDINGLY, THE PLACING SHARES MAY NOT (UNLESS AN EXEMPTION UNDER THE RELEVANT SECURITIES LAWS IS APPLICABLE) BE OFFERED, SOLD, RESOLD OR DELIVERED, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO OR FROM AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION OUTSIDE THE UNITED KINGDOM. PERSONS (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, NOMINEES AND TRUSTEES) WHO HAVE A CONTRACTUAL RIGHT OR OTHER LEGAL OBLIGATION TO FORWARD A COPY OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT SHOULD SEEK APPROPRIATE ADVICE BEFORE TAKING ANY ACTION.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT OR ANY PART OF IT AND THE PLACING AND ISSUE OF THE PLACING SHARES IN CERTAIN JURISDICTIONS MAY BE RESTRICTED OR PROHIBITED BY LAW. NO ACTION HAS BEEN TAKEN BY THE COMPANY OR CENKOS OR ANY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE AFFILIATES, AGENTS, CONSULTANTS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES OR OFFICERS THAT WOULD PERMIT AN OFFER OF THE PLACING SHARES OR POSSESSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT OR ANY OTHER OFFERING OR PUBLICITY MATERIAL RELATING TO SUCH PLACING SHARES IN ANY JURISDICTION WHERE ACTION FOR THAT PURPOSE IS REQUIRED, OTHER THAN THE UNITED KINGDOM. PERSONS TO WHOSE ATTENTION THIS ANNOUNCEMENT HAS BEEN DRAWN ARE REQUIRED BY THE COMPANY AND CENKOS TO INFORM THEMSELVES ABOUT AND TO OBSERVE ANY SUCH RESTRICTIONS.
MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO TAKE PART IN THE PLACING. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS DIRECTED ONLY AT (A) PERSONS IN MEMBER STATES OF THE EEA WHO ARE QUALIFIED INVESTORS WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 2 (e) OF THE PROSPECTUS REGULATION (EU) 2017/1129 AND TO THE EXTENT IMPLEMENTED IN THE RELEVANT MEMBER STATE ("EU PROSPECTUS REGULATION") ("QUALIFIED INVESTORS"), AND (B) IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, QUALIFIED INVESTORS AS DEFINED IN ARTICLE 2€ OF THE PROSPECTUS REGULATION WHICH FORMS PART OF DOMESTIC LAW PURSUANT TO THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018 ("UK PROSPECTUS REGULATION") WHO ARE PERSONS WHO (I) HAVE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN MATTERS RELATING TO INVESTMENTS FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 19(5) (INVESTMENT PROFESSIONALS) OF FSMA (FINANCIAL PROMOTION) ORDER 2005, AS AMENDED (THE "ORDER"); (II) ARE PERSONS FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 49(2)(A) TO (D) (HIGH NET WORTH COMPANIES, UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATIONS, ETC.) OF THE ORDER; OR (III) ARE PERSONS TO WHOM IT MAY OTHERWISE BE LAWFULLY COMMUNICATED (ALL SUCH PERSONS TOGETHER BEING REFERRED TO AS "RELEVANT PERSONS").
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION IN IT MUST NOT BE ACTED ON OR RELIED ON BY PERSONS WHO ARE NOT RELEVANT PERSONS. PERSONS DISTRIBUTING THIS ANNOUNCEMENT MUST SATISFY THEMSELVES THAT IT IS LAWFUL TO DO SO. ANY INVESTMENT OR INVESTMENT ACTIVITY TO WHICH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT RELATES IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO RELEVANT PERSONS AND WILL BE ENGAGED IN ONLY WITH RELEVANT PERSONS. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT ITSELF CONSTITUTE AN OFFER FOR SALE OR SUBSCRIPTION OF ANY SECURITIES IN THE COMPANY. EACH PLACEE SHOULD CONSULT WITH ITS OWN ADVISERS AS TO LEGAL, TAX, BUSINESS AND RELATED ASPECTS OF AN INVESTMENT IN PLACING SHARES.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT INCLUDES STATEMENTS THAT ARE, OR MAY BE DEEMED TO BE, "FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS". THESE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS CAN BE IDENTIFIED BY THE USE OF FORWARD-LOOKING TERMINOLOGY, INCLUDING THE TERMS "BELIEVES", "ESTIMATES", "PLANS", "PROJECTS", "ANTICIPATES", "EXPECTS", "INTENDS", "MAY", "WILL" OR "SHOULD", OR, IN EACH CASE, THEIR NEGATIVE OR OTHER VARIATIONS OR COMPARABLE TERMINOLOGY. THESE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS INCLUDE MATTERS THAT ARE NOT HISTORICAL FACTS. THEY APPEAR IN A NUMBER OF PLACES THROUGHOUT THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND INCLUDE STATEMENTS REGARDING THE DIRECTORS' CURRENT INTENTIONS, BELIEFS OR EXPECTATIONS CONCERNING, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE COMPANY'S RESULTS OR OPERATIONS, FINANCIAL CONDITION, LIQUIDITY, PROSPECTS, GROWTH, STRATEGIES AND THE COMPANY'S MARKETS. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT ARE BASED ON CERTAIN FACTORS AND ASSUMPTIONS, INCLUDING THE DIRECTORS' CURRENT VIEW WITH RESPECT TO FUTURE EVENTS AND ARE SUBJECT TO RISKS RELATING TO FUTURE EVENTS AND OTHER RISKS, UNCERTAINTIES AND ASSUMPTIONS RELATING TO THE COMPANY'S OPERATIONS, GROWTH STRATEGY AND LIQUIDITY. WHILE THE DIRECTORS CONSIDER THESE ASSUMPTIONS TO BE REASONABLE BASED UPON INFORMATION CURRENTLY AVAILABLE, THEY MAY PROVE TO BE INCORRECT. SAVE AS REQUIRED BY LAW OR BY THE AIM RULES, THE COMPANY ASSUMES NO OBLIGATION TO PUBLICLY RELEASE THE RESULTS OF ANY REVISIONS TO FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT THAT MAY OCCUR DUE TO ANY CHANGE IN THE DIRECTORS' EXPECTATIONS OR TO REFLECT EVENTS OR CIRCUMSTANCES AFTER THE DATE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO STATEMENT IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS INTENDED TO COMPRISE A PROFIT FORECAST OR ESTIMATE, AND NO STATEMENT IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT SHOULD BE INTERPRETED TO MEAN THAT EARNINGS PER SHARE OF THE COMPANY FOR THE CURRENT OR FUTURE FINANCIAL YEARS WOULD MATCH OR EXCEED HISTORICAL PUBLISHED EARNINGS PER SHARE OF THE COMPANY.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT HAS BEEN PREPARED AND ISSUED BY THE COMPANY AND IS AND WILL BE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE COMPANY. NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IS OR WILL BE MADE AS TO, OR IN RELATION TO AND NO RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY IS OR WILL BE ACCEPTED BY CENKOS OR ANY OF ITS RESPECTIVE ADVISERS, AFFILIATES, AGENTS, BRANCHES, CONSULTANTS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS OR ANY OTHER PERSON AS TO OR IN RELATION TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT OR ANY OTHER WRITTEN OR ORAL INFORMATION MADE AVAILABLE TO ANY PLACEE, ANY PERSON ACTING ON SUCH PLACEE'S BEHALF OR ANY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE ADVISERS OR MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE, AND ANY LIABILITY THEREFOR IS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT HAS NOT BEEN EXAMINED OR APPROVED BY THE LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, NOR IS IT INTENDED THAT IT WILL BE SO EXAMINED OR APPROVED.
Solely for the purposes of the product governance requirements contained within (a) EU Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments, as amended ("MiFID II"); (b) Articles 9 and 10 of Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2017/593 supplementing MiFID II; and (c) local implementing measures (including insofar as MiFID II and the MiFID II Delegated Directive constitute retained EU law (as defined in section 6(7) of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018) in the United Kingdom ("Retained MiFID Provisions)) (together the "MiFID II Product Governance Requirements"), and disclaiming all and any liability, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise which any "manufacturer" (for the purposes of the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements) may otherwise have with respect thereto, the Placing Shares have been subject to a product approval process, which has determined that such Placing Shares are; (i) compatible with an end target market of retail investors and investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties, each as defined in MiFID II and the Retained MiFID Provisions; and (ii) eligible for distribution through all distribution channels as are permitted by MiFID II and the Retained MiFID Provisions (the "Target Market Assessment"). Notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, Distributors (as defined within the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements) and investors should note that: the price of the Placing Shares may decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment; the Placing Shares offer no guaranteed income and no capital protection; and an investment in Placing Shares is compatible only with investors who do not need a guaranteed income or capital protection, who (either alone or in conjunction with an appropriate financial or other adviser) are capable of evaluating the merits and risks of such an investment and who have sufficient resources to be able to bear any losses that may result therefrom. The Target Market Assessment is without prejudice to the requirements of any contractual, legal or regulatory selling restrictions in relation to the Placing. Furthermore, it is noted that, notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, Cenkos will only procure investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties. For the avoidance of doubt, the Target Market Assessment does not constitute: (a) an assessment of suitability of appropriateness for the purposes of MiFID II or the Retained MiFID Provisions; or (b) a recommendation to any investor or group of investors to invest in, or purchase, or take any other action whatsoever with respect to the Placing Shares. Each distributor is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the Placing Shares and determining appropriate distribution channels.
This Announcement should be read in its entirety.
Terms and conditions of, and the mechanics of participation in, the Placing
This Appendix gives details of the terms and conditions of, and the mechanics of participation in, the Placing. By participating in the Placing, each Placee will be deemed to have read and understood this Announcement in its entirety, to be participating, making an offer and acquiring Placing Shares on the terms and conditions contained herein and to be providing the representations, warranties, indemnities, acknowledgements and undertakings contained in this Appendix.
No commission will be paid to Placees or by Placees in respect of any Placing Shares.
Details of the Placing Agreement and the Placing Shares
Cenkos, as bookrunner (the "Bookrunner"), has entered into the Placing Agreement with the Company pursuant to which, on the terms and subject to the conditions set out in the Placing Agreement, Cenkos, as agent for and on behalf of the Company, has conditionally agreed to use its reasonable endeavours to procure Placees for the Placing Shares at the Issue Price. The Placing is not being underwritten by Cenkos or any other person.
The Placing Shares, when issued, will be subject to the articles of association of the Company and credited as fully paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing issued Ordinary Shares in the capital of the Company, including the right to receive all dividends and other distributions declared, made or paid in respect of such Ordinary Shares after the date of issue of the Placing Shares.
The Placing Agreement contains certain undertakings, warranties and indemnities given by the Company for the benefit of, amongst others, Cenkos. Cenkos has absolute discretion as to whether or not to bring an action against the Company for breach of these undertakings, warranties and indemnities.
Cenkos has the right to terminate the Placing Agreement in certain circumstances, details of some of which are set out below.
Application for Admission
Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for Admission.
It is expected that Admission will become effective and that dealings in the New Ordinary Shares will commence at 8.00 a.m. on or around 20 July 2021.
Principal terms of the Placing
Cenkos is acting as Bookrunner and broker to the Placing, as agent for and on behalf of the Company. Cenkos is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA, is acting exclusively for the Company and no one else in connection with the matters referred to in this Announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to the customers of Cenkos or for providing advice in relation to the matters described in this Announcement.
Participation in the Placing will only be available to persons who may lawfully be, and are, invited by Cenkos to participate. Cenkos and any of its affiliates are entitled to participate in the Placing as principal.
Cenkos is proceeding with the Bookbuild for the purpose of assessing demand from institutional and other investors for subscribing for Placing Shares at the Issue Price and the Company then issuing the new Ordinary Shares under the Placing to raise £10 million for the Company before expenses. The exact number of Placing Shares to be allocated and issued to each Placee shall be determined by the Bookrunner and the Company following completion of the Bookbuild. The Bookrunner will commence the Bookbuild today and it is expected to close no later than 8.00 a.m. on 2 July 2021 but may be closed earlier or later at Cenkos' discretion. Completion of the Bookbuild is at the discretion of the Company and there is no guarantee that the Bookbuild will be completed. Cenkos may, in agreement with the Company, accept bids that are received after the Bookbuild has closed. The number of Placing Shares will be announced on a Regulatory Information Service following completion of the Bookbuild.
Each Placee's allocation of Placing Shares will be communicated orally by Cenkos to the relevant Placee. That oral confirmation will give rise to an irrevocable, legally binding commitment by such Placee, in favour of Cenkos and the Company, under which it agrees to acquire the number of Placing Shares allocated to it at the Issue Price and otherwise on the terms and subject to the conditions set out in this Appendix and in accordance with the Company's articles of association. Except with Cenkos' consent, such commitment will not be capable of variation, revocation, termination or rescission at either the time of such oral confirmation or any time thereafter.
Each Placee's allocation and commitment will be evidenced by a Form of Confirmation issued to such Placee by Cenkos. The Form of Confirmation will set out the number of Placing Shares allocated, the Issue Price and the aggregate amount owed by such Placee to Cenkos. The terms of this Appendix will be deemed incorporated in that contract note.
An offer to acquire Placing Shares which has been communicated by a prospective Placee to Cenkos which has not been withdrawn or revoked prior to publication of this Announcement shall not be capable of withdrawal or revocation immediately following the publication of this Announcement without the consent of Cenkos.
The Issue Price shall be payable to Cenkos by all Placees in respect of their respective allocation of Placing Shares.
Each Placee will have an immediate, separate, irrevocable and binding obligation, owed to Cenkos (as agent for the Company), to pay to it (or as it may direct) in cleared funds an amount equal to the product of the Issue Price and the number of Placing Shares such Placee has agreed to acquire and the Company has agreed to allot and issue to that Placee.
Irrespective of the time at which a Placee's allocation(s) pursuant to the Placing is/are confirmed, settlement for all Placing Shares to be acquired pursuant to the Placing will be required to be made on the basis set out below under "Registration and Settlement".
All obligations of Cenkos under the Placing will be subject to fulfilment of the conditions referred to below under "Conditions of the Placing" and to the Placing not being terminated on the basis referred to below under "Termination of the Placing".
By participating in the Placing, each Placee agrees that its rights and obligations in respect of the Placing will terminate only in the circumstances described below and/or set out in the Placing Agreement and will not be capable of rescission or termination by the Placee.
To the fullest extent permissible by law and applicable FCA rules, none of (a) Cenkos, (b) any of Cenkos' affiliates, agents, directors, officers, employees or consultants, (c) to the extent not contained within (a) or (b), any person connected with Cenkos as defined in the FSMA ((b) and (c) being together "affiliates" and individually an "affiliate" of Cenkos) or (d) any person acting on Cenkos' behalf shall have any liability (including to the extent permissible by law, any fiduciary duties) to any Placee or to any other person whether acting on behalf of a Placee or otherwise. In particular, neither Cenkos nor any of its respective affiliates shall have any liability (including, to the extent permissible by law, any fiduciary duties) in respect of their conduct of the Placing or of such alternative method of effecting the Placing as Cenkos and the Company may agree.
Registration and Settlement
Each Placee which has been allocated new Ordinary Shares in the Placing will be sent a Letter of Confirmation by Cenkos stating, inter alia, the number of Placing Shares allocated to it, the Issue Price and the aggregate amount owed by them to Cenkos.
Each Placee is deemed to have agreed that it will do all things necessary to ensure that delivery and payment is completed as directed by Cenkos in accordance with either the standing CREST or certificated settlement instructions which they have in place with Cenkos.
Settlement of transactions in the New Ordinary Shares (ISIN: GB00BZ7M6059) will take place within the CREST system, subject to certain exceptions. Settlement through CREST with respect to the New Ordinary Shares is expected to occur at 8.00 a.m. on 20 July 2021.
In accordance with the Form of Confirmation, settlement of the New Ordinary Shares will be on a delivery versus payment basis.
In the event of any difficulties or delays in the admission of the New Ordinary Shares to CREST or the use of CREST in relation to the Placing, the Company and Cenkos may agree that the Placing Shares will be issued in certificated form.
Cenkos reserves the right to require settlement for the Placing Shares, and to deliver the Placing Shares to Placees, by such other means as it deems necessary if delivery or settlement to Placees is not practicable within the CREST system or would not be consistent with regulatory requirements in a Placee's jurisdiction.
Interest is chargeable daily on payments not received from Placees on the due date in accordance with the arrangements set out above, in respect of either CREST or certificated deliveries, at the rate of two percentage points above prevailing LIBOR as determined by Cenkos.
Each Placee agrees that if it does not comply with these obligations, Cenkos may sell any or all of their Placing Shares on their behalf and retain from the proceeds, for Cenkos' account and benefit, an amount equal to the aggregate amount owed by the Placee plus any interest due. The relevant Placee will, however, remain liable for any shortfall below the aggregate amount owed by it and for any stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax (together with any interest or penalties) which may arise upon the sale of their Placing Shares on their behalf.
If Placing Shares are to be delivered to a custodian or settlement agent, Placees must ensure that, upon receipt, the Form of Confirmation is copied and delivered immediately to the relevant person within that organisation. Insofar as Placing Shares are registered in a Placee's name or that of its nominee or in the name of any person for whom a Placee is contracting as agent or that of a nominee for such person, such Placing Shares should, subject as provided below, be so registered free from any liability to United Kingdom stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax.
Conditions of the Placing
The Placing is conditional upon the Placing Agreement becoming unconditional and not having been terminated in accordance with its terms.
The obligations of Cenkos under the Placing Agreement are, and the Placing is, conditional upon, inter alia:
1. none of the warranties or undertakings provided by the Company in the Placing Agreement being or having become untrue, inaccurate or misleading at any time before Admission and no fact or circumstance having arisen which would constitute a breach of any such warranties;
2. the performance by the Company of certain obligations under the Placing Agreement to the extent that they fall to be performed prior to Admission; and
3. Admission of all the New Ordinary Shares occurring not later than 8.00 a.m. on 20 July 2021 or such later time as Cenkos may agree in writing with the Company (but in any event not later than 8.00 a.m. on 31 July 2021),
(all conditions to the obligations of Cenkos included in the Placing Agreement being together, the "Conditions").
If any of the Conditions set out in the Placing Agreement are not fulfilled or, where permitted, waived in accordance with the Placing Agreement within the stated time periods (or such later time and/or date as the Company and Cenkos may agree), or the Placing Agreement is terminated in accordance with the circumstances described under "Termination of the Placing" below, the Placing will lapse and the Placee's rights and obligations shall cease and terminate at such time, all monies received from a Placee pursuant to the Placing shall be returned to such Placee without interest, at the risk of the relevant Placee and each Placee agrees that no claim can be made by or on behalf of the Placee (or any person on whose behalf the Placee is acting) in respect thereof.
Certain Conditions may be waived in whole or in part by Cenkos acting in its absolute discretion and Cenkos may also agree in writing with the Company to extend the time for satisfaction of any condition. Any such extension or waiver will not affect Placees' commitments as set out in this Appendix. Cenkos shall not be obliged to issue Placees with any details of any such waiver.
Cenkos may terminate the Placing Agreement in certain circumstances, details of which are set out below.
None of Cenkos, the Company nor any of their respective affiliates, agents, consultants, directors, employees or officers shall have any liability to any Placee (or to any other person whether acting on behalf of a Placee or otherwise) in respect of any decision any of them may make as to whether or not to waive or to extend the time and/or date for the satisfaction of any condition to the Placing nor for any decision any of them may make as to the satisfaction of any condition or in respect of the Placing generally and by participating in the Placing each Placee agrees that any such decision is within the absolute discretion of Cenkos.
Termination of the Placing
Cenkos may terminate its obligation under the Placing Agreement, in accordance with its terms, at any time prior to Admission if, inter alia:
1. it comes to the notice of Cenkos that any statement contained in this Announcement, or any other document or announcement issued or published by or on behalf of the Company in connection with the Placing, is or has become untrue, incorrect or misleading in any respect which it reasonably considers is material in the context of the Placing and/or Admission;
2. it comes to the knowledge of Cenkos that there has been a breach of any of the warranties in the Placing Agreement;
3. there has occurred any material adverse change in the financial position or prospects of the Company and in Cenkos' reasonable opinion that would materially prevent the success of the Placing or it would be inadvisable to proceed with the Placing; or
4. there has occurred any change in national or international financial, market, industrial, monetary, economic or political conditions (including a material deterioration in, or a material escalation in a response to a pandemic) or there shall have occurred any event which, in the reasonable opinion of Cenkos, makes it impracticable or inadvisable to allow Admission to become effective.
If the Placing Agreement is terminated in accordance with its terms, the rights and obligations of each Placee in respect of the Placing as described in this Announcement shall cease and terminate at such time, all monies received from a Placee pursuant to the Placing shall be returned to such Placee without interest, at the risk of the relevant Placee and each Placee agrees that no claim can be made by or on behalf of the Placee (or any person on whose behalf the Placee is acting) in respect thereof.
By participating in the Placing, each Placee agrees with the Company and Cenkos that the exercise by the Company, or Cenkos, of any right of termination or any other right or other discretion under the Placing Agreement shall be within the absolute discretion of the Company or Cenkos and that neither the Company nor Cenkos need make any reference to such Placee and that none of Cenkos, the Company, nor any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees shall have any liability to such Placee (or to any other person whether acting on behalf of a Placee or otherwise) whatsoever in connection with any such exercise (including any decision not to terminate the Placing Agreement).
No prospectus
No prospectus has been or will be submitted to be approved by the FCA in relation to the Placing or the Placing Shares and no such prospectus is required on the basis that all offers of Placing Shares will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Prospectus Regulation from the requirement to produce a prospectus.
Placees' commitments will be made solely on the basis of the information contained in this Announcement and subject to any further terms set forth in the contract note to be sent to individual Placees.
Representations, warranties and further terms
By participating in the Placing, each Placee and/or any person acting on such Placee's behalf acknowledges, agrees, represents, undertakes, with Cenkos (for itself and as agent on behalf of the Company) that (save where Cenkos expressly agrees in writing to the contrary):
1. it has read and understood this Announcement in its entirety and it agrees and acknowledges that the issue and acquisition of the Placing Shares is subject to and based upon all the terms, conditions, representations, warranties, indemnities, acknowledgements, agreements, undertakings and other information contained or referred to in this Appendix 2;
2. it is a Qualified Investor within the United Kingdom as defined in Article 2 (e) of the UK Prospectus Regulation and if it is within a Relevant State, it is a Qualified Investor as defined in Article 2 (e) of the EU Prospectus Regulation;
3. in the case of any Placing Shares acquired by it as a financial intermediary, as that term is used in Regulation 5(1) of the UK Prospectus Regulation:
a. the Placing Shares acquired by it in the Placing will not be acquired on a non-discretionary basis on behalf of, nor will they be acquired with a view to their offer or resale to, persons in any Relevant Member State other than Qualified Investors or in circumstances in which the prior consent of Cenkos has been given to the offer or resale; or
b. where Placing Shares have been acquired by it on behalf of persons in any member state of the EEA other than Qualified Investors, the offer of those Placing Shares to it is not treated under the EU Prospectus Regulation as having been made to such persons;
4. it will not distribute, forward, transfer, mail or otherwise transmit by any means or media, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, this Announcement or any other materials concerning the Placing (including any electronic copies thereof), in or into the United States or to any US Person (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the US Securities Act of 1933) and it has not distributed, forwarded, transferred or otherwise transmitted any such materials to any person;
5. it is not, and any person who it is acting on behalf of is not, and at the time the Placing Shares are acquired will not be, a resident of, or with an address in, or subject to the laws of, Australia, Canada, Japan, the United States of America or the Republic of South Africa, and it acknowledges and agrees that the Placing Shares have not been and will not be registered or otherwise qualified under the securities legislation of Australia, Canada, Japan, the United States of America or the Republic of South Africa and may not be offered, sold or acquired, directly or indirectly, within those jurisdictions;
6. it acknowledges that no action has been or will be taken by any of the Company, Cenkos or any person acting on their behalf that would, or is intended to, permit a public offer of the Placing Shares in the United States or in any country or jurisdiction where any such action for that purpose is required. In addition, the Placing Shares have not been registered or otherwise qualified, and will not be registered or otherwise qualified, for offer and sale nor will a prospectus be cleared or approved in respect of any of the Placing Shares under the securities laws of the United States (or any state or other jurisdiction of the United States) Australia, Canada, Japan or the Republic of South Africa and, subject to certain exceptions, may not be offered, sold, taken up, renounced or delivered or transferred, directly or indirectly, within the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan or the Republic of South Africa or in any country or jurisdiction where any such action for that purpose is required;
7. it and the beneficial owner of the Placing Shares is currently, and will remain so until at least such time as the Placing Shares are acquired, not a US Person (as such term is defined in Regulation S), and is currently outside the United States and acquiring the Placing Shares in an "offshore transaction" as defined in, and in accordance with, Regulation S under the Securities Act;
8. it and/or each person on whose behalf it is participating (i) is entitled to acquire Placing Shares pursuant to the Placing under the laws and regulations of all relevant jurisdictions; (ii) has fully observed such laws and regulations; and (iii) has the capacity and has obtained all requisite authorities and consents (including, without limitation, in the case of a person acting on behalf of a Placee, all requisite authorities and consents to agree to the terms set out or referred to in this Appendix) under those laws or otherwise and has complied with all necessary formalities to enable it to enter into the transactions and make the acknowledgements, agreements, indemnities, representations, undertakings and warranties contemplated hereby and to perform its obligations in relation thereto on its own behalf (and in the case of a person acting on behalf of a Placee on behalf of that Placee); (iv) agrees to the terms set out in this Appendix and makes the acknowledgements, agreements, indemnities, representations, undertakings and warranties contained in this Announcement on its own behalf (and in the case of a person acting on behalf of a Placee on behalf of that Placee); and (v) is and will remain liable to the Company and Cenkos for the performance of all its obligations as a Placee of the Placing (whether or not it is acting on behalf of another person);
9. it is acquiring the Placing Shares for its own account or, if it is acquiring the Placing Shares on behalf of another person, it confirms that it exercises sole investment discretion in relation to such other person's affairs and in particular, if it is a pension fund or investment company, it is aware of and acknowledges it is required to comply with all applicable laws and regulations with respect to its acquisition of Placing Shares;
10. it understands (or if acting on behalf of another person, such person has confirmed that such person understands) the resale and transfer restrictions set out in this Appendix;
11. it has not received a prospectus or other offering document in connection with the Placing and acknowledges that no prospectus or other offering document: (i) is required under the Prospectus Regulation; and (ii) has been or will be prepared in connection with the Placing;
12. the Ordinary Shares are admitted to trading on AIM, and that the Company is therefore required to publish certain business and financial information in accordance with the AIM Rules, which includes a description of the nature of the Company's business and the Company's most recent balance sheet and profit and loss account (the "Exchange Information"), and that it is able to obtain or access the Exchange Information without undue difficulty, and is able to obtain access to such information or comparable information concerning any other publicly traded company, without undue difficulty;
13. it has made its own assessment of the Company, the Placing Shares and the terms of the Placing and has relied on its own investigation of the business, financial or other position of the Company in accepting a participation in the Placing. It has not relied on (i) any investigation that Cenkos or any person acting on Cenkos' behalf may have conducted with respect to the Company, the Placing or the Placing Shares; or (ii) any other information given or any other representations, statements or warranties made at any time by any person in connection with Admission, the Company, the Placing, the Placing Shares or otherwise;
14. none of Cenkos nor the Company nor any of their respective affiliates, agents, consultants, directors, employees, officers or any person acting on behalf of any of them has provided, nor will provide, it with any material regarding the Placing Shares or the Company or any other person in addition to the information in this Announcement; nor has it requested Cenkos, the Company, any of their respective affiliates, agents, consultants, employees, directors or officers or any person acting on behalf of any of them to provide it with any such information;
15. the content of this Announcement has been prepared by and is exclusively the responsibility of the Company. Neither Cenkos nor any persons acting on behalf of it are responsible for or has or shall have any liability for any information, representation, warranty or statement, written or oral relating to the Company and either contained in this Announcement or previously or concurrently published by or on behalf of the Company. Cenkos will not be liable for any Placee's decision to participate in the Placing based on any information, representation, warranty or statement contained in this Announcement, the Exchange Information or otherwise. None of Cenkos, the Company, nor any of their respective affiliates, agents, consultants, directors, employees or officers has made any representation or warranty to the Placee, express or implied, with respect to the Company, the Placing or the Placing Shares or the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information in this Announcement or the Exchange Information. Nothing in this Appendix shall exclude any liability of any person for fraudulent misrepresentation;
16. the only information on which it is entitled to rely and on which it has relied in committing to subscribe for the Placing Shares is contained or referred to in this Announcement. It has satisfied itself that such information is still current and is all that it deems necessary to make an investment decision in respect of the Placing Shares;
17. it has the funds available to pay for the Placing Shares which it has agreed to acquire and acknowledges, agrees and undertakes that it will make payment to Cenkos for the Placing Shares allocated to it in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Announcement on the due times and dates set out in this Announcement or the relevant contract note, failing which the relevant Placing Shares may be placed with others on such terms as Cenkos may, in its absolute discretion, determine without liability to the Placee and it will remain liable for any shortfall below the net proceeds of such sale and the placing proceeds of such Placing Shares and may be required to bear any stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax (together with any interest or penalties due pursuant to the terms set out or referred to in this Announcement) which may arise upon the sale of such Placee's Placing Shares on its behalf;
18. it, or the person specified by it for registration as a holder of the Placing Shares will be responsible for any liability to stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax payable on the acquisition of any of the Placing Shares or the agreement to subscribe for the Placing Shares and shall indemnify the Company and Cenkos in respect of the same on the basis that the Placing Shares will be allotted to a CREST stock account of Cenkos who will hold them as nominee on behalf of such Placee (or the person specified by it for registration as holder of the Placing Shares) until settlement with it in accordance with its standing settlement instructions.
19. the allocation, allotment, issue and delivery to it, or the person specified by it for registration as holder, of Placing Shares will not give rise to a stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax liability under (or at a rate determined under) any of sections 67, 70, 93 or 96 of the Finance Act 1986 (depository receipts and clearance services) and that no instrument under which it subscribes for Placing Shares (whether as principal, agent or nominee) would be subject to stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax at the increased rates referred to in those sections and that it, or the person specified by it for registration as holder of the Placing Shares, is not participating in the Placing as nominee or agent for any person or persons to whom the allocation, allotment, issue or delivery of Placing Shares would give rise to such a liability;
20. it has only communicated or caused to be communicated and it will only communicate or cause to be communicated any invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of the FSMA) relating to Placing Shares in circumstances in which section 21(1) of the FSMA does not require approval of the communication by an authorised person and it acknowledges and agrees that Cenkos has not approved this Announcement in its capacity as an authorised person under section 21 of FSMA and it may not therefore be subject to the controls which would apply if it was made or approved as a financial promotion by an authorised person;
21. it has complied and it will comply with all applicable laws with respect to anything done by it or on its behalf in relation to the Placing Shares (including all relevant provisions of the FSMA in respect of anything done in, from or otherwise involving the United Kingdom);
22. none of Cenkos, the Company, any of their respective affiliates, agents, consultants, directors, employees or officers or any person acting on behalf of any of them are making any recommendations to it, advising it regarding the suitability of any transactions it may enter into in connection with the Placing nor providing advice in relation to the Placing nor in respect of any acknowledgements, agreements, indemnities, representations, undertakings or warranties contained in the Placing Agreement nor the exercise or performance of Cenkos' rights and obligations thereunder, including any rights to waive or vary any conditions or exercise any termination right. Its participation in the Placing is on the basis that it is not and will not be a client of Cenkos and Cenkos has no duties or responsibilities to it for providing the protections afforded to its clients or customers under the rules of the FCA, and any payment by it will not be treated as client money governed by the rules of the FCA;
23. Cenkos and its affiliates, each acting as an investor for its or their own account(s), may, in accordance with applicable legal and regulatory provisions, bid or subscribe for and/or purchase Placing Shares and, in that capacity, may retain, purchase, offer to sell or otherwise deal for its or their own account(s) in the Placing Shares, any other securities of the Company or other related investments in connection with the Placing or otherwise. Accordingly, references in this Announcement to the Placing Shares being offered, subscribed, acquired or otherwise dealt with should be read as including any offer to, or subscription, acquisition or dealing by, Cenkos and/or any of its affiliates, acting as an investor for its or their own account(s). Neither Cenkos nor the Company intends to disclose the extent of any such investment or transaction otherwise than in accordance with any legal or regulatory obligation to do so;
24. it will not make any offer to the public of the Placing Shares and it has not offered or sold and will not offer or sell any Placing Shares to persons in the United Kingdom or elsewhere in the EEA prior to the expiry of a period of six months from Admission except to persons whose ordinary activities involve them in acquiring, holding, managing or disposing of investments (as principal or agent) for the purpose of their business or otherwise in circumstances which have not resulted and which will not result in an offer to the public in the United Kingdom for the purposes of section 85(1) of FSMA or an offer to the public in any other member state of the EEA within the meaning of the UK Prospectus Regulation, or an offer to the public in any Relevant State within the meaning of the EU Prospectus Regulation;
25. it has complied with its obligations in connection with money laundering and terrorist financing under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Terrorism Act 2000, the Terrorism Act 2006, the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001 and the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (together, the "Regulations") and, if making payment on behalf of a third party, that satisfactory evidence has been obtained and recorded by it to verify the identity of the third party as required by the Regulations;
26. it is aware of the obligations regarding insider dealing in the Criminal Justice Act 1993, market abuse under the UK MAR and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and confirms that it has and will continue to comply with those obligations;
27. it has neither received nor relied on any confidential or price-sensitive information concerning the Company in accepting this invitation to participate in the Placing;
28. if it has received any 'inside information' (for the purposes of the UK MAR and section 56 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993) in relation to the Company and its securities, it confirms that it has received such information within the market soundings regime provided for in article 11 of the UK MAR and associated delegated regulations and it has not: (i) dealt (or attempted to deal) in the securities of the Company; (ii) encouraged, recommended or induced another person to deal in the securities of the Company; or (iii) unlawfully disclosed inside information to any person, prior to the information being made publicly available;
29. in order to ensure compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, Cenkos, for itself and as agent on behalf of the Company) or the Company's registrars may, in their absolute discretion, require verification of its identity. Pending the provision to Cenkos or the Company's registrars, as applicable, of evidence of identity, definitive certificates in respect of the Placing Shares may be retained at Cenkos' absolute discretion or, where appropriate, delivery of the Placing Shares to it in uncertificated form may be delayed at Cenkos' or the Company's registrars', as the case may be, absolute discretion. If within a reasonable time after a request for verification of identity Cenkos, (for itself and as agent on behalf of the Company) or the Company's registrars have not received evidence satisfactory to them, Cenkos and/or the Company may, at their absolute discretion, terminate their commitment in respect of the Placing, in which event the monies payable on acceptance of allotment will, if already paid, be returned without interest to the account of the drawee's bank from which they were originally debited;
30. it acknowledges that its commitment to acquire Placing Shares on the terms set out in this Announcement and in the contract note will continue notwithstanding any amendment that may in future be made to the terms and conditions of the Placing and that Placees will have no right to be consulted or require that their consent be obtained with respect to the Company's or Cenkos' conduct of the Placing;
31. it has knowledge and experience in financial, business and international investment matters as is required to evaluate the merits and risks of subscribing for the Placing Shares. It further acknowledges that it is experienced in investing in securities of this nature and is aware that it may be required to bear, and is able to bear, the economic risk of, and is able to sustain, a complete loss in connection with the Placing. It has relied upon its own examination and due diligence of the Company and its affiliates taken as a whole, and the terms of the Placing, including the merits and risks involved;
32. it irrevocably appoints any duly authorised officer of Cenkos as its agent for the purpose of executing and delivering to the Company and/or its registrars any documents on its behalf necessary to enable it to be registered as the holder of any of the Placing Shares for which it agrees to subscribe or purchase upon the terms of this Announcement;
33. the Company, Cenkos and others (including each of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees) will rely upon the truth and accuracy of the foregoing representations, warranties, acknowledgements and agreements, which are given to Cenkos on its own behalf and on behalf of the Company and are irrevocable, and agree that if any of the representations and agreements deemed to have been made by its purchase of Placing Shares are no longer accurate, it shall promptly notify the Company and Cenkos;
34. time is of the essence as regards its obligations under this Appendix;
35. any document that is to be sent to it in connection with the Placing will be sent at its risk and may be sent to it at any address provided by it to Cenkos;
36. the terms and conditions in this Appendix and all documents into which this Appendix is incorporated by reference or otherwise validly forms a part and/or any agreements entered into pursuant to these terms and conditions and all agreements to acquire Placing Shares pursuant to the Placing will be governed by and construed in accordance with English law and it submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts in relation to any claim, dispute or matter arising out of any such contract, except that enforcement proceedings in respect of the obligation to make payment for the Placing Shares may be taken by the Company or Cenkos in any jurisdiction in which the relevant Placee is incorporated or in which any of its securities have a quotation on a recognised stock exchange; and
37. its obligations are irrevocable and legally binding and shall not be capable of recission or termination by it in any circumstances, save only to the extent permitted by law.
By participating in the Placing, each Placee (and any person acting on such Placee's behalf) agrees to indemnify and hold the Company, Cenkos and each of its respective affiliates, agents, consultants, directors, employees and officers harmless from any and all costs, claims, liabilities and expenses (including legal fees and expenses) arising out of or in connection with any breach of any of the acknowledgements, agreements, representations, undertakings and warranties given by the Placee (and any person acting on such Placee's behalf) in this Appendix or incurred by Cenkos, the Company or any of their respective affiliates, agents, consultants, directors, employees or officers arising from the performance of the Placee's obligations as set out in this Announcement, and further agrees that the provisions of this Appendix shall survive completion of the Placing.
The agreement to allot and issue Placing Shares to Placees (or the persons for whom Placees are contracting as agent) free of stamp duty and stamp duty reserve tax in the United Kingdom relates only to their allotment and issue to Placees, or such persons as they nominate as their agents, directly by the Company. Such agreement assumes that the Placing Shares are not being acquired in connection with arrangements to issue depositary receipts or to transfer the Placing Shares into a clearance service. If there are any such arrangements, or the settlement relates to any other dealings in the Placing Shares, stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax may be payable. In that event, the Placee agrees that it shall be responsible for such stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax and neither the Company nor Cenkos shall be responsible for such stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax. If this is the case, each Placee should seek its own advice and they should notify Cenkos accordingly. In addition, Placees should note that they will be liable for any capital duty, stamp duty and all other stamp, issue, securities, transfer, registration, documentary or other duties or taxes (including any interest, fines or penalties relating thereto) payable outside the United Kingdom by them or any other person on the acquisition by them of any Placing Shares or the agreement by them to acquire any Placing Shares and each Placee, or the Placee's nominee, in respect of whom (or in respect of the person for whom it is participating in the Placing as an agent or nominee) the allocation, allotment, issue or delivery of Placing Shares has given rise to such non-United Kingdom stamp, registration, documentary, transfer or similar taxes or duties undertakes to pay such taxes and duties, including any interest and penalties (if applicable), forthwith and to indemnify on an after-tax basis and to hold harmless the Company and Cenkos in the event that either the Company and/or Cenkos have incurred any such liability to such taxes or duties.
The acknowledgements, representations, undertakings and warranties contained in this Appendix are given to Cenkos for itself and as agent on behalf of the Company and are irrevocable and will survive completion of the Placing.
If a Placee is acting in its capacity as agent, as a discretionary investment manager on behalf of its underlying clients (who may include individuals and/or retail clients as defined within MiFID II and/ or the FCA rules), then the discretionary investment manager shall be regarded as the Placee for the purpose of this Announcement and not the underlying client. For the avoidance of doubt, the representations and warranties are given by the Placee itself, and not the underlying client(s).
Each Placee and any person acting on behalf of the Placee acknowledges that Cenkos owes no fiduciary or other duties to any Placee in respect of any acknowledgements, agreements, indemnities, representations, undertakings or warranties in the Placing Agreement.
Any money held in an account with Cenkos on behalf of the Placee and/or any person acting on behalf of the Placee will not be treated as client money within the meaning of the relevant rules and regulations of the FCA made under FSMA. Each Placee acknowledges that the money will not be subject to the protections conferred by the client money rules.
References to time in this Announcement are to London time, unless otherwise stated. All times and dates in this Announcement may be subject to amendment.
No statement in this Announcement is intended to be a profit forecast, and no statement in this Announcement should be interpreted to mean that earnings per share of the Company for the current or future financial years would necessarily match or exceed the historical published earnings per share of the Company.
The price of Placing Shares and any income expected from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the full amount invested upon disposal of the Placing Shares. Past performance is no guide to future performance, and persons needing advice should consult an independent financial adviser.
The Placing Shares to be issued or sold pursuant to the Placing will not be admitted to trading on any stock exchange other than AIM.
Neither the content of the Company's website nor any website accessible by hyperlinks on the Company's website is incorporated in, or forms part of, this Announcement.
APPENDIX II - DEFINITIONS
In the Announcement (including its Appendices) the following definitions apply:
|
"Admission" |
admission of the Placing Shares (as the context requires) to trading on AIM becoming effective in accordance with Rule 6 of the AIM Rules; |
|
"AIM" |
the market of that name operated by the London Stock Exchange; |
|
"AIMRules" |
the AIM Rules for Companies and (where the context admits) the AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers (each as amended from time to time); |
|
"Announcement" |
this announcement (including the Appendices to this announcement); |
|
"Board" or "Directors" |
the directors of the Company as at the date of this Announcement; |
|
"Cenkos" |
Cenkos Securities Plc, a public limited company registered in England and Wales with registered number 05210733 whose registered office is at 6 7 8 Tokenhouse Yard, London, EC2R 7AS, the Company's joint broker for the purposes of the Placing and Admission; |
|
"Company" or "Bidstack" |
Bidstack Group plc, a public limited company incorporated in England & Wales under registered number 04466195 and having its registered office at 201 Temple Chambers 3-7 Temple Avenue, London, England, EC4Y 0DT; |
|
"CREST" |
the computerised settlement system (as defined in the CREST Regulations) operated by Euroclear UK & Ireland Limited which facilitates the transfer of title to shares in uncertificated form; |
|
"CREST Regulations" |
the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/3755) including any enactment or subordinate legislation which amends or supersedes those regulations and any applicable rules made under those regulations or any such enactment or subordinate legislation for the time being in force; |
|
"Enterprise Investment Scheme" or "EIS" |
the Enterprise Investment Scheme whose rules are contained in Part 5 of the Income Tax Act 2007 (income tax) and sections 150A to 150C of, and Schedule 5B to, the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 (capital gains tax); |
|
"EnlargedShareCapital" |
the number of Ordinary Shares in issue immediately following the Placing and Admission; |
|
"ExistingOrdinaryShares" |
the 388,374,057 Ordinary Shares in issue at the date of this document; |
|
"Fundraise" |
the Placing and the Subscription; |
|
"General Meeting" |
the General Meeting proposed to be held at 11:00 a.m. on 19 July 2021 at Plexal, 14 East Bay Lane, The Press Centre, Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London, E20 3BS; |
|
"Group" |
the Company and its subsidiaries; |
|
"Issue Price" |
2.0 pence per Placing Share; |
|
"LondonStockExchange" |
the London Stock Exchange Group plc; |
|
"New Ordinary Shares" |
the Placing Shares and the Subscription Shares; |
|
"Ordinary Shares" |
the ordinary shares of 0.5 pence each in the capital of the Company in issue from time to time; |
|
"Placees" |
subscribers for Placing Shares pursuant to the Placing; |
|
"Placing" |
the conditional placing of the Placing Shares by Cenkos as broker for the Company at the Issue Price pursuant to the Placing Agreement; |
|
"Placing Agreement" |
the agreement dated 1 July 2021 between the Company, Cenkos and SPARK relating to the Placing and Admission; |
|
"PlacingShares" |
the new Ordinary Shares to be issued pursuant to the Placing which have been placed by Cenkos; |
|
"Resolutions" |
the resolutions proposed to be put to shareholders at the General Meeting granting authority to the Directors to allot the Placing Shares free from pre-emption rights; |
|
"SPARK" |
SPARK Advisory Partners Limited, a private limited company incorporated in England and Wales under registered number 03191370 and having its registered office at 5 St. John's Lane, London, EC1M 4BH, the Company's Nominated Adviser in accordance with the AIM Rules; |
|
"Stifel" |
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited, a private limited company incorporated in England & Wales under registered number 03719559 and having its registered office at 4th Floor, 150 Cheapside, London, United Kingdom EC2V 6ET, the Company's joint broker for the purposes of the Placing and Admission; |
|
"Subscription " |
a proposed conditional subscription by certain Directors and other investors for New Ordinary Shares at the Issue Price; |
|
"Subscription Shares" |
the new Ordinary Shares to be issued pursuant to the Subscription; |
|
"Venture Capital Trust" or "VCT" |
a listed company which invests in unlisted trading companies in accordance with the rules are contained in sections 151A and 151B of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 for capital gains tax purposes and Part 6 of Income Tax Act 2007 for income tax purposes; |
|
"VWAP" |
volume weighted average price; |
|
"£" and "pence" |
pounds and pence sterling respectively, being the lawful currency of the United Kingdom. |
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