Proposed Placing & Sale of Director Shareholdings
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, INCLUDING THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN, IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.
4 December 2017
WANdisco plc
("WANdisco" or the "Company")
LEI: 213800Y1A75RSC698O04
Proposed Placing
and
Completion of Sale of Director/PDMR Shareholdings
· Launch of Placing to raise a minimum of $10 million
· Company experiencing recent strong organic revenue growth through IBM, Dell and partnership deals
· Significant new partnership opportunities for the Company's Fusion technology
· Net proceeds to be invested in support of further revenue growth and to establish new strategic partnerships
· Potential for the Directors to increase the size of the Placing, in the event of significant excess demand
WANdisco plc (AIM: WAND), the world leader in Active Data Replication® announces that, further to the announcement today at 7.00 a.m. regarding a proposed placing and sale of existing shares, it is now launching with immediate effect a placing to raise gross proceeds of a minimum of $10.0 million by way of an accelerated bookbuild on a non pre-emptive basis (the "Placing") of approximately 1,350,502 new ordinary shares of 10 pence each in the capital of the Company (the "Placing Shares") at a price of 550 pence (the "Placing Price") per Placing Share. The Placing Shares will represent approximately 3.6 per cent. of the Company's current issued ordinary share capital.
Completion of Sale of Director/PDMR Shares
The Company also announced that certain existing shareholders, including the directors, David Richards and Yeturu Aahlad, have sold in aggregate 1,045,000 existing ordinary shares of 10 pence each in the capital of the Company ("Sale Shares") at 550 pence per Sale Share. The Sale Shares represent approximately 2.8 per cent. of the Company's current issued share capital.
Background to the Placing and use of proceeds
WANdisco continues to experience strong organic revenue growth underpinned by its patented WANdisco Fusion ("Fusion") data replication technology. The Company plans to use proceeds from the Placing (the "Proceeds") to capitalise on this momentum and to accelerate its growth ambitions.
Fusion enables the replication of continuously changing data to the cloud and on-premises with guaranteed consistency, no downtime and no business disruption. With enterprises increasingly relying on the cloud and large scale data, there is growing demand for big data replication solutions, with existing data replication solutions creating increasingly "unacceptable" outage times as the volume of data increases. The Company therefore believes there is a significant growth opportunity for Fusion in the cloud and big data markets, as an unrivalled solution based upon unique intellectual property, which is designed to guarantee zero downtime and minimal disruption to clients' business operations.
The Company's go to market strategy leverages its OEM and strategic partners and the Company believes it to be critical to deepen existing relationships and enter into new ones in order to accelerate growth. In the last three months, the Company announced new strategic partnerships and new initiatives with existing partners that extend the total addressable market for our products:
· WANdisco Launches OEM Partnership with Dell/EMC's Virtustream
· WANdisco Fusion Technology Integrates with AWS (Amazon) Snowball
· WANdisco Fully Integrates Fusion with Microsoft Azure HD Insights
· WANdisco Launches Hybrid Data Lake with Amazon Web Services
In order to capitalise on these existing partner relationships and to assist with onboarding new partners, the Proceeds will be used to invest in the Company's strategic partner sales channel, by the hiring of additional channel managers to increase our partners' focus on WANdisco products and to expand and deepen existing relationships. Additional engineering staff will be hired to increase development capacity and testing, allowing for parallel efforts with multiple partners instead of a slower serial approach presently. WANdisco currently has two OEM relationships, one with IBM and another recently signed agreement with Dell/EMC's Virtustream. The Company also has several partnerships with leading cloud technology companies, including Amazon Web Services, Cisco, Google Cloud, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Microsoft Azure and Oracle to resell its patented technology.
In addition, the Proceeds will strengthen the Company's balance sheet, giving confidence to new strategic partners and customers.
The Company has entered into a placing agreement (the "Placing Agreement") with Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited ("Stifel") and Beech Hill Securities, Inc. ("Beech Hill") the joint bookrunners (the "Bookrunners") in relation to the Placing.
Current Trading
The Board remains confident that the Company is on track to achieve market expectations.
David Richards, Chief Executive and Interim Chairman of WANdisco, commented:
"Over the last 18 months, we have seen a step change across our cloud and big data markets, resulting in significant traction for our core Fusion technology. This fundraising will accelerate WANdisco's ability to capitalise on this sizeable opportunity, enabling our teams to both deepen and broaden our strategic partnerships in order to optimise our routes to market.
In the past 3 months alone we have signed another major OEM deal with Dell/EMC and extended strategic partnerships with Microsoft and Amazon. In addition, we have on-going interest from several new strategic partners; this is happening at a much faster pace than we anticipated. We now have an opportunity to invest in multiple channels to market. The success of the IBM OEM partnership has demonstrated that we can significantly increase revenues and extend our reach into large enterprise customers."
Details of the Placing
The issue of the Placing Shares being arranged by the Bookrunners is being made to institutional investors only and will be by means of an accelerated bookbuild offering, which is to launch immediately following this Announcement (the "Bookbuild"). In addition, certain qualified institutional buyers and/or accredited investors may subscribe for Placing Shares pursuant to a subscription agreement with the Company.
The timing of the closing of the Placing, the number of Placing Shares and allocations are at the discretion of the Bookrunners and a further announcement confirming these details will be made in due course. Members of the public are not permitted to participate in the Placing.
The Placing Shares will, when issued, be credited as fully paid and will rank pari passu with the existing ordinary shares including the right to receive all future dividends and distributions declared, made or paid by reference to a record date falling after their issue. If all the Placing Shares are placed, it would represent an increase of approximately 3.6 per cent. of the current issued ordinary share capital of the Company. The issue of the Placing Shares is pursuant to the authorities granted at the Company's Annual General Meeting held on 24 May 2017.
The Directors may, at their discretion, issue up to 3,755,354 new ordinary shares, representing 9.9 per cent. of the current issued ordinary share capital of the Company, provided that, pursuant to the Placing, the Directors in consultation with the Bookrunners, believe that appropriate opportunities exist for the deployment of additional Placing proceeds, although there is no certainty that the maximum number of new ordinary shares will be issued, even if sufficient investor demand exists.
The Company will make an application for the Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM (together, "Admission"). Subject to Admission becoming effective, it is expected that the settlement of subscriptions in respect of the Placing Shares and trading in the Placing Shares will commence at 8.00 a.m. on 11 December 2017.
The Placing is conditional upon, inter alia, Admission becoming effective and the Placing Agreement becoming unconditional and not being terminated. Further details of the Placing Agreement can be found in the terms and conditions of the Placing contained in the Appendix to this Announcement and which forms part of this Announcement.
A further announcement will be made following the completion of the Bookbuild.
By choosing to participate in the Placing and by making a verbal offer to acquire Placing Shares, investors will be deemed to have read and understood this Announcement (including the Appendix) in its entirety and to be making such offer on the terms and subject to the conditions in this Announcement, and to be providing the representations, warranties and acknowledgements contained in the Appendix.
Your attention is drawn to the detailed terms and conditions of the Placing set out in the Appendix to this Announcement.
Director/PDMR Shareholding
The Company has been notified of the following transactions in the Company's existing ordinary shares of 10 pence each undertaken by directors / persons discharging managerial responsibility ("PDMRs").
Following completion of the sale of the Sale Shares, both David Richards and Yeturu Aahlad have agreed not to dispose of any of their interests in ordinary shares for 12 months.
On 4 December 2017, the following directors/PDMRs notified the Company in relation to the sale of the following Sale Shares.
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Name |
Number Sale Shares |
Sale Price (p) |
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Yeturu Aahlad |
345,000 |
550 |
|
David Richards |
500,000 |
550 |
David Richards and Yeturu Aahlad are both directors of the Company ("Selling Shareholders"). Following the completion of the sale of the Sales Shares, they remain beneficially interested in the following ordinary shares:
David Richards: 2,089,233 ordinary shares
Yeturu Aahlad: 2,430,091 ordinary shares
In addition David Richards transferred 100,000 of the Sale Shares from the David and Jane Richards Family Trust (400,000 Sale Shares) to the David and Jane Richards Family Foundation (100,000 Sale Shares) immediately prior to the completion of the sale of the Sale Shares.
The relevant notifications set out below are provided in accordance with the requirements of Article 19 of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.
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1 |
Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated |
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a) |
Name |
David Richards |
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2 |
Reason for the notification |
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a) |
Position/status |
Chief Executive Officer and Interim Chairman |
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b) |
Initial notification/Amendment |
Initial notification |
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3 |
Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor |
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a) |
Name |
WANdisco plc |
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b) |
LEI |
213800Y1A75RSC698O04 |
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4 |
Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted |
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a) |
Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code |
Ordinary shares of 10p each
ISIN: JE00B6Y3DV84 |
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b) |
Nature of the transaction |
Sales of shares |
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c) |
Price(s) and volume(s) |
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d) |
Aggregated information
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e) |
Date of the transaction |
4 December 2017 |
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f) |
Place of the transaction |
London Stock Exchange (XLON) |
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1 |
Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated |
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a) |
Name |
Yeturu Aahlad |
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2 |
Reason for the notification |
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a) |
Position/status |
Chief Scientist, Inventor & Co-Founder (Director) |
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b) |
Initial notification/Amendment |
Initial notification |
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3 |
Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor |
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a) |
Name |
WANdisco plc |
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b) |
LEI |
213800Y1A75RSC698O04 |
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4 |
Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted |
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a) |
Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code |
Ordinary shares of 10p each
ISIN: JE00B6Y3DV84 |
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b) |
Nature of the transaction |
Sales of shares |
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c) |
Price(s) and volume(s) |
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d) |
Aggregated information
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e) |
Date of the transaction |
4 December 2017 |
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f) |
Place of the transaction |
London Stock Exchange (XLON) |
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A GBP to USD to exchange rate of 1.3463 has been used in this announcement unless otherwise stated.
For further information, please contact:
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WANdisco plc |
Via Vigo Communications |
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David Richards, Chief Executive Officer and Interim Chairman |
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Erik Miller, Chief Financial Officer |
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Vigo Communications |
+44 (0)207 830 9707 |
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Jeremy Garcia / Fiona Henson / Antonia Pollock |
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Stifel (Nomad, Joint Bookrunner) |
+44 (0)207 710 7600 |
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Fred Walsh / Neil Shah / Ben Maddison / Rajpal Padam |
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Beech Hill Securities (Joint Bookrunner) Thomas Lawrence
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+1 212 350 7200 |
About WANdisco:
WANdisco is a world leader in Active Data Replication™. Its patented WANdisco Fusion technology enables the replication of continuously changing data to the cloud and on-premises data centers with guaranteed consistency, no downtime and no business disruption. It also allows distributed development teams to collaborate as if they are all working in one location. WANdisco currently has two OEM relationships with IBM and Dell/EMC's Virtustream as well as partnerships with Amazon Web Services, Cisco, Google Cloud, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle to resell its patented technology. WANdisco also works directly with Fortune 1000 companies around the world to ensure their data can give them the real insight they need.
For additional information, please visit www.wandisco.com.
This Announcement should be read in its entirety. In particular, you should read and understand the information provided in the "Important Notices" section of this Announcement.
IMPORTANT NOTICES
This Announcement or any part of it does not constitute or form part of any offer to issue or sell, or the solicitation of an offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for, any securities in the United States (including its territories and possessions, any state of the United States and the District of Columbia). The Placing Shares have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") or with any securities regulatory authority of any state or jurisdiction of the United States, and may not be offered, sold or transferred, directly or indirectly, in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and in compliance with any applicable securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States. There will be no public offering of securities in the United States.
This Announcement may contain and the Company may make verbal statements containing "forward-looking statements" with respect to certain of the Company's plans and its current goals and expectations relating to its future financial condition, performance, strategic initiatives, objectives and results. By their nature, all forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances which are beyond the control of the Company, including amongst other things, United Kingdom domestic and global economic business conditions, market-related risks such as fluctuations in interest rates and exchange rates, the policies and actions of governmental and regulatory authorities, the effect of competition, inflation, deflation, the timing effect and other uncertainties of future acquisitions or combinations within relevant industries, the effect of tax and other legislation and other regulations in the jurisdictions in which the Company and its respective affiliates operate, the effect of volatility in the equity, capital and credit markets on the Company's profitability and ability to access capital and credit, a decline in the Company's credit ratings; the effect of operational risks; and the loss of key personnel. As a result, the actual future financial condition, performance and results of the Company may differ materially from the plans, goals and expectations set forth in any forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements made in this Announcement by or on behalf of the Company speak only as of the date they are made. Except as required by applicable law or regulation, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to publish any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this Announcement to reflect any changes in the Company's expectations with regard thereto or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
Stifel is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (the "FCA") in the United Kingdom and is acting exclusively for the Company and no one else in connection with the Placing, and Stifel will not be responsible to anyone (including any purchasers of the Placing Shares) other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in relation to the Placing or any other matters referred to in this Announcement.
Beech Hill is regulated by the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in the United States of America and is acting exclusively for the Company and no one else in connection with the Placing, and Beech Hill will not be responsible to anyone (including any purchaser of the Placing Shares) other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in relation to the Placing or any other matters referred to in this Announcement.
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 Stifel or Beech Hill or by any of its 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
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE PLACING
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR INVITED PLACEES ONLY REGARDING THE PLACING SHARES.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, INCLUDING THIS APPENDIX AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN (TOGETHER THE "ANNOUNCEMENT") IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED BY THE LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, NOR IS IT INTENDED THAT IT WILL BE SO APPROVED.
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 EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA ("EEA") WHO ARE QUALIFIED INVESTORS AS DEFINED IN SECTION 86(7) OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000, AS AMENDED ("QUALIFIED INVESTORS"), BEING PERSONS FALLING WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 2(1)(e) OF DIRECTIVE 2003/71/EC AS AMENDED, INCLUDING BY THE 2010 PROSPECTUS DIRECTIVE AMENDING DIRECTIVE (DIRECTIVE 2010/73/EC) AND TO THE EXTENT IMPLEMENTED IN THE RELEVANT MEMBER STATE (THE "PROSPECTUS DIRECTIVE"); AND (B) IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, QUALIFIED INVESTORS WHO ARE PERSONS WHO (I) HAVE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN MATTERS RELATING TO INVESTMENTS FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 19(5) (INVESTMENT PROFESSIONALS) OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000 (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 WANDISCO PLC.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT AN OFFER OF SECURITIES FOR SALE INTO THE UNITED STATES. THE PLACING SHARES HAVE NOT BEEN AND WILL NOT BE REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE "SECURITIES ACT") OR WITH ANY SECURITIES REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF ANY STATE OR JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED, SOLD OR TRANSFERRED, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES EXCEPT (1) TO QUALIFIED INSTITUTIONAL BUYERS AS THE TERM IS DEFINED IN RULE 144A UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT ("QIBS") IN ACCORDANCE WITH SAID RULE 144A OR (2) OTHERWISE IN A TRANSACTION EXEMPT FROM, OR NOT SUBJECT TO, THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES ACT, AND, IN EACH CASE, IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY STATE OR OTHER JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 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 WILL NOT HAVE BEEN APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED BY THE SEC, 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.
EACH PLACEE SHOULD CONSULT WITH ITS OWN TAX ADVISERS AS TO LEGAL, TAX, BUSINESS AND RELATED ASPECTS OF AN INVESTMENT IN PLACING SHARES. THE DISTRIBUTION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, ANY PART OF IT OR ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED IN IT MAY BE RESTRICTED BY LAW IN CERTAIN JURISDICTIONS, AND ANY PERSON INTO WHOSE POSSESSION THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, ANY PART OF IT OR ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED IN IT COMES SHOULD INFORM THEMSELVES ABOUT, AND OBSERVE, SUCH RESTRICTIONS.
No action has been taken by the Company, Stifel, Beech Hill or any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees 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.
This Announcement or any part of it does not constitute or form part of any offer to issue or sell, or the solicitation of an offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for, any securities in Canada, Australia, the Republic of South Africa, Japan or any other jurisdiction in which the same would be unlawful. No public offering of the Placing Shares is being made in any such jurisdiction.
All offers of the Placing Shares will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Prospectus Directive from the requirement to produce a prospectus. In the United Kingdom, this Announcement is being directed solely at persons in circumstances in which section 21(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (as amended) (the "FSMA") does not apply.
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 for 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 offering 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 Australia, Canada, Japan or 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 obligations to forward a copy of this Announcement should seek appropriate advice before taking any action.
This Announcement should be read in its entirety. In particular, you should read and understand the information provided in the "Important Notices" section of this Announcement.
By participating in the Placing, each person who is invited to and who chooses to participate in the Placing (a "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.
In particular, each such Placee represents, warrants, undertakes, agrees and acknowledges (amongst other things) that:
1. it is a Relevant Person and undertakes that it will acquire, hold, manage or dispose of any Placing Shares that are allocated to it for the purposes of its business;
2. in the case of a Relevant Person in a member state of the EEA which has implemented the Prospectus Directive (each, a "Relevant Member State") who acquires any Placing Shares pursuant to the Placing:
a. it is a Qualified Investor within the meaning of Article 2(1)(E) of the Prospectus Directive; and
b. in the case of any Placing Shares acquired by it as a financial intermediary, as that term is used in Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive:
i. the Placing Shares acquired by it in the Placing have not been acquired on behalf of, nor have they been 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 Stifel has been given to the offer or resale; or
ii. 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 Prospectus Directive as having been made to such persons; and
3. it is acquiring the Placing Shares for its own account or is acquiring the Placing Shares for an account with respect to which it exercises sole investment discretion and has the authority to make and does make the representations, warranties, indemnities, acknowledgements, undertakings and agreements contained in this Announcement;
4. it understands (or if acting for the account of another person, such person has confirmed that such person understands) the resale and transfer restrictions set out in this Appendix; and
5. it (and any account referred to in paragraph 3 above) is and, at the time the Placing Shares are acquired, will be either (i) outside the United States and acquiring the Placing Shares in an "offshore transaction" in accordance with Rule 903 or Rule 904 of Regulation S under the Securities Act or (ii) if in the United States, a QIB and acquiring Placing Shares under an exemption from registration.
No prospectus
No prospectus or other offering document has been or will be submitted to be approved by the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") in relation to the Placing or the Placing Shares and Placees' commitments will be made solely on the basis of the information contained in this Announcement and any information publicly announced through a Regulatory Information Service (as defined in the AIM Rules for Companies (the "AIM Rules")) by or on behalf of the Company on or prior to the date of this Announcement (the "Publicly Available Information") and subject to any further terms set forth in the contract note to be sent to individual Placees.
Each Placee, by participating in the Placing, agrees that the content of this Announcement is exclusively the responsibility of the Company and confirms that it has neither received nor relied on any information (other than the Publicly Available Information), representation, warranty or statement made by or on behalf of Stifel, Beech Hill, the Company or any other person and none of Stifel, Beech Hill, the Company or any other person acting on such person's behalf nor any of their respective affiliates has or shall have any liability for any Placee's decision to participate in the Placing based on any other information, representation, warranty or statement. Each Placee acknowledges and agrees that it has relied on its own investigation of the business, financial or other position of the Company in accepting a participation in the Placing. Nothing in this paragraph shall exclude the liability of any person for fraudulent misrepresentation.
Details of the Placing Agreement and the Placing Shares
Stifel and Beech Hill (together the "Bookrunners" and each a "Bookrunner") have today entered into a placing agreement (the "Placing Agreement") with the Company under which, on the terms and subject to the conditions set out in the Placing Agreement, each of the Bookrunners as agent for and on behalf of the Company, has agreed to use their reasonable endeavours to procure Placees for the Placing Shares at the Placing Price. In addition, certain qualified institutional buyers and/or accredited investors will subscribe for Placing Shares on the terms and conditions set out in a subscription agreement with the Company.
The Placing Shares will, when issued, 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 of ten pence per share ("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.
As part of the Placing, the Company has agreed that it will not for a period of 90 days after Admission, offer, issue, sell, contract to sell, issue options in respect of or otherwise dispose of any securities of the Company (or any interest therein or in respect thereof) or any other securities exchangeable for, or convertible into, or substantially similar to, Ordinary Shares or enter into any transaction having substantially the same effect or agree to do any of the foregoing other than with the prior written consent of Stifel (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed), other than in relation to certain permitted employees share schemes or as otherwise contemplated by the Placing Agreement.
Application for admission to trading
Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM.
It is expected that Admission will take place at 8.00 a.m. on 11 December 2017 and that dealings in the Placing Shares on AIM will commence at the same time.
Principal terms of the Placing
1. Stifel is acting as nominated adviser, joint broker and joint bookrunner to the Placing, as agent for and on behalf of the Company. Stifel 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 Stifel or for providing advice in relation to the matters described in this Announcement.
2. Beech Hill is acting as joint bookrunner to the Placing, as agent for and on behalf of the Company. Beech Hill is regulated by the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in the United States of America and 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 Beech Hill or for providing advice in relation to the matters described in this Announcement.
3. Participation in the Placing will only be available to persons who may lawfully be, and are, invited by the Bookrunners to participate. Each of the Bookrunners and any of their respective affiliates is entitled to participate in the Placing as principal.
4. The exact number of Placing Shares to be allocated and issued to each Placee shall be determined following completion of an accelerated book building process to determine demand for participation in the Placing of the Placing Shares by the Placees ("Bookbuild"). The Bookrunners will commence the Bookbuild today and it is expected to close no later than 4.30 p.m. (London time) on 5 December 2017, but may be closed earlier or later at the Bookrunners' discretion. The Bookrunners may, in agreement with the Company, accept bids that are received after the Bookbuild has closed.
5. The Placing Price is fixed at 550 pence and is payable to the Bookrunners by all Placees. The number of Placing Shares will be announced on a Regulated Information Service following completion of the Bookbuild.
6. Each Placee's allocation is determined by the relevant Bookrunner in its discretion following consultation with the Company and has been or will be confirmed orally by the relevant Bookrunner and a contract note will be dispatched as soon as possible thereafter. That oral confirmation will give rise to an irrevocable, legally binding commitment by that person (who at that point becomes a Placee), in favour of the Bookrunners and the Company, under which it agrees to acquire the number of Placing Shares allocated to the Placee at the Placing 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 the relevant Bookrunners' consent, such commitment will not be capable of variation or revocation at the time at which it is submitted. The Placing is not underwritten.
7. Each Placee's allocation and commitment will be evidenced by a contract note issued to such Placee by the relevant Bookrunner. The terms of this Appendix will be deemed incorporated in that contract note.
8. Each Placee will have an immediate, separate, irrevocable and binding obligation, owed to the relevant Bookrunner (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 Placing 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.
9. 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 explained below under "Registration and Settlement".
10. All obligations of the Bookrunners 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".
11. By participating in the Placing, each Placee will agree that its rights and obligations in respect of the Placing will terminate only in the circumstances described below and will not be capable of rescission or termination by the Placee.
12. To the fullest extent permissible by law and applicable FCA rules, none of (a) Stifel, (b) any of Stifel's affiliates, agents, directors, officers, consultants (c) to the extent not contained within (a) or (b), any person connected with Stifel as defined in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 ("FSMA") ((b) and (c) being together "affiliates" and individually an "affiliate" of Stifel) or (d) any person acting on Stifel's behalf; (e) Beech Hill, (f) any of Beech Hill's affiliates, agents, directors, officers, consultants (g) to the extent not contained within (e) or (f), any person connected with Beech Hill as defined in FSMA ((e) and (f) being together "affiliates" and individually an "affiliate" of Beech Hill) shall have any liability (including to the extent permissible by law, any fiduciary duties) to Placees or to any other person whether acting on behalf of a Placee or otherwise. In particular, none of the Bookrunners nor any of their 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 the Bookrunners and the Company may agree.
Registration and Settlement
If Placees are allocated any Placing Shares in the Placing they will be sent a contract note or electronic confirmation by the relevant Bookrunner which will confirm the number of Placing Shares allocated to them, the Placing Price and the aggregate amount owed by them to the relevant Bookrunner.
Each Placee will be deemed to agree that it will do all things necessary to ensure that delivery and payment is completed as directed by the relevant Bookrunner in accordance with either the standing CREST or certificated settlement instructions which they have in place with the relevant Bookrunner.
Settlement of transactions in the Placing Shares (ISIN: JE00B6Y3DV84) will take place within the CREST system, subject to certain exceptions. Settlement through CREST will be with respect to the Placing Shares on a T+5 basis unless otherwise notified by the Bookrunners and is expected to occur at 8.00 a.m. on 11 December 2017.
In accordance with the contract notes, settlement will be on a delivery versus payment basis.
In the event of any difficulties or delays in the admission of the Placing Shares to CREST or the use of CREST in relation to the Placing, the Company and each of the Bookrunners may agree that the Placing Shares should be issued in certificated form.
Each of the Bookrunners reserves the right to require settlement for the Placing Shares, and to deliver the Placing Shares to Placees, by such other means as they deem 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 2 percentage points above prevailing LIBOR as determined by the Bookrunners.
Each Placee is deemed to agree that if it does not comply with these obligations, the Bookrunners may sell any or all of their Placing Shares on their behalf and retain from the proceeds, for the Bookrunner's own 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 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 conditional contract note 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. Placees will not be entitled to receive any fee or commission in connection with the Placing.
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 each of the Bookrunners under the Placing Agreement are, and the Placing is, conditional upon, inter alia:
a. the warranties on the part of the Company contained in the Placing Agreement being true and accurate in all material respects and not misleading on and as of the date of the Placing Agreement and on Admission, as though they had been given and made on such date by reference to the facts and circumstances then subsisting;
b. the performance by the Company of its obligations under the Placing Agreement to the extent that they fall to be performed prior to Admission;
c. no matter having arisen before Admission which might reasonably be expected to give rise to an indemnity claim under the Placing Agreement;
d. in the opinion of Stifel, acting in good faith, there shall have been no material adverse change since the date of the Placing Agreement (whether or not foreseeable at the date of the Placing Agreement) before Admission; and
e. Admission occurring not later than 8.00 a.m. on 11 December 2017 or such later time as the Bookrunners may agree in writing with the Company (but in any event not later than 8.00 a.m. on 24 December 2017),
(all conditions to the obligations of each of the Bookrunners 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 the Bookrunners may agree), or the Placing Agreement is terminated in accordance with its terms, the Placing will lapse and the Placee's rights and obligations shall cease and terminate at such time 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 that its rights and obligations cease and terminate only in the circumstances described above and under "Termination of the Placing" below and will not be capable of rescission or termination by it.
Certain conditions may be waived in whole or in part by the Bookrunners, acting jointly, in their absolute discretion by notice in writing to the Company and the Bookrunners 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 Announcement.
The Bookrunners may terminate the Placing Agreement in certain circumstances, details of which are set out below.
None of the Bookrunners, the Company nor any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers, employees 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 the Bookrunners
Termination of the Placing
Any of the Bookrunners 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 knowledge of any of the Bookrunner that any of the warranties in the Placing Agreement was untrue, inaccurate or misleading in any material respect; or
2. it comes to the notice of any of the Bookrunners 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 material respect; or
3. the Company shall fail to comply, in any respect which any of the Bookrunners in its sole discretion believes is material, with any of its obligations under the Placing Agreement; or
4. there has occurred a force majeure event, or any material adverse change has occurred in the financial position or prospects or business of the Company and its subsidiary undertakings (taken as whole) which, in the reasonable opinion of any of the Bookrunners, would materially prejudice the success of the Placing or the distribution of the Placing Shares.
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 and no claim can be made by any Placee in respect thereof.
By participating in the Placing, each Placee agrees with the Company and the Bookrunners that the exercise by the Company, or any of the Bookrunners 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 the Bookrunners and that neither of the Company nor the Bookrunners need make any reference to such Placee and that none of the Bookrunners, the Company, or 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.
By participating in the Placing, each Placee agrees that its rights and obligations terminate only in the circumstances described above and under the "Conditions of the Placing" section above and will not be capable of rescission or termination by it after the issue by the relevant Bookrunner of a contract note confirming each Placee's allocation and commitment in the Placing.
Representations, warranties and further terms
By participating in the Placing, each Placee (and any person acting on such Placee's behalf) represents, warrants, acknowledges and agrees (for itself and for any such prospective Placee) that (save where the Bookrunners expressly agree in writing to the contrary):
1. it has read and understood this Announcement in its entirety and that its acquisition of the Placing Shares is subject to and based upon all the terms, conditions, representations, warranties, indemnities, acknowledgements, agreements and undertakings and other information contained herein and that it has not relied on, and will not rely on, any information given or any representations, warranties or statements made at any time by any person in connection with Admission, the Placing, the Company, the Placing Shares or otherwise, other than the information contained in this Announcement and the Publicly Available Information;
2. if it has received any 'inside information' (for the purposes of 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 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;
3. it has not received a prospectus or other offering document in connection with the Placing and acknowledges that no prospectus or other offering document: (a) is required under the Prospectus Directive; and (b) has been or will be prepared in connection with the Placing;
4. it has made its own assessment of the Placing Shares and has relied on its own investigation of the business, financial or other position of the Company in accepting a participation in the Placing and none of the Bookrunners, the Company or any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees or any person acting on behalf of any of them has provided, and will not provide, it with any material regarding the Placing Shares or the Company or any other person other than the information in this Announcement or the Publicly Available Information; nor has it requested either of the Bookrunners, the Company, any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees or any person acting on behalf of any of them to provide it with any such information;
5. 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 and that it is able to obtain or access such 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;
6. none of the Bookrunners, any person acting on behalf of them or any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees has or shall have any liability for any Publicly Available Information, or any representation relating to the Company, provided that nothing in this paragraph excludes the liability of any person for fraudulent misrepresentation made by that person;
7. the only information on which it is entitled to rely on and on which it has relied in committing to subscribe for the Placing Shares is contained in the Publicly Available Information, such information being all that it deems necessary to make an investment decision in respect of the Placing Shares and it has made its own assessment of the Company, the Placing Shares and the terms of the Placing based on Publicly Available Information; (b) none of the Bookrunners, the Company, the Selling Shareholders or any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees has made any representation or warranty to it, express or implied, with respect to the Company, the Placing or the Placing Shares or the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the Publicly Available Information; (c) it has conducted its own investigation of the Company, the Placing and the Placing Shares, satisfied itself that the information is still current and relied on that investigation for the purposes of its decision to participate in the Placing; and (d) has not relied on any investigation that the Bookrunners or any person acting on their behalf may have conducted with respect to the Company, the Placing or the Placing Shares;
8. the content of this Announcement and the Publicly Available Information has been prepared by and is exclusively the responsibility of the Company and that neither of the Bookrunners nor any persons acting on behalf of either of them is responsible for or has or shall have any liability for any information, representation, warranty or statement relating to the Company contained in this Announcement or the Publicly Available Information nor will they 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 Publicly Available Information or otherwise. Nothing in this Appendix shall exclude any liability of any person for fraudulent misrepresentation;
9. 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, Republic of South Africa or Japan 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, South Africa or Japan or in any country or jurisdiction where any such action for that purpose is required;
10. it and/or each person on whose behalf it is participating:
a. is entitled to acquire Placing Shares pursuant to the Placing under the laws and regulations of all relevant jurisdictions;
b. has fully observed such laws and regulations;
c. has capacity and authority and is entitled to enter into and perform its obligations as an acquirer of Placing Shares and will honour such obligations; and
d. has obtained all necessary consents and authorities (including, without limitation, in the case of a person acting on behalf of a Placee, all necessary consents and authorities to agree to the terms set out or referred to in this Appendix) under those laws or otherwise and complied with all necessary formalities to enable it to enter into the transactions contemplated hereby and to perform its obligations in relation thereto 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;
11. 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, 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, or the Republic of South Africa and may not be offered, sold, or acquired, directly or indirectly, within those jurisdictions;
12. it and the beneficial owner of the Placing Shares:
a. is, and at the time the Placing Shares are acquired will be, 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; or
b. or is acquiring the Placing Shares pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and in accordance with applicable state securities laws;
13. it will not distribute, forward, transfer or otherwise transmit this Announcement or any part of it, or any other presentational or other materials concerning the Placing in or into or from the United States (including electronic copies thereof) to any person, and it has not distributed, forwarded, transferred or otherwise transmitted any such materials to any person;
14. none of the Bookrunners, their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees and any person acting on behalf of any of them is making any recommendations to it, advising it regarding the suitability of any transactions it may enter into in connection with the Placing and that participation in the Placing is on the basis that it is not and will not be a client of either of the Bookrunners and neither of the Bookrunners has any duties or responsibilities to it for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in relation to the Placing nor in respect of any representations, warranties, undertakings or indemnities contained in the Placing Agreement nor for the exercise or performance of any of its rights and obligations thereunder including any rights to waive or vary any conditions or exercise any termination right;
15. it has the funds available to pay for the Placing Shares which it has agreed to acquire and acknowledges and agrees that it will make payment to the relevant Bookrunner 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, failing which the relevant Placing Shares may be placed with others on such terms as the Bookrunners may, in their 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;
16. no action has been or will be taken by any of the Company, the Bookrunners 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;
17. the person who it specifies for registration as holder of the Placing Shares will be: (a) the Placee; or (b) a nominee of the Placee, as the case may be. Neither the Bookrunners nor the Company will be responsible for any liability to stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax resulting from a failure to observe this requirement. Each Placee and any person acting on behalf of such Placee agrees to acquire Placing Shares pursuant to the Placing and agrees to indemnify the Company and the Bookrunners in respect of the same on the basis that the Placing Shares will be allotted to a CREST stock account of either of the Bookrunners or transferred to a CREST stock account of either of the Bookrunners who will hold them as nominee on behalf of the Placee until settlement in accordance with its standing settlement instructions with it;
18. it is acting as principal only in respect of the Placing or, if it is acting for any other person, (a) it is duly authorised to do so and has full power to make the acknowledgments, representations and agreements herein on behalf of each such person and (b) it is and will remain liable to the Company and the Bookrunners for the performance of all its obligations as a Placee in respect of the Placing (regardless of the fact that it is acting for another person);
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 it 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 will not make an 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 purposes 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 within the meaning of section 85(1) of the FSMA or an offer to the public in any other member state of the EEA within the meaning of the Prospectus Directive;
21. if within the United Kingdom, it is a person of a kind described in: (a) Article 19(5) (Investment Professionals) and/or 49(2) (High net worth companies etc.) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended, and/or an authorised person as defined in section 31 of FSMA; and (b) section 86(7) of FSMA ("Qualified Investor"), being a person falling within Article 2(1)(e) the Prospectus Directive. For such purposes, it undertakes that it will acquire, hold, manage and (if applicable) dispose of any Placing Shares that are allocated to it for the purposes of its business only;
22. 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 neither of the Bookrunners has approved this Announcement in their capacity as authorised persons 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 financial promotion by an authorised person;
23. 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);
24. represents and warrants that, if it is a financial intermediary, as that term is used in Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive (including any relevant implementing measure in any member state), 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 a member state of the EEA which has implemented the Prospectus Directive other than Qualified Investors, or in circumstances in which the express prior written consent of the Bookrunners has been given to the offer or resale;
25. it has neither received nor relied on any confidential price sensitive information concerns in the Company in accepting this invitation to participate in the Placing;
26. none of the Bookrunners, any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees or any person acting on behalf of any of them has or shall have any liability for any information, representation or statement contained in this Announcement or for any information previously published by or on behalf of the Company or any other written or oral information made available to or publicly available or filed information or any representation, warranty or undertaking relating to the Company, and will not be liable for its decision to participate in the Placing based on any information, representation, warranty or statement contained in this Announcement or elsewhere, provided that nothing in this paragraph shalt exclude any liability of any person for fraud;
27. none of the Bookrunners, the Company, any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees or any person acting on behalf of the Bookrunners, the Company or their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees is 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 representations, warranties, acknowledgements, agreements, undertakings, or indemnities contained in the Placing Agreement nor the exercise or performance of each of the Bookrunners' rights and obligations thereunder including any rights to waive or vary any conditions or exercise any termination right;
28. acknowledges and accepts that the Bookrunners may, in accordance with applicable legal and regulatory provisions, engage in transactions in relation to the Placing Shares and/or related instruments for their own account for the purpose of hedging their underwriting exposure or otherwise and, except as required by applicable law or regulation, neither of the Bookrunners will make any public disclosure in relation to such transactions;
29. the Bookrunners and each of their respective affiliates, each acting as an investor for its or their own account(s), may 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 the Bookrunners and/or any of their respective affiliates, acting as an investor for its or their own account(s). Neither the Bookrunners nor the Company intend to disclose the extent of any such investment or transaction otherwise than In accordance with any legal or regulatory obligation to do so;
30. it has not offered or sold and will not offer or sell any Placing Shares to persons 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 any member state of the EEA within the meaning of the Prospectus Directive;
31. 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 and the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 (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;
32. it is aware of the obligations regarding insider dealing in the Criminal Justice Act 1993, section 118 of FSMA and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and confirms that it has and will continue to comply with those obligations;
33. in order to ensure compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations 2007, the Bookrunners (each 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 the Bookrunners or the Company's registrars, as applicable, of evidence of identity, definitive certificates in respect of the Placing Shares may be retained at the Bookrunners absolute discretion or, where appropriate, delivery of the Placing Shares to it in uncertificated form may be delayed at the Bookrunners or the Company's registrars', as the case may be, absolute discretion. If within a reasonable time after a request for verification of identity the Bookrunners (each for itself and as agent on behalf of the Company) or the Company's registrars have not received evidence satisfactory to them, the Bookrunners and/or the Company may, at its absolute discretion, terminate its 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 Bookrunner from which they were originally debited;
34. 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 the Bookrunners conduct of the Placing;
35. 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;
36. it irrevocably appoints any duly authorised officer of any of the Bookrunners 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;
37. the Company, the Bookrunners 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 the Bookrunners, each on their 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 it by its subscription for, or purchase of, Placing Shares, are no longer accurate, it shall promptly notify the Company and the Bookrunners;
38. if it is acquiring the Placing Shares as a fiduciary or agent for one or more investor accounts, it has full power and authority to make, and does make, the foregoing representations, warranties, acknowledgements, agreements and undertakings on behalf of each such accounts;
39. time is of the essence as regards its obligations under this Appendix;
40. 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 the Bookrunners;
41. the Placing Shares will be issued subject to the terms and conditions of this Appendix; and
42. these 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 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 (together with any interest chargeable thereon) may be taken by the Company or the Bookrunners 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.
Additional representations and warranties relating to the United States
In addition to the foregoing, by participating in the Placing, each Placee, including those persons participating pursuant to a subscription agreement, that is located in the United States (and any person acting on such Placee's behalf) acknowledges, undertakes, represents, warrants and agrees (as the case may be) that:
1. it understands and acknowledges that the Placing Shares are being offered by the Company in a transaction not involving any public offering in the United States within the meaning of the Securities Act, and that the Placing Shares have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or the securities law of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States;
2. it is, as the case may be, (a) either (i) a "qualified institutional buyer" as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act ("QIB") that is also a "major U.S. institutional investor" as defined in Rule 15a-6 under the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; (ii) a QIB or (iii) an institutional accredited investor as described in Rule 501(a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3) or (a)(7) of Regulation D under the Securities Act; and (b) aware that any offer or sale of the Placing Shares to it pursuant to the Placing will be made in a transaction exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act;
3. it is purchasing Placing Shares in the Placing (a) for its own account or for the account of one or more other persons, each of which is either (i) a QIB and a major U.S. institutional investor, (ii) QIB or (iii) institutional accredited investor, for which it is acting as a duly authorised fiduciary or agent; or (b) for one or more discretionary accounts, each of which is (i) a QIB and a major U.S. institutional investor, (ii) QIB or (iii) institutional accredited investor, as to which it has complete investment discretion and the authority to make these representations, in each case, for investment purposes and not with a view to distribution within the meaning of the Securities Act;
4. it acknowledges and agrees that the Placing Shares may not be reoffered, sold, pledged or otherwise transferred except (a) to a purchaser that it reasonably believes to be a qualified institutional buyer or (b) in another transaction exempt from, or not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act (including an "offshore transaction" in accordance with Rule 903 or Rule 904 of Regulation S under the Securities Act), in each case, in accordance with all applicable securities laws of the United States and any state or other jurisdiction thereof;
5. no representation has been made as to the availability of the registration exemption provided by Rule 144A or any other exemption from registration under the Securities Act for the reoffer, resale, pledge or transfer of the Placing Shares;
6. it understands and acknowledges that the Company may make notation on its records or give instructions to the registrar and any transfer agent of the Placing Shares in order to implement the restrictions on transfer set forth and described herein;
7. it (and any account for which it is purchasing) is not acquiring the Placing Shares with a view to any offer, sale or distribution thereof within the meaning of the Securities Act; and
8. it understands that the Placing Agreement in relation to the Placing may be provided by the Bookrunners and their affiliates, which may be non-U.S. broker- dealers, acting as agents for and on behalf of their affiliates, each a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission registered broker-dealer, pursuant to intra-group company agreements under Rule 15a-6 under the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
By participating in the Placing, each Placee (and any person acting on such Placee's behalf) agrees to indemnify and hold the Company, the Bookrunners and each of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers and employees 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 the representations, warranties, acknowledgements, agreements and undertakings given by the Placee (and any person acting on such Placee's behalf) in this Appendix or incurred by the Bookrunners, the Company or each of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees 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 after the 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, direct 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 related 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 the Bookrunners 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 the Bookrunners 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 the Bookrunners in the event that either the Company and/or the Bookrunners have incurred any such liability to such taxes or duties.
The representations, warranties, acknowledgements and undertakings contained in this Appendix are given to each of the Bookrunners for itself and on behalf of the Company and are irrevocable.
Each Placee and any person acting on behalf of the Placee acknowledges that the Bookrunners do not owe any fiduciary or other duties to any Placee in respect of any representations, warranties, undertakings, acknowledgements, agreements or indemnities in the Placing Agreement.
Each Placee and any person acting on behalf of the Placee acknowledges and agrees that the Bookrunners may (at their absolute discretion) satisfy their obligations to procure Placees by itself agreeing to become a Placee in respect of some or all of the Placing Shares or by nominating any connected or associated person to do so.
When a Placee or any person acting on behalf of the Placee is dealing with the relevant Bookrunner, any money held in an account with the relevant Bookrunner 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: as a consequence this money will not be segregated from the relevant Bookrunner's money (as applicable) in accordance with the client money rules and will be held by it under a Bookrunning relationship and not as trustee.
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 the London Stock Exchange.
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.
This information is provided by RNS
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