THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, INCLUDING THE
APPENDIX, (THE "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 OR
INTO THE UNITED STATES, THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND, AUSTRALIA, NEW
ZEALAND, CANADA, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER
JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE
RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF THAT JURISDICTION. PLEASE SEE THE
IMPORTANT NOTICES AT THE END OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION
PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE OR CONTAIN ANY INVITATION,
SOLICITATION, RECOMMENDATION, OFFER OR ADVICE TO ANY PERSON TO
PURCHASE AND/OR SUBSCRIBE FOR, OTHERWISE ACQUIRE OR DISPOSE OF ANY
SECURITIES IN DIRECTA PLUS PLC OR ANY OTHER ENTITY IN ANY
JURISDICTION. NEITHER THIS ANNOUNCEMENT NOR THE FACT OF ITS
DISTRIBUTION, SHALL FORM THE BASIS OF, OR BE RELIED ON IN
CONNECTION WITH ANY INVESTMENT DECISION IN RESPECT OF DIRECTA PLUS
PLC.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE
INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF EU REGULATION 596/2014
AS RETAINED AS PART OF UK LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
(WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018 (AS AMENDED) ("UK MAR"). IN ADDITION, MARKET SOUNDINGS
(AS DEFINED IN UK MAR) WERE TAKEN IN RESPECT OF CERTAIN OF THE
MATTERS CONTAINED IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, WITH THE RESULT THAT
CERTAIN PERSONS BECAME AWARE OF SUCH INSIDE INFORMATION, AS
PERMITTED BY UK MAR. UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT,
THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC
DOMAIN.
11 June 2024
Directa Plus plc
Result of Placing and
Subscription
Directa Plus (AIM: DCTA) (the "Company"), a leading producer and
supplier of graphene nanoplatelets based products for use in
consumer and industrial markets, is pleased to confirm that,
further to the Company's announcement released earlier today, the
Bookbuild has closed and the Company has, conditionally, raised
gross proceeds of approximately £6.8 million through the successful
placing of, and subscription for, a total of up to 37,805,551 New
Ordinary Shares at the Issue Price of 18 pence each.
In addition, certain directors of the Company
have confirmed their intention to participate in the Fundraising
and subscribe for 555,555 New Ordinary Shares in aggregate between
them (the "Directors' Intended
Participation"). As the Company is currently in a close
period under MAR until the publication of its full year results for
the period ended 31 December 2023 ("Results"), the Directors are not
permitted to enter into any arrangement until after publication of
the Results (and subject to each not being in possession of any
other unpublished price sensitive information at such time). Whilst
it is currently expected that the Results will be published prior
to the proposed date of Admission, in the event that the Directors
are unable to participate prior to that date (for whatever reason),
to the extent the Directors' Intended Participation then takes
place, the Company will apply for admission of the relevant New
Ordinary Shares to trading on AIM separately and to take effect
following the admission of the remaining Subscription Shares and
the Placing Shares. Should the Directors' Intended Participation be
confirmed upon publication of Results the gross proceeds of the
Fundraising will be approximately £6.9 million.
The New Ordinary Shares (including the Directors'
Intended Participation) will represent in aggregate 36.7 per cent.
of the Company's Enlarged Issued Share Capital following Admission
(assuming the Directors' Intended Participation proceeds).
Cavendish Capital Markets Limited and Singer
Capital Markets Securities Limited acted as joint brokers in
connection with the Bookbuild.
The Placing and the issue of the New Ordinary
Shares are conditional upon, amongst other things:
·
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the passing of the Resolutions without
amendment to be proposed at the General Meeting;
|
·
|
the Placing Agreement having become
unconditional (save for Admission) and not having been terminated
in accordance with its terms prior to Admission;
|
·
|
the allotment of the EIS/VCT Placing Shares in
advance of the allotment of the Non-EIS/VCT Placing Shares;
and
|
·
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Admission taking place by no later than 8.00
a.m. on 1 July 2024 (or such later date as the Joint Brokers may
agree in writing with the Company, being not later than 8.00 a.m.
on 15 July 2024).
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Rule 9
Waiver
Following completion of the Fundraising, Nant
Capital, LLC will be interested (for the purpose of the City Code)
in Ordinary Shares carrying 30 per cent. or more of the Company's
voting share capital, which would ordinarily result in Nant
Capital, LLC having to make a mandatory offer under Rule 9 of the
City Code.
However, the Panel has agreed to waive the obligation
on Nant Capital, LLC (or any person acting in concert with it) to
make a mandatory cash offer under Rule 9 of the City Code that
would otherwise arise as a result of its participation in the
Placing (the "Rule 9 Waiver"), subject to the approval of such
waiver by independent shareholders on a poll at the Company's
General Meeting.
In the event that the Resolution to approve the Rule
9 Waiver is approved, and on the assumption that the Fundraising is
completed, including the Directors' Intended Participation, and
that no person exercises any options or other rights to subscribe
for Ordinary Shares or New Ordinary Shares, as at Admission, the
maximum aggregate interest of Nant Capital LLC (and any persons
acting in concert with it) in shares which carry voting rights in
the Company (for the purpose of the City Code) would be 39.45 per
cent. In the event that the Directors' Intended Participation does
not proceed, the maximum aggregate interest of Nant Capital LLC
(and any persons acting in concert with it) in shares which carry
voting rights in the Company (for the purpose of the City Code)
would be 39.67 per cent.
The Fundraising is subject to Shareholder approval
(amongst other things):
·
|
to grant the necessary authorities to issue the New
Ordinary Shares;
|
·
|
of the Rule 9 Waiver, on a poll vote of independent
shareholders in accordance with the City Code.
|
General
Meeting and posting of Circular
The General Meeting to approve the Resolutions
is expected to be held at the offices of Vistra, 7th Floor, 50
Broadway, London SW1H 0DB at 2.30 p.m. (local time) on 27 June
2024.
The Circular, containing the Notice of the
General Meeting, which sets out the Resolutions and further details
on the Fundraising, is expected to be despatched to Shareholders of
the Group on or about 11 June 2024 and will be available on the
Company's website at www.directa-plus.com. The Circular will
include a unanimous Board recommendation that all shareholders vote
in favour of the Resolutions.
Admission,
settlement and dealings
It is intended that the Company will issue the
EIS/VCT Placing Shares to the persons nominated by the Company in
accordance with the Placing Agreement no later than 3.00 p.m. on 28
June 2024, being one Business Day prior to Admission. The issue of
the EIS/VCT Placing Shares will not be conditional on Admission. It
is intended that the Company will issue the Non-EIS/VCT Placing
Shares to the persons nominated by the Company in accordance with
the Placing Agreement no later than 8:00 a.m. on 1 July 2024. The
issue of the Non-EIS/VCT Placing Shares will be conditional on
Admission. Investors should be aware of the possibility that only
the EIS/VCT Placing Share might be issued and that none of the
Non-EIS/VCT Placing Shares are issued.
Application will be made to the London Stock
Exchange for the New Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on
AIM. It is currently expected that Admission will become effective,
and that dealings in the New Ordinary Shares will commence on AIM,
at 8.00 a.m. on 1 July 2024. The Enlarged Issued Share
Capital, as increased by the New Ordinary Shares, immediately
following Admission (and excluding any issues of shares pursuant to
the exercise of any employee share incentives or options between
the date of this Announcement and Admission) will be
104,418,755 Ordinary Shares. In the event that the Directors'
Intended Participation does not proceed, Enlarged Issued Share
Capital will be 103,863,200.
The New Ordinary Shares, when issued, will be
credited as fully paid and will rank on Admission pari passu in all
respects with each other and with the Existing Ordinary Shares,
including the right to receive all dividends and other
distributions declared, made or paid after the date of
issue.
Key
Dates
The expected timetable set out in the Company's
announcement regarding the proposed Fundraising released earlier
today remains unchanged and is, for reference, set out again
below.
The times and dates set out below, and
mentioned throughout this Announcement, are subject to change, and
may be adjusted by the Company in consultation with the Joint
Bookrunners. The timetable below also assumes that the Resolutions
are all passed at the General Meeting without adjournment. In the
event of any significant changes from the expected timetable below,
details of the new times and dates will be notified to Shareholders
by an announcement on a Regulatory Information Service.
Posting of the Circular and the
Notice of General Meeting
|
11 June
2024
|
|
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Latest time and date for receipt of
Forms of Proxy
|
2.30 p.m.
on 25 June 2024
|
|
|
Voting record date
|
5.00 p.m. on 25 June 2024
|
|
|
General Meeting
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2.30 p.m.
(local time) on 27 June 2024
|
|
|
Admission effective and dealings in
Placing Shares and Subscription Shares expected to commence on
AIM
|
8.00 a.m. on 1 July 2024
|
|
Notes:
1. Each of the times
and dates in the above timetable, and shown elsewhere in this
document, are indicative only and if any of the details contained
in the timetable above should change, the revised times and dates
will be notified to Shareholders by means of an announcement
through a Regulatory Information Service.
2. All of the above
times refer to London time unless otherwise stated.
3. All events listed
in the above timetable following the General Meeting are
conditional on the passing of the Resolutions at the General
Meeting.
|
For
further information, please contact:
Directa Plus
plc
|
+39 02
36714458
|
Giulio Cesareo, CEO
|
|
Giorgio Bonfanti, CFO
|
|
|
|
Cavendish
Capital Markets Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint
Broker)
|
+44 131 220
6939
|
Neil McDonald
|
|
Adam Rae
|
|
|
|
Singer Capital
Markets Securities Limited (Joint Broker)
|
+44 20 7496
3069
|
Rick Thompson
|
|
Phil Davies
|
|
|
|
Alma Strategic
Communications (Financial PR Adviser)
|
+44 20 3405
0205
|
Justine James
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Hannah Campbell
|
|
Kinvara Verdon
|
|
The
person responsible for arranging the release of this Announcement
on behalf of the Company is Giorgio Bonfanti, Chief Financial
Officer of the Company.
Notes to
Editors
Directa Plus (www.directa-plus.com) is one of
the largest producers and suppliers of graphene-based products for
use in consumer and industrial markets. The Company's graphene
manufacturing capability uses proprietary patented technology based
on a plasma super expansion process. Starting from natural
graphite, each step of Directa Plus' production process -
expansion, exfoliation and drying - creates graphene-based
materials and hybrid graphene materials ready for a variety of uses
and available in various forms such as powder, liquid and
paste.
This proprietary production process uses a
physical process, rather than a chemical process, to process
graphite into pristine graphene nanoplatelets, which enables
Directa Plus to offer a sustainable, nontoxic product, without
unwanted by-products.
Directa Plus' products are made of hybrid
graphene materials and graphene nano-platelets. The products
(marketed as G+(R)) have multiple applications due to its
properties. These G+(R) products can be categorised into various
families, with different products being suitable for specific
practical applications.
Directa Plus was established in 2005 and is
based in Lomazzo (Como, Italy) and has been listed on the AIM
market of the London Stock Exchange since May 2016. Directa Plus
holds the Green Economy Mark from London Stock Exchange which
recognises companies that contribute to the global green
economy.