£2 Million Funding Facility

OTAQ plc

("OTAQ", or the "Company")

£2 Million Funding Facility

OTAQ, the marine technology products and solutions group for the global aquaculture and offshore oil and gas industries, announces that it has a signed a five-year £2 million Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) Term Loan Facility with BOOST&Co.

The Company has a strong cash balance of approximately £1.4 million as at 31 December 2020 and the Board continues to monitor and explore its financing requirements, particularly to fund further acquisitions as the Company focuses on broadening its product and service portfolio to a global client base. As part of this objective, the Company has therefore fully drawn down on the £2m CBILs loan.

Phil Newby, Chief Executive at OTAQ, commented: "We are delighted with the additional flexibility that the loan provides, putting the Company on a strong footing to further grow its portfolio. We already have a number of new products in our pipeline while last year's acquisition of ROS Technology and our investment in Minnowtech's shrimp biomass measurement technology highlight our ability to consolidate our position in the sector."

Joanna Scott, Principal at BOOST&Co, said: "We are delighted to be working with OTAQ on its continuing growth journey and supporting UK businesses during this uncertain time through our CBILS programme. OTAQ's innovative products and dynamic management team put the business in a strong position to capitalise on its growth opportunities in the near future." 

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About OTAQ

OTAQ is a highly innovative marine technology company focused on the marine aquaculture, offshore energy, renewables and oceanographic research sectors. It operates in four worldwide locations: Lancaster, Aberdeen and Ulverston in the UK and Puerto Montt in Chile.

OTAQ's marine technology portfolio includes a market-leading intelligent acoustic deterrent system, Sealfence, designed to protect marine-based aquaculture sites from predation, with multiple systems deployed in Scotland, Chile, Finland and Russia.

The Company's Oceansense leak detection systems have a global reputation as the industry standard solution and have been deployed successfully on hundreds of jobs. OTAQ's Dragonfish laser measurement system is fast becoming recognised as one of the most accurate underwater precision laser measurement systems available. OTAQ also has significant experience in the design and manufacture of underwater connectors, penetrators and communication systems.

It seeks to develop and continuously improve its products using its specialist mechanical, electronic and software engineers with decades of experience in bringing underwater technology products to market. Concurrently, OTAQ seeks to expand its technology portfolio through acquisitive growth, with the aim of further expanding its aquaculture and offshore product offering.

OTAQ is proud to be fully ISO 9001:2015 accredited through DNV-GL. ISO 9001 is an internationally recognised quality management system and demonstrates OTAQ's commitment to consistency, continual improvement and customer satisfaction. The certification also demonstrates its ability to consistently deliver products and services to market whilst meeting statutory and regulatory requirements by applying an effective quality management system.