4th Oct 2005 08:00
Acta S.p.A.04 October 2005 4 October 2005 Acta S.p.A ("Acta" or the "Company") Placing of £9 million and Admission to AIM Trading in shares commences today Acta announces the successful completion of the Placing and admission of itsissued ordinary share capital to trading on the AIM market ("AIM") of the LondonStock Exchange plc ("Admission"). The Placing of 7,200,000 Placing Shares raised£9 million for the Company and certain Selling Shareholders and the Company hada market capitalisation of £44.8 million when trading commenced at 8.00 a.mtoday. Numis Securities Limited is acting as Nominated Adviser and Broker to the Company. Background to the Company Acta develops and produces platinum free catalysts for the fuel cell industry.Catalysts traditionally used in low temperature fuel cells contain eitherplatinum or platinum group metals ("PGM"s). With the exception of fuel cellsoperating at very high temperatures, no fuel cell has previously beendemonstrated to operate with commercially acceptable output levels without theuse of a PGM based catalyst. PGM catalysts are expensive and limit the fuelsusable in fuel cells to hydrogen and methanol, both of which have significantissues in being introduced to widespread use. Key Strengths Acta has successfully developed a family of catalysts, branded HYPERMEC, whichcontain no platinum or PGM, and which function at a level of catalytic activitycomparable to that of the commercially available platinum catalysts. Inaddition, while HYPERMEC catalysts can function with hydrogen and methanol, thetwo fuels most commonly adopted in the fuel cell industry, Acta has alsodemonstrated that fuel cells containing its HYPERMEC catalysts can operate atroom temperature using ethanol, ethylene glycol and petroleum, a characteristicunique to Acta's catalysts. This, the Directors believe, is a substantial technological breakthrough for thefuel cell industry, which may enable the development of mass market fuel cellscontaining no platinum, and running on ethanol whilst having advantageouseffects for hydrogen production and other industrial applications. The Directors believe that the key advantages of Acta's catalysts are that they: •Allow the industry for the first time to use practical, safe and environmentally friendly fuels such as ethanol for consumer applications •Will allow fuel cells to be produced in industrial quantities, with economies of scale that would not be possible with platinum catalysts Management Paolo Bert (aged 58) - Chief Executive OfficerAfter a successful career in management, Paolo became interested in membranesand catalysts and their use in fuel cells in 2000, and has developed thistechnology in partnership with Alessandro Tampucci from 2002 to the present,filing patent applications in 2002 and 2003 to protect the development workundertaken. Since mid-2003 Paolo has dedicated himself full-time to Acta and itsopportunities within the field of fuel cell catalysts. Toby Woolrych (aged 39) - Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial OfficerToby joined Acta in May 2005 after eight years at Johnson Matthey where he wasemployed in a number of senior management roles including Managing Director ofthe company's Speciality Coatings business and Finance Director of the globalColours & Coatings Division. Prior to that, he was Finance Director of astart-up medical publishing business. He qualified as a Chartered Accountantwith Arthur Andersen in 1991. Prospects The fuel cell industry is forecast to grow at nearly 70 per cent. per annum to avalue of US$18.5 billion by 2013 (Source: Allied Business Intelligence Inc.October 2003), as consumer demand for portable power continues to outpace thedevelopment of battery technologies, and as the global consumption of gasolineand electricity accelerates despite increasing concerns over oil depletion andgreenhouse gas emissions. In May the Company announced that it had signed its first commercial marketingand distribution contract with Sumitomo Corporation, covering Japan, Korea,Taiwan and South East Asia. The Company has also received expressions ofinterest in its products from a number of western companies. Reasons for Admission & Use of Proceeds The Directors believe that the Admission will benefit the Group throughenhancing its market profile. This should result in a wider awareness of Acta'spatented technology. The Directors believe the profile achieved by floating andthe additional resources secured should increase the number of commercialopportunities available to Acta and its enhanced financial position shouldassist Acta to negotiate agreements with technical and commercial partners froma position of greater strength. The Company plans to use the net proceeds of the Placing: •to implement its research and development programme; •to strengthen the Company's sales and marketing function; and •for operating costs, working capital and business development. Placing Statistics Placing Price 125pNumber of Placing Shares being placed on behalf of the Company 6,400,000Number of Ordinary Shares being placed on behalf of the Selling Shareholders 800,000Number of Ordinary Shares in issue following the Placing 35,850,126Market capitalisation at the Placing Price £44.8 millionPercentage of the enlarged issued share capital available in the Placing 20.1 per cent.Net proceeds of the Placing receivable by the Company £6.7 million - Ends - Enquiries: Weber Shandwick Square Mile 020 7067 0700Melissa Rowling / Nick Dibden Acta S.p.A On 4 October: 020 7067 0700Toby Woolrych, Chief Operating Officer Numis Securities Limited 020 7776 1500Jag Mundi / Bruce Garrow Notes to editors:Acta has made a breakthrough which will enable fuel cell products to expand fromearly adopters to the mass consumer market. The fuel cell industry is forecastto grow at nearly 70% per annum (Source: Allied Business Intelligence) but atpresent there are commercial barriers that are preventing its full potentialfrom being realised. Acta has developed a new family of catalysts that use lowcost materials, work at low temperatures, enable use of cheap, safe andenvironmentally friendly fuels, and solve other technical issues - therebyenabling the adoption of fuel cells for mass market applications. Definitions Catalyst A material used to initiate or accelerate a chemical reaction, while not itself being consumed in the reaction Fuel Cell An electro-chemical device which generates electricity from a simple reaction in which oxygen and hydrogen combine to form water HYPERMEC A family of electro-catalysts developed by the Company. A registered trademark of Acta Membrane A film of ion-conducting polymer PGM Platinum Group Metals: platinum, palladium, ruthenium, iridium and rhodium THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO BUY OR TO SUBSCRIBE FOR, ORTHE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY OR SUBSCRIBE FOR, SECURITIES IN ANYJURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH OFFER OR SOLICITATION IS UNLAWFUL. IN PARTICULAR, THESECURITIES OF THE COMPANY HAVE NOT BEEN, AND WILL NOT BE, REGISTERED UNDER THEUNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 AS AMENDED (THE "SECURITIES ACT") ORQUALIFIED FOR SALE UNDER THE LAWS OF ANY STATE OF THE UNITED STATES OR UNDER THEAPPLICABLE LAWS OF ANY OF CANADA, AUSTRALIA OR JAPAN AND, SUBJECT TO CERTAINEXCEPTIONS, MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO, OR FOR THEACCOUNT OR BENEFIT OF, US PERSONS (AS SUCH TERM IS DEFINED IN REGULATION S UNDERTHE SECURITIES ACT) OR TO ANY NATIONAL, RESIDENT OR CITIZEN OF CANADA, AUSTRALIAOR JAPAN. NEITHER THIS ANNOUNCEMENT NOR ANY COPY OF IT MAY BE SENT TO OR TAKENINTO THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA OR JAPAN, NOR MAY IT BE DISTRIBUTED TOANY US PERSON (WITHIN THE MEANING OF REGULATION S UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT). Numis, which is regulated by the Financial Services Authority, is actingexclusively for the Company and for no-one else in relation to the proposedapplication to the Alternative Investment Market and will not be responsible toanyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clientsof Numis or for providing or giving advice in relation to the offer or any othermatter referred to in this announcement. The Prospectus has been published today and will be available at the offices ofNumis, Cheapside House, 138 Cheapside, London EC2V 6LH for a period of one monthfrom the date of Admission. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
ACTA.L