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Issue of Equity, Acqn & Trading Update

6th Apr 2010 07:00

RNS Number : 7015J
Vitesse Media PLC
06 April 2010
 



Vitesse Media plc ("the Company"or "Vitesse")

 

Placing, Exercise of Option to Acquire Asset and Trading Update

 

 

Placing

 

The board of Vitesse Media plc, the online events and publishing group, announces the placing of 5,000,000 new ordinary shares in the Company (the "Placing Shares") at 9.5p per share to raise £475,000 (approximately £461,000 net of expenses) ("the Placing"). The Placing price of 9.5 pence per Placing Share represents a discount of approximately 9.5 per cent to the closing middle market price of 10.5 pence per ordinary share on 1 April 2010, being the last business day before announcement of the Placing, which the Directors consider to be fair and reasonable given the size of the Placing.

 

The proceeds of the Placing will be used to exercise an option to buy the website www.SmallBusiness.co.uk, to improve database operation and provide working capital for the group. The Placing Shares will represent approximately 16.3 per cent. of the enlarged issued share capital of the Company and utilises the existing authority granted to the directors to issue shares.

 

As part of the Placing, the following directors of the Company have subscribed for approximately £170,000 of Placing Shares as set out below in order to maintain their percentage shareholdings in the Company:

 

 

Value of Placing Shares

No. of Placing Shares

Holding following the Placing

% of enlarged issued share capital immediately following the Placing

 

Andrew Brode

£14,840.05

156,211

916,149

2.99

Sara and Peter Williams

£155,122.65

1,632,870

9,994,411

32.66

 

Application will be made for admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM and dealings are expected to commence at 8.00am on 8 April 2010. The Placing Shares will rank pari passu with the existing ordinary shares in the capital of the Company. The Placing is conditional upon the Placing Shares being admitted to trading on AIM.

 

Following the Placing, for the purposes of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules, the Company's issued share capital will comprise 30,603,787 ordinary shares of 1 pence each. No shares are held in treasury. Therefore the total number of voting rights in the Company will be 30,603,787.

 

Exercise of Option to Acquire an Asset

 

The directors have decided to use part of the proceeds from the Placing to exercise the option to acquire www.SmallBusiness.co.uk from Tudor Myles Ventures Ltd, a company controlled by Sara and Peter Williams, both of whom are directors of the Company. At a general meeting on 29 May 2009, Vitesse shareholders approved, inter alia, the disposal of www.SmallBusiness.co.uk and the Company entering into the option agreement to repurchase the business at an exercise price of £170,000. This website is currently managed by Vitesse under an outsourcing arrangement and all profits from it are retained within the Company after payment of a royalty to Tudor Myles Venture Ltd. The independent directors are satisfied that the purchase price of £170,000 represents appropriate value for the business. 

 

Comment on the Placing

 

The directors of Vitesse are delighted that an appropriate level of funding has now been attained for the Company to provide working capital and exercise the option to acquire www.SmallBusiness.co.uk. The Placing has strengthened the balance sheet of the Company and the directors are now looking forward with confidence at the future growth of the business.

 

Trading update

 

Trading has continued to improve in the first two months of the current financial year ending 31 January 2011 and the business has been profitable and ahead of budget. Both print and online titles are experiencing an improvement in forward bookings and the return of customers that had dropped out of the market during 2009. Subscriptions on What Investment have shown a clear upturn and subscriber numbers are now 11% higher than in the autumn of 2009. Sponsorship levels on events have been maintained and there is a slight improvement on the number of table sales. The directors believe that confidence appears to be returning to the Company's market place.

 

 

Contacts:

 

Sara Williams, Vitesse Media plc 020 7250 7010

Leslie Copeland, Vitesse Media plc 020 7250 7010

Jeremy Porter / Nandita Sahgal, Seymour Pierce Ltd 020 7107 8000

 

Ends

This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
 
END
 
 
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