23rd Apr 2018 18:13
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A BREACH OF THE RELEVANT SECURITIES LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION.
DEFENX PLC
("Defenx" or the "Company")
Result of Open Offer and General Meeting
On 6 April 2018, Defenx (AIM: DFX) announced proposals to raise £1.2 million (gross) (approximately €1.38 million) by way of an issue of, in aggregate, 14,962,899 New Ordinary Shares at a price of 8 pence per New Ordinary Share, further details of which were set out in the circular dispatched to Shareholders on that day (the "Circular").
The Fundraising, comprising a Subscription of 10,564,676 Subscription Shares and an Open Offer of 4,398,223 Open Offer Shares, was conditional upon, inter alia, the passing of the Resolutions at the General Meeting.
Commenting on this announcement, Tony Reeves, Chairman of Defenx said:
"We are pleased to have today finalised the Fundraising, which we believe was the best opportunity available to the Company to allow it to continue trading and start to implement its new Defenx 2020 strategy. We would like to thank our shareholders for their support in the Open Offer and we look to the future of Defenx with confidence."
General Meeting
In order to comply with the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, Resolution 1, concerning the waiver of obligations under Rule 9 of the City Code in connection with the participation of BV Tech in the Fundraising (the "Whitewash Resolution"), was passed by means of a poll of Independent Shareholders. Accordingly, BV Tech did not vote on the Whitewash Resolution. Votes cast pursuant to the poll on the Whitewash Resolution were 2,556,395 in favour and 1,014,704 against.
Accordingly, the Company is pleased to announce that, at its General Meeting held today, all of the Resolutions set out in the Notice of General Meeting, were duly passed.
Open Offer
Under the Open Offer, Qualifying Shareholders were able to subscribe for Open Offer Shares on the basis of 1 Open Offer Share for every 3 Existing Ordinary Shares held on the Record Date (being 3 April 2018). The Open Offer closed for acceptances at 11.00 a.m. on 20 April 2018.
The Open Offer Shares were not placed subject to clawback nor were they underwritten, but BV Tech applied for its Open Offer Entitlements being, in aggregate, 1,212,212 Open Offer Shares, as well as agreeing to subscribe for any additional Open Offer Shares not subscribed for by other Shareholders.
Qualifying Shareholders, other than BV Tech, applied for, in aggregate, 1,504,377 Open Offer Shares pursuant to their Open Offer Entitlements and all Qualifying Shareholders who validly applied for Open Offer Shares pursuant to their Open Offer Entitlements will receive the full amount of Open Offer Shares they applied for.
As a result, 1,681,634 Open Offer Shares were available under the Excess Application Facility and valid acceptances were received in respect of 5,710,211 Excess Open Offer Entitlements, representing excess applications of approximately 240 per cent. above those available under the Excess Application Facility. Accordingly, each Qualifying Shareholder applying for Excess Open Offer Entitlements will be scaled back and will receive approximately 29.4 per cent. of their excess application pursuant to the Excess Application Facility.
Accordingly, Defenx has received valid acceptances in respect of 4,398,223 Open Offer Shares from Qualifying Shareholders, which represents 100 per cent. of the Open Offer Shares offered.
Admission
Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for 14,962,899 New Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM pursuant to the Fundraising. It is expected that Admission will occur at 8.00 a.m. on 26 April 2018.
Following Admission, the Company's total issued share capital will comprise 28,157,570 Ordinary Shares with voting rights. This figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, securities of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. The New Ordinary Shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing Ordinary Shares in issue, including the right to receive all dividends and other distributions declared.
Interests in Ordinary Shares
BV Tech subscribed for 10,564,676 Subscription Shares and has been allotted 1,212,212 Open Offer Shares. Accordingly, following Admission, BV Tech will be interested in 15,413,526 Ordinary Shares, representing approximately 54.74 per cent. of the Company's Enlarged Share Capital.
The Directors' interests following completion of the Fundraising are as follows:
Name of Director | New Ordinary Shares subscribed for, in aggregate, in the Fundraising | Total number of Ordinary Shares held following Admission | Number of Ordinary Shares interested in upon Admission as a percentage of the Enlarged Share Capital | No. of options held |
Anthony Reeves | - | 31,250 | 0.11 | 15,625 |
Andrea Stecconi | - | 1,826,836 | 6.49 | - |
Philipp Prince | - | 71,255 | 0.25 | 167,000 |
Raffaele Boccardo(1) | 11,776,888 | 15,413,526 | 54.74 | - |
Leonard Seelig | - | 25,000 | 0.09 | 12,500 |
Notes:
(1) Mr Boccardo is deemed to be beneficially interested in the Ordinary Shares held by BV Tech on account of his 86.44 per cent. interest in BV Tech
On Admission, as the Ordinary Shares in which BV Tech will be interested together carry more than 50 per cent. of the voting rights in the Company, it will therefore be free to increase its aggregate holding of Ordinary Shares without any obligation to make a general offer for the Company under the provisions of Rule 9 of the City Code.
Defined terms used in this announcement not otherwise defined shall have the same meaning as those terms defined and used in the Circular.
For more information, please contact:
Defenx PLC 020 3769 0687
Alessandro Poerio - Chief Executive Officer
Philipp Prince - Chief Financial Officer
IFC Advisory (Financial PR and IR) 020 3934 6630
Tim Metcalfe / Graham Herring / Heather Armstrong
Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated and Financial Adviser) 020 7409 3494
Angela Hallett / Richard Tulloch / James Bellman
WH Ireland (Broker) 020 7220 1666
Adrian Hadden / Alex Bond
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014.
PCA Notification
1. | Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated | |||||
a) | Name | BV Tech S.p.A | ||||
2. | Reason for the Notification | |||||
a) | Position/status | Persons closely associated with Raffaele Boccardo, Director of the Company | ||||
b) | Initial notification/amendment | Initial notification | ||||
3. | Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor | |||||
a) | Name | Defenx Plc | ||||
b) | LEI | 213800FCV2PPFYGJHP43 | ||||
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 | |||||
a) | Description of the Financial instrument, type of instrument | Ordinary shares of 1.8p each in the share capital of the Defenx Plc | ||||
Identification code | GB00BYNF4J61 | |||||
b) | Nature of the Transaction | Participation in Subscription and Open Offer | ||||
c) | Price(s) and volume(s) |
| ||||
d) | Aggregated information Aggregated volume Price | N/A (Single transaction) | ||||
e) | Date of the transaction | 26 April 2018 | ||||
f) | Place of the transaction | Outside a trading venue |
Related Shares:
DFX.L