Become a Member
  • Track your favourite stocks
  • Create & monitor portfolios
  • Daily portfolio value
Sign Up
Quickpicks
Add shares to your
quickpicks to
display them here!

Share Placing and Loan Notes

9th Mar 2015 07:00

RNS Number : 8406G
DDD Group PLC
09 March 2015
 



THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE OR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN OR TO A US PERSON OR TO RESIDENTS OR CITIZENS OF AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE SAME WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.

9 March 2015

DDD Group plc

 

Issuance of Convertible Unsecured Loan Notes and Equity Placing

 

DDD Group plc ("DDD" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into agreements to issue £350,000 of Convertible Unsecured Loan Notes ("Notes") pursuant to the existing authorities granted to the board of directors. The Company also announces today a proposed placing of, in aggregate, 23,750,000 new ordinary shares of 1 pence each ("New Shares") at a price of 2 pence per share ("Issue Price") conditional on the passing by shareholders of resolutions to authorise the directors of the Company (the "Directors") to allot additional ordinary shares and disapply statutory pre-emption rights ("the Resolutions") at the Company's General Meeting to be held on 31st March 2015 (the "Equity Placing").

Highlights

· Issuance of £350,000 of Convertible Unsecured Loan Notes due 2017 have been completed under existing authorities

· Equity Placing commitments, subject to shareholder approval, for £475,000 or 23,750,000 New Shares with institutional and accredited investors arranged by Peel Hunt LLP

· The net proceeds (approx. £0.8 million) to be used to finance business development and licensing activities over the next 12 months

o New licensing activities targeted at video conferencing and social photography apps for tablet, smartphone and PC

o Planned phased increase in headcount from 20 to 23 staff in line with commercial license and development agreements

Further details of the Notes and Equity Placing are set out below.

Commenting on the transaction, Nicholas Brigstocke, Chairman of DDD said:

"We are delighted to be able to announce a successful capital raising which, subject to completion, should assist the Company in continuing the transition of our licensing activities from the niche market of stereoscopic 3D into the larger 2D markets for video conferencing, social photography and enhanced end user engagement with content shared over social media.

 

We anticipate concluding a number of ongoing discussions and licensing negotiations over the coming months.

 

The additional capital will strengthen the financial resources of the Company as we continue our return towards operating cash break-even. The continuing support of our strategic commercial partners, existing shareholders and UK institutional investors represents a strong endorsement of DDD's turnaround business plan and its near-term growth prospects."

 

 

Enquiries

 

DDD Group

Chris Yewdall, President & CEO

Victoria Stull, CFO

 

+1 310 566 3340

Peel Hunt LLP (UK Nomad/Broker)

Richard Kauffer / Euan Brown

 

+44 (0)207 418 8900

Blytheweigh (UK IR)

Tim Blythe / Alex Shilov / Andrea Benton

 

+44 (0)207 138 3204

Berns & Berns (US PAL)

Michael Berns, esq.

+1 212 332 3320

 

_______________

Background to the Fundraising and Proposed Use of Proceeds

The Company has developed a range of intelligent video solutions that are based on patent-protected techniques. These solutions have been widely licensed to leading consumer electronics manufacturers including Samsung, LG, Sony, Lenovo and others to provide automatic 2D to 3D conversion for televisions, personal computers, smartphones and tablets. Until the end of December 2014, over 51 million products have been shipped by the Company's licensees generating high margin licensing and royalty revenues.

As part of a turnaround plan developed by the Company following an unexpected decline in shipments of the Company's TriDef 3D software in the PC market that occurred in early 2013, a range of new products have now been developed that are intended for use in larger 2D markets including video conferencing, social photography and improved social media engagement for PCs, smartphones and tablets. This initiative is intended to supplement the existing licensing activities in the stereoscopic 3D consumer market.

In late 2014, a number of existing and prospective licensees began evaluating these new solutions for use in video conferencing and social photography markets with promising initial results. The Placing and Subscription proceeds are expected to enable further licensing and commercialisation opportunities for these new 2D solutions.

The Company will continue to service existing 3D technology licensees and plans to secure additional patent license agreements through its IP licensing advisor for its 2D to 3D conversion patents in the consumer and professional 2D to 3D conversion services markets.

The Company's recently announced solutions including TriDef SmartCam and TriDef MotionView are in beta testing with a number of prospective licensees in the PC and mobile market and the Company is focused on securing license agreements for these new products. It is the Company's expectation that license agreements for these new products are likely to be secured in the first half of 2015 and additional product launches resulting from new product development activities should occur during H2 2015.

The Company expects that a successful conclusion of this financing transaction will provide sufficient working capital until at least the end of the year on the basis of continued demand for its 3D technologies together with a modest level of uptake of licenses for its recently announced 2D products, which are currently being evaluated by prospective customers. Specifically, the Directors plan to utilise the proceeds to meet the growth and working capital needs from currently identified opportunities during the current year, including a phased increase in headcount from 20 to 23 staff as new licensing and/or development agreements arise. The additional staff will focus primarily on software and application development and technical sales and will be based in the Company's existing operations in the US and Australia. The balance of the Placing and Subscription proceeds will provide working capital for as-yet-unidentified opportunities in a rapidly evolving market as well as supporting ad-hoc costs incurred through the patent licensing program being managed by the Company's patent advisor.

The Board will continue to review additional financing opportunities available to the Company as necessary including entering into strategic partnerships or additional loans on available terms. There can be no certainty that completion of additional financing will be achievable however and further announcements will be made in due course and as appropriate.

Details of Convertible Unsecured Loan Notes

The issue of the Notes will be conducted under the authority granted to the board of directors pursuant to Section 120 the Company's Articles of Association. The right of conversion of the Notes into ordinary shares falls within the current partial dis-application of pre-emption rights approved by shareholders at the June 10th 2014 Annual Shareholders Meeting.

 

The following is a summary of the main provisions of the Notes. The Notes have an annual interest rate of 7%. The Notes can be converted by the holders into ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the capital of the Company ("Shares") at a conversion price of 5 pence nominal amount of Notes per Share (a 250% premium to the Equity Placing price). The Company has the option to redeem the Notes at any time at a 5% premium to their nominal value plus accrued interest. Any Notes outstanding on 6 March 2017 will at the option of the Company be repaid in cash or settled by the issue of Shares at the conversion price; in both cases accrued interest will be payable in cash.

 

Four of the Directors of DDD or their affiliates have agreed to subscribe for Notes. The nominal amount of the Notes that they have agreed to acquire are as follows: Christopher Yewdall £10,000; Nicholas Brigstocke £15,000; Dr. Sanji Arisawa £15,000; and Victoria Stull £10,000. Additionally, Arisawa Manufacturing Co., Ltd. ("Arisawa"), currently a holder of 20.8% of the existing issued ordinary share capital of the Company has agreed to acquire £300,000 of the Notes (the "Transaction").

 

The Transaction is a related party transaction for the purpose of AIM Rule 13, Arisawa and certain Directors being related parties within the meaning of the AIM Rules. The Directors of the Company who are independent to this Transaction, Paul Kristensen and Hans Snook, consider, having consulted with the Company's nominated adviser, that the terms of the Transaction are fair and reasonable insofar as the Shareholders are concerned.

Details of the Proposed Equity Placing

Subject to the approval of the Resolutions at the Company's General Meeting to be held on 31st March 2015 by the Company's shareholders (the "Shareholders"), it is intended that the Company will raise £0.48 million (before expenses) by way of a conditional placing of 23,750,000 New Shares arranged by Peel Hunt LLP at 2 pence per share. The New Shares have been placed with a combination of institutional investors, accredited investors, and certain existing Shareholders conditional, inter alia, on the passing of the Resolutions and on the admission of the New Shares to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (the "Admission"). The Company reserves the right to accept additional subscribers for the New Shares prior to the General Meeting subject to applicable demand.

The Placing Price represents a premium of approximately 6.7 per cent. to the closing mid-market share price of 1.875 pence per Ordinary Share on 6 March 2015 (the latest practicable date prior to the date of this announcement). The Placing Shares will represent approximately 16.5 per cent. of the issued share capital of the Company prior to the issue of the Placing Shares.

The New Shares will be issued credited as fully paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing 1p ordinary shares in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") including the right to receive and retain all dividends and other distributions declared, paid or made in respect of the Ordinary Shares after the Admission.

Application will be made for the Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on the AIM market ("AIM") of London Stock Exchange plc (the "London Stock Exchange"). Settlement for the Placing Shares and Admission is expected to take place at 8.00 a.m. on 1 April 2015.

Placing Agreement

On 9 March 2015, DDD entered into a placing agreement (the "Placing Agreement") pursuant to which Peel Hunt LLP agreed conditionally, as agent for the Company, to use its reasonable endeavours to procure subscribers for the New Shares at the Issue Price.

The Placing Agreement contains warranties and indemnities from DDD in favour of Peel Hunt LLP which are customary for this type of agreement. Under the Placing Agreement, DDD has agreed to pay Peel Hunt LLP commission on the aggregate value of the New Shares placed and subscribed for at the Issue Price and the costs and expenses of the Placing together with any applicable VAT. The Placing Agreement contains provisions entitling Peel Hunt LLP to terminate the Placing Agreement at any time prior to Admission in certain circumstances including, amongst other things, in the event of a material breach of the warranties set out in the Placing Agreement.

Restatement of 2013 results

The 2013 financial results will be restated for the Yabazam discontinued operation (reclassification of $416,000 to loss from discontinued operation) and to correct a formulaic error which will increase amortization expense and accumulated amortization by $337,000; thereby increasing the total loss after tax for the 2013 financial year to $2,906,000 (EPS: 2.1 cents/share vs. 1.86 cents/share previously reported) and reducing the net book value of intangible assets reported in 2013 to $3,091,000 from $3,428,000. The restatements have no effect on the cash flow statement provided in the 2013 annual report and accounts.

 

APPENDIX I: Additional Disclosures

Subject to shareholder approval at the Company's General Meeting

In accordance with the requirements of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules, it is expected that DDD's issued ordinary share capital as at 1 April 2015 will consist of 167,413,572 Ordinary Shares, with voting rights based on the current Equity Placing commitments. DDD does not hold any Ordinary Shares in Treasury; therefore, it is expected that the total number of voting rights in DDD will be 167,413,572. It is expected that 167,413,572 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, DDD under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

The table below sets out the cumulative effect of the July 2014 Unsecured Loan Note (conversion in January 2016 at 10p per share price), the March 2015 Unsecured Loan Note (conversion in March 2017 at 5p per share price), and the March 2015 Equity Placing (assuming all become unconditional, the maximum number of shares are issued and Admission takes place) on those Directors and significant and substantial shareholders who have reported their expected holdings to the Company:

Directors*, Significant and Substantial Shareholders

Existing shareholding

% interest in the share capital of DDD prior to the Placing and Subscription

Number of New Shares acquired

Conversion Shares acquired through Notes in issue (including July 2014 issues)

Resultant holding following the Placing and Subscription and conversion

% interest in the enlarged share capital of DDD following the Placing and Subscription and conversion

Arisawa Manufacturing Co, Ltd.

29,856,123

20.8%

0

10,200,000

40,056,123

22.3%

Michael Stubbs

10,948,740

7.6%

12,500,000

0

23,448,740

13.0%

Robert Morton

10,500,000

7.3%

2,500,000

0

13,000,000

7.2%

Hans Snook*

4,056,652

2.8%

0

500,000

4,556,652

2.5%

Nicholas Brigstocke*

2,007,045

1.4%

0

550,000

2,557,045

1.4%

Christopher Yewdall*

2,681,808

1.9%

0

400,000

3,081,808

1.7%

Sanji Arisawa*

1,989,200

1.4%

0

500,000

2,489,200

1.4%

Victoria Stull*

251,000

0.2%

0

200,000

451,000

0.3%

 * indicates a Director of the Company.

 

APPENDIX II: NOTES TO EDITORS

About DDD

DDD transforms the visual experience. Its advanced imaging and TriDef® solutions are licensed by leading brands for use in TVs, tablets and PCs. Over 51 million 3D products have been shipped by DDD's licensees worldwide. DDD's shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM Market (AIM: DDD) and the OTCQX (DDDGY). For more information please visit www.ddd.com.

TrademarksTriDef and KapChat are trademarks of DDD Group plc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

 

This announcement does not constitute a recommendation regarding the New Shares.

Past performance of the shares cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance. The price of shares and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the full amount invested on disposal of the shares.

Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements which are based on the Company's expectations, intentions and projections regarding its future performance, anticipated events or trends and other matters that are not historical facts. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of such statements and, except as required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The information contained in this Announcement is subject to change without notice and the Company does not assume any responsibility or obligation to update publicly or review any of the forward-looking statements contained herein.

No statement in this announcement is intended to be a profit forecast and no statement in this Announcement should be interpreted to mean that earnings per share of the Company for the current or future financial years would necessarily match or exceed the historical published earnings per share of the Company.

This announcement shall not constitute or form any part of any offer or invitation to subscribe for, underwrite or otherwise acquire, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for, securities including in the United States.

The distribution of this announcement and the offering of the New Shares in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. No action has been taken by the Company that would permit an offering of such shares or possession or distribution of this announcement or any other offering or publicity material relating to such shares in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required. Persons into whose possession this announcement comes are required by the Company to inform themselves about, and to observe, such restrictions.

This announcement does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States of America. Neither this announcement nor any copy of it may be taken or distributed into the United States of America or distributed or published, directly or indirectly, in the United States of America. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of US securities law. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to or for the benefit of US persons unless they are registered under the Securities Act or pursuant to an available exemption therefrom. No public offering of securities is being made in the United States.

Peel Hunt LLP ("Peel Hunt") is acting as nominated adviser to the Company for the purpose of the AIM Rules. Peel Hunt, which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting exclusively for the Company in relation to the placing. Peel Hunt is not acting for any other person in connection with the matters referred to in this announcement and they will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of Peel Hunt or for giving advice in relation to the matters referred to in this announcement.

This announcement has been issued by the Company and is the sole responsibility of the Company.

This announcement does not constitute a prospectus relating to the Company and has not been approved by the UK Listing Authority, nor does it constitute or form any part of any offer or invitation to purchase, sell or subscribe for, or any solicitation of any such offer to purchase, sell or subscribe for, any securities in the Company under any circumstances, and in any jurisdiction, in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful. Accordingly, copies of this announcement, including the appendix, are not being and must not be mailed or otherwise distributed or sent in or into or from the United States of America, Australia, Canada or Japan or any other jurisdiction if to do so would constitute a violation of the relevant laws of, or require registration thereof in, such jurisdiction or to, or for the account or benefit of, any United States, Australian Canadian or Japanese person and any person receiving this announcement, (including, without limitation, custodians, nominees and trustees) must not distribute or send it, in whole or in part, in or into or from the United States of America, Australia, Canada or Japan or elsewhere where to do so would be unlawful.

The New Shares will not be admitted to trading on any stock exchange other than the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange plc.

 MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO TAKE PART IN THE PLACING. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN ARE FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND ARE DIRECTED ONLY AT: (A) PERSONS IN MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA WHO ARE QUALIFIED INVESTORS AS DEFINED IN SECTION 86(7) OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000, AS AMENDED, "QUALIFIED INVESTORS") BEING PERSONS FALLING WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 2(1)(E) OF THE EU PROSPECTUS DIRECTIVE (WHICH MEANS DIRECTIVE 2003/71/EC AND INCLUDES ANY RELEVANT IMPLEMENTING DIRECTIVE MEASURE IN ANY MEMBER STATE) (THE "PROSPECTUS DIRECTIVE"); AND (B) IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, TO QUALIFIED INVESTORS WHO ARE PERSONS WHO (I) HAVE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN MATTERS RELATING TO INVESTMENTS FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 19 OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000 (FINANCIAL PROMOTION) ORDER 2005, AS AMENDED (THE "ORDER"); (II) ARE PERSONS FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 49(2)(A) TO (D) ("HIGH NET WORTH COMPANIES, UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATIONS, ETC") OF THE ORDER; OR (III) ARE PERSONS TO WHOM IT MAY OTHERWISE BE LAWFULLY COMMUNICATED (ALL SUCH PERSONS TOGETHER BEING REFERRED TO AS "RELEVANT PERSONS"). THE PLACING SHARES ARE ONLY AVAILABLE TO RELEVANT PERSONS. NEITHER THE ANNOUNCEMENT NOR THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS MAY BE ACTED UPON BY PERSONS WHO ARE NOT RELEVANT PERSONS. ANY RECIPIENT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT WHO IS NOT A RELEVANT PERSON SHOULD TAKE NO OTHER ACTION.

 

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

Related Shares:

DDD.L
FTSE 100 Latest
Value8,632.33
Change89.77