Active Energy Regulatory News (AEG)

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATIONS (EU) NO. 596/2014 WHICH FORMS PART OF DOMESTIC UK LAW PURSUANT TO THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018 ("UK MAR").

13 May 2024

Active Energy Group Plc

("Active Energy" or the "Company")

Business update

Active Energy (AIM: AEG, OTCQB: ATGVF), the international biomass based renewable energy business, today announces a business update.

Further to its update announcement of 9 April 2024, the Company has engaged in discussions with a number of parties regarding strategic opportunities and the potential sale of the Company's CoalSwitchÒ assets, held within the Company and its subsidiaries (the 'Group'). To date, discussions have resulted in a number of proposals being received by Active Energy and these are being considered by the Board. In order to preserve its current capital resources, the Company is also evaluating its operations in the United States and internationally.

It remains the Board's belief that CoalSwitchÒ has the potential to become a market leading, next generation renewable biomass fuel that can transform current coal consumers including coal fired power stations, heavy industries and its use can be extended  toward the existing biomass industry and its current dependence on the use of white pellet fuel resources. The Board continues to pursue options to maximize value either via a disposal of components of the Group or a sale of the CoalSwitchÒ assets and its associated intellectual property. The CoalSwitch® assets comprise:

i) the Company's original patent and trademark portfolio on the steam explosion process to produce the fuel;

ii) all production and test data knowhow acquired from the initial production activities at Player Design Inc's facility at Ashland in Maine that may be applicable for the future production analysis for additional biomass products; and

iii) all the relevant customer and internal test data.

The Group's other assets currently comprise:

i) cash and cash equivalents of approximately $0.5m; and

ii) a 4.1% shareholding in Alpha Prospects Limited ("Alpha Prospects") which has a book value of approximately £0.68m. Alpha Prospects is an unquoted investment company that focuses on green technology investments, and it has incubated several new technologies in recent years. Within its portfolio, Alpha Prospects' latest focus is upon plasmoid related technologies and the commercial development of this technology for application in the United States, Asia, India and the United Kingdom. The Board is currently working with Alpha Prospects to explore options for the disposal of the Company's shareholding.

Given the reducing cash balances of the Company as a result of the ongoing operating costs, including the on-going costs related to the admission of the Company's ordinary shares to trading on AIM, should the Board not receive an acceptable offer for the CoalSwitchÒ assets in the near term, it believes that it will have no option but to consider a members voluntary liquidation, in order to return capital, if possible to shareholders. Should this happen, it is not known at this stage what, if anything, would be returned to shareholders in an orderly winding up of the Company.

At the current time the Board, based on the Company's limited cash resources, considers that the Company's audit for the year ended 31 December 2023 (the "FY 2023 Results") may not be completed before 30 June 2024. If the FY 2023 Results are not published by 30 June 2024 the Company's ordinary shares will be suspended from trading on AIM. 

Further updates will be made in due course where appropriate.

Enquiries: 

About Active Energy Group

Headquartered in London with operations in the United States, Active Energy Group plc (AIM: AEG, OTCQB:ATGVF) is a biomass-based renewable energy company focused on the production and development of next generation biomass products that have the potential to transform coal fired power and heavy industries and the existing renewable biomass industry.

Active Energy has developed a proprietary technology which transforms waste biomass material into high-value renewable fuels. Its patented product CoalSwitch® is a leading drop-in biomass renewable fuel that can be blended and co-fired with coal at any ratio without requiring significant plant modification or wholly replacing existing biomass fuels.