1 Oct 2012 07:00
City of London Group plc
("COLG" or "the Company")
Firm placing of new Ordinary shares to raise £1.3m
COLG is pleased to announce that it has raised £1,285,872 before costs from the issue of 1,836,960 new ordinary shares of £0.10 each ("New Ordinary Shares"), representing 10% of the current shares in issue, using the authority to waive pre-emption rights as approved by a special resolution at the recent AGM. The shares have been placed at 70 pence per New Ordinary Share, a premium to Net Asset Value, through a firm placing conducted by Singer Capital Markets acting as sole Corporate Broker to the Company. Certain directors of the Company (the "Directors") have participated in the placing, further details of their participation are set out below.
The net proceeds of the placing will be used to develop the Company's existing business platforms, for working capital and to invest in new investment opportunities as they arise.
Eric Anstee, Chief Executive, said:
"COLG has a history of recognising areas which are poorly served by current forms of finance and in particular bank lending. Through our business platforms we have been facilitating lending into the SME sector and we are pioneers in the litigation funding sector.
"This successful placing of £1.3m of new equity will enable us to fund the continued growth of our platforms as well as invest in further exceptional management teams as and when the opportunity arises."
Application has been made to the UK Listing Authority for the New Ordinary Shares to be admitted to the premium segment of the Official List and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities. It is expected that Admission will become effective and that dealings in the New Ordinary Shares will commence at 8.00 a.m. on 4 October 2012.
The New Ordinary Shares, when issued and fully paid, will rank equally in all respects with the existing ordinary shares.
The shareholdings of the Directors following the placing are set out below:
Director | Number of shares subscribed for in placing | Number of shares held subsequent to placing | Percentage of issued share capital following the placing | |||
Henry Lafferty |
14,285 |
94,405 |
0.47% |
| ||
Eric Anstee* | 28,571 | 483,761 | 2.39% |
| ||
John Kent | 21,428 | 233,275 | 1.15% |
| ||
Howard Goodbourn | 14,285 | 54,285 | 0.27% |
| ||
Tony Brierley | 14,285 | 14,285 | 0.07% |
| ||
John Williams John Greenhalgh | 14,285 0 | 14,285 2,662,818 | 0.07% 13.18% |
| ||
*Eric Anstee's shares were acquired through the Energy Group Employee Benefit Trust, a trust in which Eric Anstee and his immediate family have a 100% beneficial interest.
Following Admission of the New Ordinary Shares, City of London Group plc will have a total of 20,206,617 Ordinary Shares in issue. The Company does not hold any shares in Treasury. Therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company will be 20,206,617.
The above figure of 20,206,617 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they can determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the Financial Services Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
1 October 2012
For further information:
City of London Group plc | Tel: +44 (0)20 7628 5518 |
Eric Anstee John Kent | |
Singer Capital Markets | Tel: +44 (0)20 3205 7500 |
Jonny Franklin-Adams Nick Donovan | |
College Hill | Tel: +44 (0)20 7457 2020 |
Tony Friend Antonia Coad |
Notes to Editors
City of London Group plc (COLG) is an investment company, with a wide range of national and international investments. A public company since 1986, COLG has had a full London Stock Exchange listing since August 1996 (LSE symbol CIN).
The Company's strategy is to build a quality Financial Services Group centred on Specialist Financing and Alternative Fund Management. The Company believes there are particular opportunities in the SME and professional services sectors as major national and foreign banks limit new lending to these borrowers. It therefore seeks to identify and exploit product niches and business models in these sectors where they are supported by strong day to day management teams, providing initial equity, working capital and seed funding for those teams.
The Group seeks above-average performance in growth and income via a prudent mix of low, medium and higher-risk investments. It holds a legacy portfolio of income stocks, offering a high degree of security, which are balanced by a higher risk portfolio, which is primarily focused on the minerals and resources sector, where the Board has particular experience.
Since the final quarter of 2009, COLG has developed four specialist financing funds, pledging significant seed funds to Therium Capital Management Limited, a third party Litigation Funder, Credit Asset Management Limited and Professions Funding Limited, which provides asset backed finance and working capital loans to professional practice firms and SME's and finally Trade Finance Partners Limited, a trade finance provider to the SME market.