FFWD.L Regulatory News (FFWD)

12 Jun 2008 07:00



London Asia Chinese Private Equity Fund Limited

("LACPEF" or "the Fund")

Investee Companies Updates

LACPEF, the AIM traded (code LCP), China focused investment fund, is delighted to announce updates from its two Singapore listed water investee companies, United Envirotech Ltd ("UE" or "the Company") and Asia Water Technology Ltd ("Asia Water" or "the Group").

United Envirotech - New Finance Raised

The Board of Directors of UE recently announced that it had entered into subscription agreements with Novena Holdings Ltd ("NHL") and Oei Hong Leong Foundation (Pte) Ltd ("OHLF") in relation to a proposed subscription of an aggregate 66.3 million new ordinary shares in the capital of the company.  

The gross proceeds from the allotment and issue of all new shares is approximately S$13.9 million (£5.2 million). The purpose of the subscription is to raise funds for further investment in Build-Operate-Transfer ("BOT"), Transfer-Operate-Transfer (TOT) and Build-Own-Operate (BOO) projects.

Under the subscription agreements NHL and OHLF will subscribe for 49.7m and 16.6m new shares respectively, at an issue price of S$0.21 per share, representing approximately 12.5% and 4.2% of the total number of issued ordinary shares in the capital following completion of the subscription. NHL shall on completion of its subscription of the New Shares be entitled to nominate Mr Toh Soon Huat as a non-executive of the Company.

Asia Water - New Contract Win

Asia Water announced that it has secured a contract worth approximately RMB153 million (£11.2 million) to upgrade an existing wastewater treatment facility in Huangshi City, Hubei Province, China. Under the BOT contract, Asia Water will manage the 125,000 tonnes per day capacity site for 27 years, including the construction phase. The upgrade will ensure that the site attains treatment standard Grade 1B, satisfying new requirements introduced by the Chinese Government.

Simon Littlewood, Fund Director, said: "The market value of our two Singapore listed water investments currently totals £10.3 million, a decline of £4.0 million, or 8.0p per share, from the value at 30 September 2007, when the Fund reported net assets of £68.4 million, equal to 136.7p per share. Whilst in the last several months the share prices of our water investments have been hit by the credit crunch, which has made raising debt for their BOT, TOT and BOO projects much harder and more expensive, this is a short term phenomenon and we are very comfortable with the opportunities in the sector, and the ability of the businesses to continue to win projects and raise finance, as they continue to demonstrate."

"The Fund's portfolio is heavily skewed towards clean technology investments, which reduces the impact of high fossil fuel costs, deteriorating economic conditions worldwide and the impact of one-off events such as the recent Sichuan Earthquake. Investments such as PLUS listed China CDM Exchange recently reported record profits, as China's clean technology sector expands to meet the challenges of rising pollution and fossil fuel prices."

For further information please visit www.lacpefund.com, or contact:

About Asia Water Technology Ltd

Singapore stock market listed AWT provides total engineering solutions for water purification and wastewater treatment systems. Its business is primarily conducted through its subsidiary in China, which owns its own patented core technologies and works closely with leading technology partners in the international and local water treatment arena. For more information on the company, please visit: www.asiawatertech.com.

About United Envirotech Ltd

Singapore main board listed United Envirotech Ltd, specializing in water treatment and reclamation using advanced membrane technologies, provides environmental engineering solutions to a wide range of customers in the chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and wastewater treatment industries. For more information on the company, please visit: www.unitedenvirotech.com.