MayAir Group Regulatory News (MAYA)

7 May 2015

MayAir Group plc

("MayAir", or "the Group")

Admission to AIM and first day of dealings

MayAir Group plc (AIM:MAYA.L), a provider of air filtration and clean air technology in the industrial, commercial and residential markets, is pleased to announce that trading in its Ordinary Shares commenced at 8.00am BST today on AIM. The Group has successfully raised £16.2 million before costs and expenses via the placing of 12,475,000 new ordinary shares at a price of 130 pence per share, capitalising MayAir at £55.2 million. Allenby Capital Limitedis theGroup's Nominated Adviser and Mirabaud Securities LLP is itsBroker.

MayAir is one of the market leaders in providing air purification solutions for use in industrial cleanrooms, and has supplied large multinational manufacturers such as OSRAM, Sony, York and SanDisk. The Group is leveraging this position to develop, promote and expand into the commercial air purification systems market place and residential market place. Key large flagship commercial customers so far include Galaxy SOHO Beijing and Huawei.

The Directors of MayAir believe that Admission to AIM will enhance the Group's profile with existing and potential customers and support the development of the Group's brand in Asia, as well as globally. Specifically, the Group intends to use the funds raised, along with its existing cash resources, to assist with its growth, to increase its R&D spending, and to provide funds for the construction of a new primary manufacturing facility.

Mr Yap Wee Keong, Chief Executive Officer of MayAir, said: "We are delighted to be joining AIM. We believe our listing will enhance our profile within the air purification industry, and will assist us in achieving our strategic objectives. The requirement for purified air at work and at home has led to a surge in demand for our technology and products. With this trend set to continue, we expect to receive sustained interest and look forward to utilising our expertise to provide clean air solutions for all markets. We welcome our new shareholders, and look forward to updating them and the wider market on our progress as we continue to grow."

Enquiries

Notes to Editor

Information on the Group

The Group's operations were established in Malaysia in 2001 and centre around the design, production and distribution of clean air solutions for the industrial, commercial and residential sectors. The Group's core business historically has been in providing fan filter units (FFUs) air filtering equipment for use in industrial cleanrooms, an area in which it has established itself as one of the leading providers in China. Since 2011, the Group has begun to diversify its product offering, increasingly implementing its strategy of expanding its business to include indoor clean air solutions for the commercial and residential markets.

The "MayAir" brand has gained significant recognition in China, particularly in the industrial cleanroom and commercial segments, and the Directors believe competes directly with global brands such as American Air Filters (a unit of Daikin, the Japanese multinational corporation) ("AAF"), Honeywell and the Camfil Group ("Camfil"). Cleanrooms, areas in which air quality, temperature and humidity are highly regulated in order to protect sensitive equipment and processes from contamination, are essential in the manufacturing of silicon chips, hard disk drives and for other technologies such as satellites, biotechnology and life-sciences. They are also used in the pharmaceutical, and food and beverage industries. The air in a cleanroom is repeatedly filtered to remove dust particles and other impurities that can damage the reliability of technical instruments and the production of highly sensitive technologies.

The Directors believe that the market for the global clean air industry has long-term high-growth potential, particularly in the commercial and residential sectors, in part as a result of increasing awareness of the negative health impacts of polluted air. The WHO, for example, has reported that approximately seven million deaths in 2012 were linked to air pollution exposure, equating to approximately one in eight deaths worldwide. (WHO estimates, 25 March 2014, http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/air-pollution/en/). The analysis estimates that 4.3 million of the seven million deaths were attributed to indoor air pollution, linked to the development of cancers and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, whilst also highlighting that many victims are exposed to both indoor and outdoor air pollution. The report concludes that air pollution now represents the world's largest single environmental health threat.

The Directors intend to target the growing (and already considerable) clean air market by leveraging the Group's strong track record and experience in providing high quality clean air solutions for the industrial sector to develop, promote and expand the Group's newer commercial and residential indoor clean air solutions.

The Group places primary importance on research and development. Continual investment is dedicated to its R&D department, with a focus on generating new solutions, product development, strong technical knowledge and expertise, patents and trademarks, widespread sales and market reach, and on exploiting its sizeable, scalable manufacturing facilities. The Group has an IP portfolio that includes 26 granted patents and five pending patent applications with a further 21 registered trademarks.

The Group's main operating subsidiary, MayAir China has generated a profit in each year since 2002. In the year ended 31 December 2014, the Group generated revenues of $43.8 million, EBITDA of $7.85 million, and profit after tax of $5.60 million. Currently, over 95 per cent. of the Group's revenues are generated in China.

Key strengths

The Directors believe that the Group's key strengths include that it:

· has established a position as one of the market leaders in the provision of air purification solutions for use in industrial cleanrooms in China;

· has a strong R&D team, with a focus on product development and innovation, protected by 26 registered patents and 21 registered trademarks;

· has in-house manufacturing capabilities, granting the Group total control of the production process from design concept, through product manufacture, to sales;

· is ISO certified for quality management systems (9001:2008) and environmental management (14001:2004);

· has established stringent quality controls, which the Directors believe contribute to the Group's products' good reputation. This has factored in the Group being able to sell its products to large multinational manufacturers including, amongst others, OSRAM, Sony, York and SanDisk;

· has an experienced management team, led by the Group's founder, Yap Wee Keong, a veteran with 23 years' experience in the air-related industry;

· is leveraging its position as one of the market leaders in industrial cleanroom systems to develop, promote and expand the commercial air purification systems market place and residential market place;

· is operating in an already sizeable and growing international market place; and

· is profitable and cash generative, with contracted projects and important recurring revenues from filter replacements providing future revenue visibility.

Directors

On Admission, the Board will consist of two Executive Directors and four Non-Executive Directors.

Martin Bloom - Non-Executive Chairman

Mr Bloom, aged 63, is a former corporate strategist at Unilever with over 40 years' experience in strategic partnering, technology commercialisation and business strategy. Martin has built businesses in the US, Europe, and China, where he spends over a quarter of his time. Acting as board chairman, Martin assisted Chinese solar wafer manufacturer ReneSola to list first on AIM and then on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: SOL). Annual revenues grew from $5 million to over $1 billion within five years. Mr Bloom is a director of the international hydrogen fuel cell and energy company Intelligent Energy (which listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange in July 2014), and director of AIM-quoted Starcom plc. Martin's career has had significant involvement with Japan and Korea, and more recently China. He became involved with China in 2001, and was appointed UK chairman of the China-UK Venture Capital Joint Working Group, launched by Gordon Brown during his official visit to China in February 2005, to foster collaboration between the venture capital and private equity industries in both countries.

Martin has a bachelor's degree with honours in economics from the University of Southampton and a master's degree in history of science jointly from Imperial College and University College, London.

Yap Wee Keong - Chief Executive Officer

Mr Yap, aged 48, is the founder of MayAir and has been instrumental in leading and growing MayAir since its inception. He continues to be responsible for the Group's overall business direction, setting strategies and leading the senior management team. He obtained his Masters of Business Administration from University of Keele, United Kingdom in 2001, as well as a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering with first class honours from University of Malaya in 1992. His entire career since graduation has been devoted to the air-related industry and he has therefore accumulated 23 years' experience in the industry. He began his career with OYL Manufacturing Company Sdn Bhd in 1992 as a Research and Development engineer and was subsequently a marketing manager with Group Associated (C&L) Sdn Bhd (a marketing arm of York air-conditioners distribution in Malaysia). He left that company in 2001 to found MayAir.

He is a professional engineer registered with the Board of Engineers Malaysia and Institute Engineers of Malaysia.

Koh Tat Seng - Chief Financial Officer

Mr Koh, aged 48, is the Chief Financial Officer of MayAir. He was formerly the chief financial officer of PureCircle Limited, and was with that company when it was admitted to AIM in 2007. Prior to joining PureCircle Limited in 2006, he accumulated 13 years' experience in investment banking and corporate finance. He was Head of Corporate Finance at Avenue Securities Sdn Bhd (a member of ECM Libra Avenue Group) and Associate Director of Corporate Finance of CIMB Investment Bank Berhad, the leading investment bank in Malaysia. He obtained his bachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of Malaya in 1990 and immediately started his career with Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers).

He is a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and was a member of the Listing Committee of Labuan International Financial Exchange.

Low Han Guan - Non-Executive Director

Mr Low, aged 50, has accumulated extensive experience in the engineering field. He is a professional engineer registered with the Board of Engineers Malaysia and Institute Engineers of Malaysia. He is also a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers Inc. and a past president of its Malaysian chapter. He graduated from the University of Malaya in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering.

He is presently a director of IAQ Technology International Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian company principally involved in the provision of engineering-related works.

Jacques-Franck Dossin - Non-Executive Director

Mr Dossin, aged 54, has over 25 years' experience in the finance industry, primarily as an equity research analyst specialising in the branded consumer goods sector. Mr Dossin spent 12 years at Goldman Sachs, London, where he was in charge of Branded Consumer Goods. Serving as coordinator for the industry on a worldwide basis, Mr Dossin was consistently ranked among the top three analysts globally. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Mr Dossin was Head of French Equity Research at Credit Suisse First Boston for five years and prior to that in charge of Consumer Goods Research, then Head of Foreign Institutional Sales Desk at Société Générale-Delahaye for six years. 

Following his time at Goldman Sachs, Mr Dossin launched Dossin Advisory, a mergers and acquisitions consultancy specialising in the branded consumer goods sector.

Tiew Soon Aik - Non-Executive Director

Mr Tiew, aged 50, is the CEO of IAQ Technology International Sdn Bhd. He graduated from the University of Malaya in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. Upon graduation, he joined Shinryo (M) Sdn Bhd, a mechanical and engineering construction company as an engineer before being promoted to the position of senior engineer in 1994. He left Shinryo (M) Sdn Bhd as a manager in 2001 and joined IAQ as an executive director in 2002. Tiew Soon Aik is a professional engineer registered with the Board of Engineers Malaysia and Institute Engineers of Malaysia. He has over 20 years' experience in the fields of mechanical and electrical engineering.