23 Jul 2019 13:27
23 July 2019
Modern Water plc
("Modern Water", "the Company")
Notices of intention to appoint an administrator for certain subsidiaries
Modern Water, the owner of world-leading technologies for water and wastewater treatment and for water quality monitoring, announces that it is today filing notices of intention to appoint an administrator ("Notices of Intention") in respect of two of the Company's wholly-owned subsidiaries, being Modern Water Services Limited ("MWSL") and Surrey Aquatechnology Limited ("ASL"). These are the principal operating subsidiaries of the Company's Membrane Division. The Company itself and other Group companies, including the Company's Monitoring Division, based in the USA, are not affected by these Notices of Intention and continue to trade normally.
The issue of the Notices of Intention is a consequence of the continuing shortfall in working capital as previously announced and its effect is that an interim moratorium comes into force to allow the specified companies (MWSL and ASL) some temporary protection from creditors and legal claims whilst various options are explored to seek alternative finance. The interim moratorium is for a period of ten business days. The Notices of Intention do not in themselves denote the appointment of administrators. The Board may at any stage during this period decide not to appoint the administrators if the situation can be resolved.
As previously announced, the Company is continuing to manage its working capital carefully with the business being funded using extended credit lines alongside increased efforts to convert debtors to cash. Whilst this may be sustainable in the short term, it is important that additional funding is secured in the near term in order to provide a sustainable basis on which to continue to operate the Group. The Company continues to explore options to raise additional capital.
A further update will be issued as soon as there are any material developments.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
For further information:
Modern Water plc | +44 (0) 1483 696 000 |
Simon Humphrey, Chief Executive | |
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nominated Adviser) | +44 (0) 207 213 0880 |
Sandy Jamieson / Tony Rawlinson Ludovico Lazzaretti | |
Turner Pope Investments (Broker) Andy Thacker | +44 (0) 20 3621 4120 |
Notes to editors:
Modern Water is a pioneering and innovative technology company, specialising in membrane water treatment solutions and advanced monitoring products. The Company works for customers in a range of industries across the globe and owns proprietary technologies for use in a diverse range of applications. Modern Water's Monitoring Division has a portfolio of world-leading toxicity and trace metal monitoring products, some of which constitute the regulatory standard. The headline technology of the Company's Membrane Division, called "AMBC", can be used to tackle complex wastewater treatment problems at a reduced cost compared to standard processes, while being simple to operate.