OTAQ.L Regulatory News (OTAQ)

NOT FOR PUBLICATION, RELEASE OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA, RUSSIA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD BREACH ANY APPLICABLE LAW OR REGULATION. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE AT THE END OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS AN ADVERTISEMENT AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A PROSPECTUS OR PROSPECTUS EQUIVALENT DOCUMENT. NOTHING HEREIN SHALL BE CONSTRUED AS AN OFFER, INVITATION OR RECOMMENDATION TO PURCHASE, SELL OR SUBSCRIBE FOR ANY SECURITIES IN ANY JURISDICTION AND NEITHER THIS ANNOUNCEMENT NOR ANYTHING CONTAINED HEREIN SHALL FORM THE BASIS OF OR BE RELIED UPON IN CONNECTION WITH, OR ACT AS AN INDUCEMENT TO ENTER INTO, ANY INVESTMENT ACTIVITY.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF EU REGULATION 596/2014 (WHICH FORMS PART OF DOMESTIC UK LAW PURSUANT TO THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018), AS AMENDED BY REGULATION 11 OF THE MARKET ABUSE (AMENDMENT) (EU EXIT) REGULATIONS 2019/310.

4 November 2022

OTAQ plc

("OTAQ", the "Company" or the "Group")

Further Placing

OTAQ, the highly innovative technology company targeting the aquaculture, geotracking and offshore markets, has raised £3.15 million through the Firm Placing, Broker Option and Open Offer (the “Fundraising”) as announced on 28 October 2022 

Following further strong expressions of interest from certain investors, the Company is pleased to announce that Dowgate Capital Limited, the Company's broker acting as agent for the Company in connection with the Fundraising, has conditionally placed a further 11,210,579 New Ordinary Shares on a non-pre-emptive basis at the Issue Price of 4 pence per share to raise further gross proceeds of £448,423 (the "Further Placing"). Pursuant to the Further Placing, 2,802,644 Warrants will be granted to placees. The Further Placing has been undertaken on essentially the same terms as the Fundraising.

Subject, inter alia, to the passing of the Resolutions at the Shareholder General Meeting to be held on 7 November 2022 and to Admission of the Enlarged Share Capital to trading on the Access Segment of the AQSE Growth Market, which is expected to take effect on 9 November 2022, together, the Fundraising and Further Placing have raised gross proceeds of £3.60 million (approximately £3.20 million, net of expenses) through the issue of 90,000,000 New Ordinary Shares. Pursuant to the Fundraising and Further Placing, up to 22,500,000 Warrants will be granted to Placees and Qualifying Shareholders.

The Company will use the net proceeds of the Fundraising and Further Placing to strengthen the balance sheet and support the Group through its planned next stage of growth, further developing its portfolio of innovative technologies targeting the global aquaculture, geotracking and offshore markets.

The participation of certain of the Directors, and their resulting respective shareholdings following the Fundraising and Further Placing is summarised below:

1. Philip Newby’s beneficial holding includes 349,606 Existing Ordinary Shares held by his wife, Diane Newby

Settlement, first day of dealings and total voting rights

Application has been made to the Aquis Stock Exchange for the admission to trading on the Access Segment of the AQSE Growth Market of the 11,210,579 New Ordinary Shares and it is expected that admission will become effective at 8.00 a.m. on 9 November 2022.

Following completion of the Capital Reorganisation, the Placing, including the exercise of the Broker Option, and the Open Offer, details of which are set out in full in the Circular, as well as the Further Placing, the Enlarged Share Capital will be 127,758,052 ordinary shares of 1p each.

The above figure of 127,758,052 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 Conduct Authority’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

Capitalised terms not otherwise defined in the text of this announcement are defined in the Circular dated 12 October 2022 which is available for inspection on the Company’s website, www.otaq.com.

Enquiries

About OTAQ

OTAQ is a highly innovative technology company targeting the aquaculture, geotracking and offshore markets. It already has a number of established products in its portfolio and is focused on further developing its presence, customer base and cross selling opportunities within core markets both organically and via acquisition.

OTAQ’s aquaculture products, which include a sonar device (developed for Minnowtech LLC) to scan shrimp in ponds and water quality monitoring, are focused on maximising welfare and production yields. Additionally, the Company is developing a potentially game changing live plankton analysis product for finfish and shellfish farmers. It also continues to target opportunities in the acoustic deterrent devices market via its Sealfence product, which is used by salmon farmers, with global opportunities in Chile, Australia, Canada and Norway.

The Company is also developing high accuracy location trackers for specialist applications. Having already added clients within safety and multiple participant sport/racing applications, the Company is investigating wider market potential - including opportunities in the seafood industry.

OTAQ’s offshore product range includes OceanSense subsea leak detection, Eagle IP camera systems, Lander seabed survey devices and Subsea electrical connectors and penetrators. It is targeting a number of growth opportunities in new territories and has a strong client base including Expro, Amphenol and National Oilwell Varco. The Company is also focused on the development of new products through this division, with the aim of increased cross-deployment of skills and technologies into the aquaculture arena.