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2 Jul 2009 10:00
For release: 2 July 2009
Plant Impact plc
("Plant Impact" or the "Company")
Placing to raise £1,455,000
Plant Impact (AIM PIM.LSE), a developer of plant stress management technologies, today announces that it has agreed a conditional cash placing of 4,850,000 new ordinary shares of 1 pence each ("Placing Shares") at a price of 30 pence per Placing Share ("Placing Price") raising £1,455,000 before costs and expenses ("Placing").
The Directors intend to use the Placing proceeds to fund the acceleration of the Company's growth plans and in particular to:
finance further development and testing of the Company's range of nutrient products to provide further evidence of their efficacy, in terms of improvements in marketable yield, shelf life and other measurable benefits, thereby improving their commercial prospects;
finance trials intended to support the claims made about the positive environmental impact of the products and to develop data on the wider issues of sustainability and potential for a reduction in the use of water by growers. This is expected to involve an increase in the number of field trials under the control of the Company to help to ensure that they produce data to acceptable regulatory standards; and
recruit sales staff. The technical sales team will be expanded with the aim of increasing direct sales in the 15 countries where the Group's products are already being sold and supporting the Arysta LifeScience Corporation ("Arysta") sales effort.
The Placing is conditional on certain conditions, including shareholder approval at the annual general meeting of the Company, to be held on 30 July 2009 at 10.00 am at the Company's registered office, 12 South Preston Office Village, Cuerden Way, Preston, Lancashire PR5 6BL and admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM. The Placing is conditional on shareholder approval to a resolution to increase the authority of the directors of Plant Impact ("Directors") to issue and allot additional ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares"), under section 80 of the Companies Act 1985 ("Act") and a resolution to increase the authority of the Directors to issue and allot additional Ordinary Shares for cash other than in accordance with statutory pre-emption rights (which requires the Company to offer all allotments for cash first to existing Shareholders in proportion to their holdings) under section 95(1) of the Act as if section 89(1) of the Act did not apply.
The Placing Shares will be allotted and issued paid up and will rank pari passu with all existing paid up Ordinary Shares. Application has been made for the Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM with trading expected to commence on 31 July 2009.
The Notice of Annual General Meeting and a copy of the Company's Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2009 will be posted to shareholders by no later than 6 July 2009. The Annual Report and Accounts and the Notice of Annual General Meeting will be available, in electronic form, for download on the Company's website www.plantimpact.com.
Peter Blezard, Plant Impact's CEO commented:-
"With the continuing and strong support of our current shareholders and the confidence shown in the Company by new investors we will apply this growth plan fundraising to further develop the Company's commercial potential. The Directors believe that the Placing along with the Arysta licence agreement and improved crop nutrient sales provide a firm foundation for the Company's future."
The following table sets out details of the placees who purchased Placing Shares, at the Placing Price, and who will have an interest in the Ordinary Shares which must be disclosed under the Financial Services Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
|
Name |
Number of Ordinary Shares held prior to the Placing |
Percentage of Ordinary Shares held prior to the Placing (%) |
Number of Placing Shares purchased |
Number of Ordinary Shares held following the Placing |
Percentage of Ordinary Shares held following the Placing (%) |
|
Gartmore Investment Management plc |
2,067,319 |
7.78 |
833,333 |
2,900,652 |
9.23 |
|
Blackrock Investment Management plc |
2,731,547 |
10.28 |
500,000 |
3,231,547 |
10.28 |
|
Enterprise Ventures |
4,594,464 |
17.28 |
212,000 |
4,806,464 |
15.29 |
|
Allianz Cornhill Insurance plc |
851,063 |
3.20 |
848,937 |
1,700,000 |
5.41 |
Following the Placing the Directors will have the following holdings:-
|
Name |
Number of Ordinary Shares held prior to and following the Placing |
Percentage of Ordinary Shares held prior to the Placing (%) |
Percentage of Ordinary Shares held following the Placing (%) |
|
Peter Blezard |
716,860 |
2.7 |
2.3 |
|
Martin Robinson |
49,910 |
0.2 |
0.2 |
For the purposes of the Financial Services Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules, the total number of Ordinary Shares in issue on the date of admission to trading of the Placing Shares will be 31,432,103 with each share holding one voting right. There are no Ordinary Shares held in treasury.
The above figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in the Company, under the Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
For further information, please contact:
Peter Blezard Tel: +44 (0) 1772 645 164
CEO
Plant Impact
Anna Dunphy / Tristan Jervis Tel: +44 (0) 207 861 3838
Financial PR/IR
De Facto Communications
Emily Morgan / Nick Harriss Tel: +44 (0) 207 489 4500
Blomfield Corporate Finance
Daniel Briggs Tel: +44 (0) 207 382 7776
Religare Hichens, Harrison plc
Placing Agent
Hybridan LLP
Claire Noyce/Stephen Austin Tel: +44 (0) 203 159 5085
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