PURE.L Regulatory News (PURE)

11 Dec 2007 08:03

PureCircle Limited11 December 2007 PureCircle Limited("PureCircle" or the "Company") First Day of Dealings PureCircle, which develops and manufactures natural food ingredients for theglobal food and beverage industry, is pleased to announce that the Company'sshares have today been admitted to trading on AIM under the ticker symbol "PURE". The Company has raised US$50m (approximately £24.3m) through the issue of14,285,714 ordinary shares to institutional and other investors at a price ofUS$3.50 per share (170 pence per share). The funds raised will be used primarilyto fund the expansion of PureCircle's production capacity. At the Placing Price,the Company's entire issued share capital is valued at approximately US$456m(£221.5m). RFC Corporate Finance and Hanson Westhouse acted as nominated adviser and brokerto PureCircle respectively. Business Highlights • PureCircle is the world's leading producer of Rebaudioside-A ("Reb-A"), a natural, zero-calorie high intensity sweetener ("HIS") extracted from the Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni plant ("Stevia"), for supply to the global food and beverage industry • Reb-A is in increasing demand from international food and beverage companies. As well as being all natural, Reb-A provides consumers with various healthy benefits including having no calorific content and a low glycemic index, making it suitable for consumption by diabetics • PureCircle holds proprietary process technology for the extraction of high purity Reb-A from Stevia. The Directors believe that the Group is the only commercial supplier of high purity Reb-A in the world, and has a significant first mover advantage in the natural HIS market • In May 2007 the Coca-Cola Co. and Cargill Inc. announced the launch of a new calorie-free natural sweetener to be named Rebiana, which is high purity Reb-A. Reb-A is supplied to Cargill by PureCircle through an exclusive supply agreement which expires on 30 June 2008 • Initial contracts signed with major food and beverage companies could require the supply of a combined volume in excess of 2,000 MT of high purity product with terms varying, but ranging up to 5 years with prices at or above historical levels Listing Highlights • Placing of 14,285,714 ordinary shares at US$3.50 per share (approximately 170 pence) • Market capitalisation on admission of US$456m (approximately £221.5m) • Raising US$50m (approximately £24.3m) which will be used to significantly expand the Group's capacity to supply Reb-A and reduce debt • Provides shareholders with an investment in a Company which has first mover advantage in supplying natural, zero-calorie HIS to major food and beverage companies, to capitalise on the significant growth opportunities in a rapidly expanding global market for non-calorific HIS Magomet Malsagov, Managing Director of PureCircle, said: "We are delighted to have raised the funds we need to grow the business, to meetthe rapidly increasing demand from some of the world's biggest food and beveragecompanies and to maintain our crucial first mover advantage in this market. Welook forward to reporting on further progress over the coming months and welcomeour new shareholders aboard." 11 December 2007 Enquiries: PureCircle Tel: 020 7457 2020 Magomet Malsagov, Managing Director Peter Milsted, Sales & Marketing Director RFC Corporate Finance Tel: +61 8 9480 2500 Steve Allen Damien Kelly College Hill Tel: 0207 457 2020 Matthew Gregorowski Jon Davies For further information please visit the company website: www.purecircle.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange