18 May 2018 07:00
Regency Mines Plc
("Regency" or "the Company")
EsTeq Limited Operations Update
18 May 2018
Further to the announcements of 14 November 2017 and 22 December 2017, Regency Mines Plc, the natural resource exploration and development company with interests in hydrocarbons and battery metals, announces an update on its 100% owned subsidiary, EsTeq Limited.
EsTeq was formed in 2017 as an initially wholly owned subsidiary to consolidate some of Regency's interests in, and pursue opportunities in, the battery storage, battery metals, and energy storage technology space.
EsTeq undertook its first investment, as announced on 22 December 2017, with an initial investment of £200,000 and a scheduled follow-on investment of £200,000 in February 2018 in Whitecar Ltd ("Whitecar"), a company currently operating white Tesla rental car services at UK and European locations. This investment gave it a fully diluted holding of 5.8% of Whitecar.
EsTeq has also committed £50,000 to date, of which £15,000 has been spent, on developing a new project in energy storage and trading and grid backup, under the name Allied Energy Services Ltd ("Allied").
Whitecar Highlights
· Whitecar now operating in UK and Norway with 6 total locations
· 22 cars in the fleet with 7 on order - 16 further cars via Whitecar Share
· IOS App now operational and increased google advertising has led to 308% sales increase yoy to £170k
· Whitecar looking to raise £1m of further equity at £7.88m valuation
· Funding to increase expansion rate targeting 62 outlets by 2022
· 2022 projections of £95m of revenue and £15.6m EBITDA
Whitecar Operations Update
Whitecar has had an active 2018 to date with the opening of its Canary Wharf location in the UK, and its first overseas location in Oslo, Norway. Whitecar remains a pioneer in the field of EV (electric vehicle) rentals, with its proprietary app technology offering a one car/one price/all inclusive service to its customers.
Whitecar is currently undertaking a fundraising of £1m in order to accelerate the opening of overseas branches to maintain its first mover advantage in the space. Current plans are for the next two sites to open in Munich and Frankfurt, Germany in August and September 2018, followed by Geneva and Zurich, Switzerland in October and November.
Whitecar has further developed its complementary Whitecar Share product, where clients drop off their personal vehicles to Whitecar, which are then hired out with the proceeds split between the owner and Whitecar. This sharing-economy service allows Tesla owners to avoid expensive parking charges and turn their vehicles into revenue generating assets whenever they wish.
In Q2 2018 Whitecar launched the initial version of its Whitecar app for IOS, which allows a singular solution for customer communication, bookings, identity confirmation, rental support and service feedback. Upcoming features include keyless entry and remote checkout among others. Ultimately, Whitecar seeks to turn this app into one of its most important assets, improving the customer experience while helping to reduce management and overhead costs.
Allied Energy Highlights
· Land lease options secured over 3 farmland sites located in the Liverpool area (each capable of hosting a 25MW energy storage facility)
· Heads of Terms agreed with a leading privately owned property, transport and logistics company for a 2 ha industrial site in Scotland (capable of hosting an initial 50MW energy storage facility)
Allied Energy Operations Summary
· Pre-planning process initiated on all sites
· Design work for optimal facility layout initiated with leading battery technology companies
· Early discussions with potential project finance partners underway
· Preliminary discussions with potential JV partner affiliated with Oxford University for co-location of R&D facility with potential financial support from Scottish Enterprise (for innovation in energy storage system design)
· All sites are being assessed and progressed simultaneously, with a view to commencing construction of the first facility during Q4 2018
Joseph Jayaraj, EsTeq Executive Director, comments: "EsTeq has taken the significant first step into the emerging battery energy storage arena, in securing a number of otherwise under-utilised landholdings in Northern England and Scotland. We are excited about developing these sites to provide a sustainable solution to the increasing demands being placed on UK energy and electricity infrastructure".
Andrew Bell, Regency Chairman, comments: "Whitecar, now with our colleague Scott Kaintz on the board, has just completed a record month and has shown itself capable of handling the opening of new locations as its European rollout programme begins.
With the rapid progress of Allied through its initial milestone stages, EsTeq has reached the point where it can raise some external finance, and we shall be assisting it to do this in order to maintain its growth trajectory.
All aspects of the storage battery and battery metal markets continue to evolve rapidly, and we look forward to reporting further progress as the year proceeds."
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
For further information contact:
Andrew Bell 0207 747 9960 Chairman Regency Mines Plc
Scott Kaintz 0207 747 9960 Executive Director Regency Mines Plc
Roland Cornish/Rosalind Hill Abrahams 0207 628 3396 NOMAD Beaumont Cornish Limited
Jason Robertson 020 7374 2212 Broker First Equity Limited