Riverfort Regulatory News (RGO)

23 Nov 2009 07:00



VIRIDAS PLC

Placing Raising £850,000 and Appointment of Directors

Viridas PLC ("Viridas"), a company planning to plant 120 square miles of the dedicated energy crop, jatropha, in Brazil to produce EU compliant sustainable Crude Jatropha Oil ("CJO") is pleased to announce that it has placed 8,500,000 new ordinary shares of 10 pence each ("New Ordinary Shares"), with warrants, conditional only upon Admission to AIM, at 10 pence per New Ordinary Share (the "Placing Price") raising £850,000 gross ("The Placing"). 

Placing Highlights

The issue price compares with a middle market price of 10 pence per Ordinary Share at the close of business on 20th November 2009.

The New Ordinary Shares will represent 25.86% per cent of the enlarged issued share capital of Viridas.

Placees will receive Warrants to subscribe, during a period of between two and five years from the closing, for further New Ordinary Shares at 10p each on the basis of one further New Ordinary Share for every four New Ordinary Shares subscribed for in the Placing, representing up to 2,125,000 further New Ordinary Shares.  No application will made for the Warrants to be traded on AIM.

The New Ordinary Shares are expected to be admitted to trading on AIM on 24th November 2009.

The Placing forms part of a planned series of fund raisings, and the funds will primarily be used to establish a new administrative organisation in Salvador, Brazil, and to acquire and plant up to 250 Hectares of base farm, in the state of Bahia, Brazil.

The objectives of the base farm are to:-

Put in place a nursery for the production of seedlings to be used for the planting out of up to 30,000 hectares needed for the planned industrial production of up to 60,000 tonnes of CJO annually.

Obtain in situ representative data and "know how" relevant to the industrial scale planting, pruning and general agronomical husbandry of industrial scale jatropha growing.

Establish a training ground for the staff and employees who will eventually work on the commercial plantations.

Establish a hub for the garaging and upkeep of the farm machinery that will be needed on a rotational basis for the future plantations

Establish a pilot plant to carry out research and development on jatropha plant sciences and down-stream activities such as mechanical harvesting, de-husking, oil extraction and pelletisation.

Once the base farm is established and performing in accordance with expectations Viridas will commence on the fourth stage of the project, the rolling out of commercial operations for the annual production of 60,000 tonnes of CJO which is contracted to be sold to Viridas' development partner INEOS Enterprises Limited, as announced on 15th December 2008, and for which further funding will be required.

Board and management changes

As the business now progresses in the development of its jatropha project the Company has appointed, with immediate effect, Martin Brink as Managing Director and David Thompson as Director with responsibility for finance.

Martin was also a director of Papagayo SARL and Orientique SARL which were both voluntarily liquidated in 2008 as well as Dolphin Watersports SARL and Baker's Island Trading SARL both of which were voluntarily liquidated in 2007. All were closed due to non-activity and without any outstanding debts or liabilities.

Martin has a BA in International Business and Marketing and prior to moving to Brazil had been Managing Director of a leading resort on the Caribbean island of St Martin. For the past 14 months Martin has been successfully acting as a consultant to Viridas regarding the development of their jatropha project.

David Thompson (58) has been Finance Director of M Higgins Ltd ("Higgins") one of the largest potato suppliers to the processing industry, since 1988. Higgins has the largest seed growing operation in Scotland. Amongst other interests David has for 9 years also been a Non-Executive Director of Johnsons of Whixley, ("Johnsons") one of the longest established and largest commercial nursery businesses in the UK, supplying the amenity and retail sectors. Higgins and Johnsons operate in both the UK and overseas markets. David is also a Director of Essco Ltd, APLH Limited and D Thompson Limited. 

Previously David was a non-executive director of Acer Landscapes Ltd until his resignation in 2006 and a director of Advantage Property Lawyers Limited until January 2009. 

David was also a director of WL Pawson plc, a clothing manufacturer and importer which went into receivership in 1982.

David has a BA in economics, an MA in Finance and is a Certified Accountant.

There are no further disclosures required to be made pursuant to Schedule 2, Paragraph g, of the AIM rules.

Directors' participation

All Viridas Directors have participated in the Placing by subscribing in aggregate £130,000 for 1,300,000 New Ordinary Shares. The beneficial and non-beneficial interests of the Directors in the Ordinary Shares following completion of the Placing will be as set out below:- 

Significant Shareholders

The anticipated significant shareholders in the company (in addition to Mr Wootliff) holding more than 3% of the enlarged issued Share Capital following the Placing are set out below:

*Shares held on behalf of clients.

Commenting on the placing, Stanley Wootliff, Chairman of Viridas said:

"The Placing provides Viridas with the additional working capital to move to the next stage of its development programme and to take advantage of the growing EU demand for compliant sustainable biodiesel and biomass sourced from a dedicated energy crop.  With a strong team and partnerships in place this funding will enable us to build a business with sustainability at its core while building value for our shareholders."

Contact Details

Stanley Wootliff: Chairman Viridas PLC 0113 235 0632

Matthew Robinson: FinnCap, NOMAD 0207 600 1658

Chelsea Hayes: Pelham Public Relations 0207 337 1523