22 Sep 2016 07:00
TAU CAPITAL PLC
(the "Company" or "Tau")
Investment Update
Following the announcement made on 30 June 2016 (release of the Annual Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2015), the Company is providing an update on the sale of Stopharm LLP ("Stopharm").
On 29 September 2014 the Company announced that it had received an offer of US$ 7 million from Capital Gate Holdings LLP ("Capitalgate") for its holding in Stopharm.. This was subject to certain conditions including receiving approval from the Anti-Monopoly Commission of Kazakhstan.
On 30 June 2016 the Company announced that at least one other expression of interest had been received from a third party in acquiring the entire interest in Stopharm.
The Board is of the opinion that the interests of shareholders are best served by actively pursuing the sale of the Company's interest in Stopharm along the existing avenues set out in earlier announcements but at the same time exploring new avenues for a potential sale both directly and through other intermediaries. The Board also believes that, although achieving the best possible value from a sale will inevitably take longer to achieve under the current market circumstances referred to above, there is no alternative which serves the interests of shareholders better. There remains uncertainty both as to the timing and the proceeds from a sale. The downturn in the Kazakhstan economy and the devaluation of the Tenge have had a negative impact on disposing of the Company's interest within the time horizon originally envisioned - there is no expectation of an imminent transaction or any certainty that either of the transactions will complete.
As to Stopharm itself the financial results of the company for the year ending 31 December 2015 showed that they had returned to profitability although the material devaluation of the Tenge in 2015 had a negative effect on their results. Since 31 December 2015 the Tenge has showed signs of stabilising - the current exchange rate of the Kazakhstan Tenge to the US Dollar is 340.3 to 1.
Further information, please contact:
FIM Capital Limited Philip Scales | Tel: +44 (0) 1624 681250 |
Numis Securities Ltd Nominated Adviser: Hugh Jonathan Corporate Broking: Nathan Brown | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7260 1000
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