T42 Iot Track. Regulatory News (TRAC)

21 Dec 2006 07:01

Traction Technology PLC21 December 2006 For release 21 December 2006 Traction Technology Plc Admission to AIM Subscription of 3,010,462 Ordinary Shares at 28p per share to raise £843,000 Traction Technology Plc ("Traction" or "the Company"; TIDM: TRAC), the designer,developer and manufacturer of hybrid and all-electric vehicle propulsionsystems, was today admitted to trading on AIM following a Subscription of1,964,286 Ordinary Shares at 28p per share ("the Issue Price") to raise £550,000gross. On Admission, certain existing shareholders and other privateshareholders have agreed to subscribe for a further 1,046,176 new OrdinaryShares at a price of 28p per Ordinary Share to raise £293,000. On Admission,the Company will have a market capitalisation of approximately £9,333,000.Beaumont Cornish Limited is acting as the Company's Nominated Adviser and Galland Eke Corporate Partners Limited is acting as the Company's Broker. Traction's hybrid and all-electric propulsion systems are aimed at transportapplications in the inner city where vehicles have high stop-start duty cycles.The technology is ideally suited to buses, taxis, refuse and postal vehicles anddoes not compete directly with the major passenger vehicle manufacturers. Increasing pressure from environmental regulatory bodies on carbon and otheremissions is being addressed by transport providers, such as Transport forLondon who themselves stated in November 2006 that hybrid buses are a key partof its plan to meet emission reduction targets. Small scale trials with Epsom Coaches, who operate vehicles on behalf ofTransport for London, have confirmed that improvements in miles per gallon andemissions reductions can be achieved using Traction Technology's hybridproducts. Traction has a Board with substantial relevant industry experience: Nick Brayshaw OBE, Non-Executive Chairman, was Group Chief Executive of WagonPlc as well as being an independent member of the Department of Trade andIndustry Enterprise and Business Group. He is currently Chairman of AIM-ListedStadium Group plc and of the CBI National Manufacturing Council. Traction'sGroup Chief Executive, Bob Dover, has over 30 years' automotive experience withthe likes of Jaguar Cars, Land Rover and Aston Martin Lagonda, having held theposition of Director of Manufacturing for both Jaguar and Land Rover. Technical Manager, Richard Cooke, has been a Chartered Engineer for over 14years and has over 20 years' experience managing the development of complexautomated electro-mechanical machines, as well as being a drive systems andcontrol specialist. Commenting, Nick Brayshaw, Chairman of Traction Technology, said: "The successful Subscription has secured the necessary resources for the Companyto come to AIM and provide significant working capital. Admission will not onlygive the Company greater visibility but also allow potential investors to sharein the future of a demonstrably successful technology that delivers proven,substantial environmental benefits." Ends Enquiries:Traction Technology Plc Beaumont Cornish Limited Parkgreen CommunicationsNick Brayshaw, Chairman Roland Cornish Ben Knowles / Brendan McNamara+44 (0) 1403 791 392 +44 (0) 20 7628 3396 +44 (0) 20 7851 7480www.ttplc.co.uk Editors Notes About the Company Traction was formed to exploit the growing demand for environmentally friendlytechnology. In May 2006 it acquired the assets, including the intellectualproperty, of Eneco Limited, a company in administration, which had previouslyoperated in this sector as a designer and manufacturer of hybrid power packs forinstallation into buses. How the technology works Traction's series hybrid power pack technology used in Hybrid electric vehicles("HEVs") differs from the parallel hybrid technology currently used in somepassenger cars. Under Traction's system, the vehicle's wheels are driven by anelectric traction motor powered by battery and recharged by diesel engine. Acontrol system determines how much power comes from the battery and how muchfrom the engine/generator at any one time. In parallel hybrids, there is adirect link between the engine and the wheels, where a normal internalcombustion engine is supplemented by an electric motor. The significant advantage of Traction's system is that, because the engine isnot directly connected to the wheels, it does not have to provide the widelyvarying power demands of the stop-start cycle; it is therefore able to operatein a narrow power range at close to optimum efficiency. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange