Last checked at 11 Jan 2017 07:30
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR")
11 January 2017
Vela Technologies plc
("Vela", the "Company" or the "Group")
Proposed Investment of £250,000 in Portr Limited
Proposed Issue of £550,000 Bonds
Introduction
The Board of Vela (AIM: VELA), the investing company focused on early-stage and pre-IPO disruptive technology investments, announces that, subject to completion of satisfactory due diligence and entering into of documentation, it intends to raise up to £550,000 via the issue of bonds ("Proposed Bond Issue"), to be arranged by UK Bond Network Limited ("UK Bond Network").
The funds raised by Vela will be used to provide funding for a follow-on investment in travel technology company Portr Limited ("Portr"), the owner of on demand airport transfer service Airportr (the "Portr Investment").
The Company has today committed to invest £100,000 of its existing cash resources as an initial follow-on investment in Portr.
Proposed Investment of £250,000 in Portr
The Board intends to invest £250,000 in a follow-on investment in Portr. The Company entered into a subscription agreement with Portr on 10 January 2017 whereby it has agreed to invest £100,000 in Portr funded from the Company's existing cash resources. This investment is expected to complete shortly.
Upon completion of the Proposed Bond Issue, Vela intends to invest a further £150,000 into Portr, which will be funded from the net proceeds of the Proposed Bond Issue. Should the Proposed Bond Issue not complete or raise sufficient funding to enable this further investment to be made then Vela will not proceed with the additional £150,000 investment into Portr.
The Portr Investment by the Company is part of a larger fundraise currently being carried out by Portr in order to scale up operations to support sustained growth in demand for its innovative off-airport bag check in solution (which was recently integrated and launched with British Airways) and for the development of new facilitation technologies to expedite the passenger experience and improve airline and airport operations, which Portr plans to commercialise in 2017.
Portr, with a track record in developing innovative solutions, deep knowledge and experience of the airport and airline environment, combines smart process design and leading edge technology to create products that give travellers freedom, time and peace of mind.
Portr has developed a universal platform which integrates airlines, airports, governments and transportation companies to aggregate and distribute data to facilitate flows of passengers and baggage between global cities.
As at the date of this announcement Vela has an interest in 101,989 shares in Portr, equivalent to 3.9% of Portr's current issued share capital. To date, Vela has invested a total of approximately £250,000 in cash in Portr across three previous funding rounds. Following completion of the initial £100,000 investment into Portr, Vela will be interested in 111,441 shares in Portr equivalent to 3.9% of Portr's enlarged issued share capital.
Based on filings at Companies House, for the year ended 26 December 2015, Portr generated a loss of £2,022,427 and as at 26 December 2015 had net assets of £819,467.
Information on the Proposed Bond Issue
To fund the proposed Portr Investment, Vela will use £100,000 of its existing cash resources and £150,000 of the net proceeds of the Proposed Bond Issue. The balance of the net proceeds from the Proposed Bond Issue will be used for general corporate purposes.
The Bond auction process will be carried out by UK Bond Network, as agent of the Company, using its designated website auction platform.
The Company is proposing to raise £550,000 pursuant to the Bond Issue. Of this amount, Vela has received indications from investors to subscribe for £250,000 of the Bonds and UK Bond Network intends to, subject to due diligence and the entering into of certain documentation, procure that the balance of £300,000 of the Bonds will be underwritten.
High net worth, sophisticated, professional and institutional investors (in each case as defined in FSMA and regulations under FSMA) will be the only investors eligible to participate in the Proposed Bond Issue ("Eligible Investors"). These Eligible Investors will be required to self-certify, in accordance with the procedure required under FSMA, as being an investor falling into one of these categories before participating. Eligible investors who wish to participate will need to become a member of UK Bond Network's platform (www.ukbondnetwork.com).
In relation to the Proposed Bond Issue, there will be a pre-auction period, expected to commence in January 2017, for Eligible Investors to review the offering, followed by a live auction period. It is anticipated that the auction period will last for two weeks.
Vela will provide further information on the Proposed Bond Issue, the terms of the Proposed Bond Issue and the timetable for the Proposed Bond Issue at the time of the commencement of the pre-auction period.
Antony Laiker, Executive Director of Vela, said:
"Portr's decision to raise further funds to scale up its operations in response to the growth of its business, provides Vela with an opportunity to make a further investment. The launch of the partnership with British Airways in October was an important milestone for Portr, increased the profile and visibility of the Airportr brand and service to a wider travel audience. With both high level of customer satisfaction being expressed across social media and high levels of repeat bookings, the signs are good for the business to grow strongly through 2017."
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