Last checked at 17 Feb 2014 07:00
For immediate release | 17 February 2014, 0700 hrs |
VIPERA PLC
("VIPERA" or "THE COMPANY")Subscription raises £1M
New funds to help capitalise on increased market opportunity
Chairman increases his holding
Grant of Staff Options
Vipera, the specialist provider of mobile financial software services, announces today that it has raised additional working capital for the Group to take advantage of the increasing opportunities for the Company in the European market. In addition it has granted options over 4 million shares to certain members of staff.
Applications to subscribe have been received for 17,648,363 new ordinary shares in Vipera (the "Subscription Shares") to raise £1,058,900 before expenses at a price of 6p per subscription share. These new ordinary shares have now been allotted. Application will be made for such shares to be admitted to trading on AIM, which is expected to be effective on 20 February 2014.
Included in this, is the intended subscription by Luciano Martucci, Chairman of the Company, for 700,000 new ordinary shares, following which he will hold 730,000 shares in the Company representing 0.39% of the enlarged share capital.
In addition, the Company has issued options to purchase a total of 4,000,000 New Ordinary Shares. This is pursuant to a Share Option Plan, for the benefit of employees of the Group. No directors are beneficiaries of this grant. These options are exercisable at a price of 6p per Ordinary Share, the price at which shares were allotted today and are exercisable at to
i. 2,000,000 in 3 tranches as to 1/3rd from 31 December 2014, 1/3rd from 31 December 2015 and 1/3rd from 31 December 2015, in each case up and until 31 December 2017 subject to normal conditions as to the option holder being an eligible employee; and
ii. 2,000,000 in 2 tranches as to 1/2 from 31 December 2014 and 1/2 from 31 December 2015 up to 31 December 2017.
Commenting on these transactions, Vipera Chief Executive Officer Marco Casartelli said:
"We are delighted to welcome our new investors to Vipera. The subscription will augment funds raised in December 2013. Following the announcement made on December 2013, we have started the process of increasing our sales team. This process and these funds will ensure we have the right resources to capitalise on the heightened demand for mobile software services to empower both banking and financial services communities with a new range of tools increasingly critical for customer conversion, card management and loyalty."
Following the issue of the Subscription shares the holdings of the Directors of Vipera in the enlarged share capital of the Company will be:
Ordinary shares:
| Number of Ordinary Shares prior to the Subscriptions
| Percentage of Ordinary Shares held prior to the Subscriptions (%) | Number of Ordinary Shares acquired pursuant to the Subscription
| Number of Ordinary Shares held following the Subscription
| Percentage of Ordinary Shares held following the Subscription (%) |
Luciano Martucci (Chairman) | 30,000 | 0.02% | 700,000 | 730,000 | 0.39% |
Marco Casartelli | 30,234,303 | 17.60% | - | 30,234,303 | 15.96% |
Silvano Maffeis | 24,502,459 | 14.27% | - | 24,502,459 | 12.94% |
Martin Perrin† | 719,395 | 0.42% | - | 719,395 | 0.38% |
Petter Neby†† | 38,777,554 | 22.58% | - | 38,777,554 | 20.47% |
† including family holdings †† including Neby & Jahrmann Srl
Warrants and Options:
Number of warrants held | Number of options held | ||
Luciano Martucci (Chairman) | 5,200,000 | 600,000 | |
Marco Casartelli | - | - | |
Silvano Maffeis | - | - | |
Martin Perrin† | 100,000 | 600,000 | |
Petter Neby†† | - | - |
† including family holdings †† including Neby & Jahrmann Srl
Following issue of the Subscription shares, the holdings of the Significant Shareholders (as defined under the AIM Rules for Companies) in the enlarged share capital of the Company, as far as the Company is aware, will be
Significant Shareholder
| Number of Ordinary Shares prior to the Subscriptions
| Percentage of Ordinary Shares held prior to the Subscriptions (%) | Number of Ordinary Shares acquired pursuant to the Subscriptions
| Number of Ordinary Shares held following the Subscriptions
| Percentage of Ordinary Shares held following the Subscriptions (%) |
Neby & Jahrmann Srl | 29,787,432 | 22.58% | - | 38,777,554 | 20.47% |
Marco Casartelli | 29,505,650 | 17.60% | - | 30,234,303 | 15.96% |
Silvano Maffeis | 24,502,459 | 14.27% | - | 24,502,459 | 12.94% |
Angife Srl | 7,559,940 | 4.83% | - | 8,288,593 | 4.38% |
Mauro Duca | 5,833,125 | 3.40% | - | 5,833,125 | 3.08% |
Total Voting Rights
For the purposes of the Financial Services Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules, the total number of Ordinary Shares in issue following the transactions announced today will be 189,402,838 with each Ordinary Share holding one voting right. There are no Ordinary Shares held in treasury.
The above figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in the Company, under the Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
There are now 8,269,932 warrants and 8,020,000 options outstanding, representing 8.6% of the issued capital.
-Ends-
Vipera PLC | |
Marco Casartelli | Tel: +39 02 863 371 |
Martin Perrin | Tel: +44 (0) 7785 505 337 |
| |
Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nomad) | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396 |
Roland Cornish Felicity Geidt
| |
Hudson Sandler Charlie Jack | Tel: +44 02 07 796 4133 |
Notes to Editors
Vipera provides software and services to banks and financial institutions, primarily through its Motif platform, to enable mobile access to personal financial services. Additionally Vipera's software enables Government and corporate entities to allow their services and consumer transactions to take place on mobile platforms. All products within the Motif suite share market leading security models, a consumer friendly interface and support for different devices and languages.
Vipera's headquarters are in Milan and it listed on the London Stock Exchange (AIM: VIP.L). For further information, please visit www.vipera.com .