Admission to AIM and First Day of Dealings

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5 October 2020

Calnex Solutions plc

("Calnex", the "Company" or the "Group")

Admission to AIM and First Day of Dealings 

£22.5 million raised in oversubscribed placing

Calnex Solutions plc (AIM: CLX), an established provider of test and measurement solutions for the global telecommunications sector, is pleased to announce the admission today of its new and existing ordinary shares of 0.125 pence each ("Ordinary Shares") to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange ("Admission"). Dealings in the Ordinary Shares will commence today at 8.00 a.m. under the ticker "CLX" and the ISIN "GB00BMBK7016". Cenkos Securities plc ("Cenkos") is acting as Nominated Advisor and Broker to the Company.

The Company has successfully raised £22.5 million (before expenses) by way of a significantly oversubscribed placing of 46,875,000 new and existing Ordinary Shares (the "Placing"), at a price of 48.0 pence per share (the "Placing Price"). Calnex's market capitalisation at the Placing Price on admission will be £42 million.

Placing Statistics:

Tommy Cook, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Calnex, said:

"Joining AIM today is a significant landmark for Calnex. The successful fundraise and move onto the public markets provides us with the resources to expand our product portfolio, both organically and through acquisition, to take advantage of the significant structural changes taking place in the global telecoms industry.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Calnex team for all their hard work through the years, our existing shareholders for their ongoing support, and to welcome our new shareholders to the register.

"With many of the world's leading players in the telecoms market on our client roster, a proven track record in innovation, strong financial position and global distribution capability, we are confident in our ability to capitalise on the opportunities ahead."

For more information, please contact:

Overview of Calnex

Calnex designs, produces and markets test instrumentation and solutions for network synchronization and network emulation, enabling its customers to validate the performance of the critical infrastructure associated with telecoms networks. To date, Calnex has secured and delivered orders to over 600 customer sites in 68 countries across the world. Customers include BT, China Mobile, NTT, Ericsson, Nokia, Intel, Qualcomm, IBM and Facebook.

Founded in 2006, Calnex is headquartered in Linlithgow, Scotland, with additional locations in Belfast, Northern Ireland and California in the US, supported by sales teams in China and India. Calnex has a global network of partners, providing a worldwide distribution capability. 

Key Strengths

· Calnex has an established position in the test and measurement industry, providing its equipment to many of the world's leading Telecoms Network Operators, Equipment Vendors and Component Manufacturers. It has also had success with Hyperscale companies (operating large data centres) and Large Enterprises (operating their own networks).

· Calnex has a proven track record of developing innovative and advanced test solutions for its customers. Calnex's products are often differentiated by their high specifications and the complexity of the product platforms. This has been achieved by delivering a strategy focused on R&D, IP and product development.

· Calnex's close relationships with its customers, key regulatory bodies and leading market participants, provides valuable insight into its customers' technology roadmap and likely industry and regulatory developments, enabling Calnex to focus its R&D strategy and resources.

· Calnex's management team has experience in successfully integrating bolt-on acquisitions, which benefit from access to the Company's global sales channels and advanced approach to product development.

· Calnex has a strong financial track record, delivering historical revenue CAGR since FY15 of approximately 16 per cent. The Company is profitable and cash generative, with a record order backlog going into FY21 and a strong sales pipeline.

· Calnex benefits from high levels of repeat revenues, with over 80 per cent. of its revenue over the last three years coming from repeat customers and an average length of engagement with its top ten customers in FY20 of nine years. The Company's top ten customers accounted for over 50 per cent. of revenues in FY20. In recent years the Company's top ten customers have included Non-Telecoms customers. In FY20, these Non-Telecoms customers represented 14 per cent. of the top ten customer revenue.

· The Telecoms industry is currently experiencing unprecedented levels of change as a result of major evolutionary trends affecting the global Telecoms market. The migration of the mobile networks to 5G, the emergence of the Internet of Things and the shift to using cloud computing are all agents of change to the structure of Telecom networks around the world. The Directors believe that Calnex has the potential to capitalise on the opportunities created by the changes to the Telecoms market, which are expected to generate sustainable growth in the future for the Company.

· The global market for Telecoms test and measurement equipment for mobile networks alone is forecast by Frost & Sullivan to expand at a CAGR of 11.5 per cent. from 2020 through to 2024, and the Directors believe that the Company has the potential to capitalise on the opportunities created by this expansion and generate sustainable revenue growth in the near to medium term.

Calnex has a range of test and measurement solutions ready to meet the early requirements of 5G market participants. The Company is well placed to evolve its current products, alongside the introduction of new products, to meet its customers' future requirements as the roll out of 5G progresses.

To find out more, please visit: https://www.calnexsol.com/en/

Important Information

This announcement does not constitute, or form part of, any offer or invitation to sell, allot or issue, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for, any securities in the Company in any jurisdiction nor shall it, or any part of it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with or act as an inducement to enter into, any contract or commitment therefor.

Cenkos is acting exclusively for the Company and no one else in connection with the Placing and Admission. Cenkos will not regard any other person as its client in relation to the Placing and Admission, and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to their clients or for giving advice in relation to the Placing and Admission or any transaction or arrangement referred to herein.

This announcement contains certain statements that are, or may be, forward looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations, business achievements and/or investment strategy of the Company. Such forward looking statements are based on the Company's board of directors' (the "Board") expectations of external conditions and events, current business strategy, plans and the other objectives of management for future operations, and estimates and projections of the Company's financial performance. Though the Board believes these expectations to be reasonable at the date of this announcement they may prove to be erroneous. Forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, achievements or performance of the Company, or the industry in which the Company operates, to be materially different from any future results, achievements or performance expressed or implied by such forward looking statements.

Certain figures in this announcement, including financial information, have been subject to rounding adjustments. Accordingly, in certain instances, the sum or percentage change of the numbers contained in this announcement may not conform exactly to the total figure given.