Financing Agreement

10 Apr 2007 07:02

MicroEmissive Displays Group PLC10 April 2007 Embargoed: 7am, 10 April 2007 MicroEmissive Displays Group plc ("MED" or the "Company") New Financing Agreement Signed MED, the AIM listed designer and manufacturer of low-power light emittingpolymer displays, announces that, as outlined in the placing circular ofSeptember 2006, it has successfully secured an asset financing loan facility ofup to £3.5 million with Noble Venture Finance I Limited ("Noble"), part of NobleGroup Limited. The use of the funds being made available by Noble will be forgeneral working capital as the Company ramps up production and moves towardsvolume manufacturing and shipment of its product. It is the Board's belief thatthis financing, alongside existing arrangements, will provide the necessaryfunding to execute its strategy of achieving volume production at the Company'smanufacturing facility in Dresden, Germany. The loan facility is structured on a drawdown basis. MED has drawn down aninitial £1 million, with the remaining £2.5 million, if required, to be madeavailable by Noble subject to MED meeting pre-agreed performance criteria. Theamounts drawn down will incur interest at 12.5 per cent and full repayment willbe due within thirty-six months. In addition to the interest payments and the repayment of the principal, Noblewill receive warrants, which may be exercised at any time, to subscribe forordinary shares in the Company ("Warrants"). The initial draw down of £1 millionhas resulted in the issue of 700,000 Warrants, which if exercised, wouldrepresent approximately 1.6 per cent. of the enlarged share capital of theCompany. The maximum number of Warrants that would be issued to Noble in theevent that MED drew the full amount of the facility (£3.5 million) would be2,450,600 which, if exercised, would represent 5.3 per cent. of the enlargedshare capital of the Company. The exercise price of these Warrants will be at a 20 per cent. discount to theaverage closing share price over the 20 days trading prior to the date on whichthe amount is drawn. Commenting on the announcement, Graeme Walker, Chief Financial Officer of MED,said: "This loan facility is a key aspect of securing the funding necessary toachieve our goals. In the last 12 months, we have successfully completed a £5million placing, received the first tranche of the grant aid and, with this lastsegment of our financing in place, are well positioned to begin volumemanufacturing and shipment of our product." Bill Miller, Chief Executive of MED added: "We have been focused on reducingboth the technical and financial risk for our business. The operationaldevelopment in Dresden, the growing order book and securing this fundingarrangement gives the Board confidence that this continues to be achieved." "This loan facility also gives the management the flexibility and funds itrequires. Work at our manufacturing facility is progressing well, our order bookis strong and with the funding now secured, the board is confident that MED iswell placed to create significant value for shareholders." -ends- For further information, please contact: MicroEmissive Displays 0131 650 7764Bill Miller, Chief Executive Arbuthnot Securities 020 7012 2000Neil KirtonIan Williams Tavistock Communications 020 7920 3150John WestMatt Ridsdale This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange