Placing

16 May 2007 07:01

Intercede Group PLC16 May 2007 16 MAY 2007 Intercede Group plc ("Intercede" or "Company") Placing to raise £0.7 million Intercede, one of the world's leading developers and suppliers of smart card andidentity management software, is pleased to announce today the conditionalplacing of 2,130,303 new Ordinary Shares of 1 pence each at a price of 33 penceper new Ordinary Share with institutional and other investors to raiseapproximately £0.7 million (approximately £0.7 million after expenses). Over the past year, Intercede has made excellent progress in establishing itsMyID product as the software of choice in the US Government's programme ofissuing new identity cards to all federal employees and contractors. The newfunds are intended to facilitate the further exploitation of this opportunity,as well as providing general working capital in advance of longer term revenuestreams accruing to the Company as a result of the contracts that it has alreadywon. The Board considers that the raising of further equity capital by means of aplacing was acceptable having due regard for the time and cost considerations ofraising money through pre-emptive mechanisms. On 27 March 2007, Intercede reported that it expected revenues for the full yearended 31 March 2007 to be no less than 20% ahead of the previous financial year.The Board expects to confirm this when the Company's preliminary results areannounced, which will take place within the next two weeks. Interest inIntercede's MyID product remains strong and the Company's prospects are thusencouraging. The placing is conditional on admission of the new Ordinary Shares to AIM ("Admission"), though is not conditional on the prior approval of shareholders.The placing has been conducted using authorities approved at the Company's lastAGM held on 5 July 2006. Application will be made to London Stock Exchange for the placing shares to beadmitted to trading on AIM and it is anticipated that dealings in the placingshares will commence on 22 May 2007. The placing shares have been issuedcredited as fully paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with theexisting Ordinary Shares in the Company, including the right to receive alldividends and other distributions declared or paid thereon following Admission.The placing shares will represent approximately 5.9 per cent. of the enlargedissued ordinary share capital of the Company immediately following Admission. Richard Parris, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are pleased to have secured new institutional backing for the Group. This isthe first time that Intercede has raised funds since July 2003. The cash raisedwill provide additional working capital and will also enable the Group toexploit more fully the various opportunities around the world that areincreasingly presenting themselves. The opportunity in the United States is themost immediate, a situation that we have anticipated for some time, but whichhas now produced formal contracts and which is poised to translate intomeaningful revenues." ENQUIRIES: Intercede Group plc Tel. +44 (0)1455 558111Richard Parris, Chairman & Chief ExecutiveAndrew Walker, Finance Director Pelham Public RelationsArchie Berens Tel. +44 (0)20 7743 6679Kate Catchpole Tel. +44 (0)20 7743 6678KBC Peel Hunt Tel: +44 (0)207 418 8900Julian BluntGordon Suggett About Intercede Intercede Group plc is a leading developer and supplier of smart card andidentity management software listed on the London Stock Exchange (IGP LN)(IGP.L). Intercede's MyID software manages the secure registration, issuance andlifecycle of digital identities for a wide range of uses. This requires theintegration of multiple technologies and products from many different vendors,including smart cards, biometrics, digital certificates and Open Platformapplets. Intercede works with a number of market leading OEM, re-seller and technologypartners that supply MyID technology including: Athena Smartcard Solutions,Gemalto, Oberthur Card Systems, RSA Security, SafeNet, Thales, VeriSign and avariety of systems integrators and other security product and service providers. Intercede and MyID are registered trademarks or trademarks in the UK, US and/orother countries. For more information visit http://www.intercede.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange