THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN (THE
"ANNOUNCEMENT") IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION
OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN,
INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, SOUTH
AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO MIGHT CONSTITUTE A
VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF SUCH
JURISDICTION.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE OR CONTAIN ANY
INVITATION, SOLICITATION, RECOMMENDATION, OFFER OR ADVICE TO ANY
PERSON TO SUBSCRIBE FOR, OR OTHERWISE ACQUIRE, ANY SECURITIES OF
THE COMPANY.
THE
INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED BY THE
COMPANY TO CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER
ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) 596/2014 WHICH FORMS
PART OF UK LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT
2018 ("MAR"). UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA
REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW
CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. IN ADDITION, MARKET
SOUNDINGS (AS DEFINED IN MAR) WERE TAKEN IN RESPECT OF CERTAIN OF
THE MATTERS CONTAINED IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, WITH THE RESULT THAT
CERTAIN PERSONS BECAME AWARE OF SUCH INSIDE INFORMATION, AS
PERMITTED BY MAR. UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, THIS
INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND
SUCH PERSONS SHALL THEREFORE CEASE TO BE IN POSSESSION OF INSIDE
INFORMATION.
17 December
2024
Blue Star Capital
plc
("Blue
Star" or the "Company")
Posting of Circular and
Notice of General Meeting
Proposed Capital
Reorganisation
Conditional Subscription for
7,500,000 New Ordinary Shares at an Issue Price of £0.02 per New
Ordinary Share
Proposed Amendment to the
Articles of Association
Surrender and Issue of
Warrants
Blue Star Capital plc (AIM: BLU),
the investing company with a focus on esports and blockchain and
its applications within gaming and payments, today announces the
posting of a circular to all Shareholders containing a notice
of general meeting and form of proxy, seeking shareholder approval
for a capital reorganisation, proposed amendment to the Articles of
Association, and conditional subscription to raise £150,000 via the
issue of 7,500,000 New Ordinary Shares of £0.001 per ordinary share
at an Issue Price of £0.02 per share (the "Subscription") (together the
"Circular").
The General Meeting is due to be
held at the offices of Cairn Financial Advisers LLP, at 80
Cheapside, London, EC2V 6EE , at 10:00 a.m. on 6 January
2025.
Background to the Capital Reorganisation and
Subscription
On 28 September 2022 the Company
announced that it had undertaken a review of its investments and
operating structure. From the review, the Board noted the
significant difference between the share price and the net asset
value ("NAV") per share being reflected in the market. The Board,
therefore, considered that it should seek to exit from its two
larger investments, being Let's Play Live (then, Dynasty Gaming and
Media PTE Ltd. ("Dynasty")) and SatoshiPay Limited ("SatoshiPay"),
cut all non-essential costs and fund the Company in the interim,
insofar as possible, from the sale of non-core assets.
The Company announced its full year
results for the 12 months to 30 September 2023 in March 2024. In
these results, the Company reported a £6.3 million loss for the
year, predominantly due to the write down the value of its
investment in Dynasty and Sthaler Limited. Whilst these impairments
did not affect the Company's cash position, the price of the
Company's shares continued to fall.
In the period since the publication
of its annual results to 30 September 2023, the Company has
provided further market updates on its investee companies,
primarily developments with Dynasty and SatoshiPay. On 7 October
2024, the Company provided an update on its portfolio of investee
companies and a trading update, which highlighted that the sale
process of SatoshiPay had suffered continual delays in 2024.
Further to this, Vortex, a decentralised exchange platform
incubated by SatoshiPay, required additional funding. Whilst the
Board still believes that a successful launch and funding round for
Vortex could materially enhance the valuation of SatoshiPay, there
is no certainty of when this may be completed. The Board has
indicated its interest in participating in any fundraising
undertaken by SatoshiPay subject to it being able to raise
sufficient funding to allow it to do so.
In the Half-yearly Results for the
six months ended 31 March 2024, announced on 27 June 2024, the
Company stated that it had approximately £40,000 in cash and cash
equivalents. Since that date, the Company has not raised any
further capital and, in line with its public statements, has been
operating from a severely financially constrained position. The
Board has been carefully monitoring the Company's cash position,
minimising the expenses of operating the Company wherever possible,
including the Directors forgoing taking any salaries in cash from
the period 1 February 2024 to 30 September 2024 with the hope
of reaching a position of greater certainty regarding SatoshiPay's
value
Under the Companies Act 2006, the
Company is prohibited from issuing new shares below their nominal
value of 0.1 pence per share. With the Company's current share
price trading at approximately 0.02 pence (as at 16 December
2024), this restriction will prevent the Company from raising
additional equity investment to meet working capital needs and
support its portfolio of investments. The Capital Reorganisation
seeks to reduce the number of shares in issue by consolidating the
number of ordinary shares in issue and subsequently separating the
consolidated shares into ordinary shares and a class of deferred
shares with minimal rights. The effect of this Capital
Reorganisation will be to reduce the share is issue, repricing the
current share price to a higher level and maintaining the nominal
value of the Company's ordinary shares.
Capital Reorganisation
The Directors are proposing a
capital reorganisation by way of:
(i)
Rounding Share Capital: The
issue of five (5) new ordinary shares ("Rounding Shares"), resulting in an
issued ordinary share capital of 5,092,773,000 ordinary
shares
(ii)
Share Consolidation:
consolidate every 200 Existing Ordinary Shares held into one
ordinary share of £0.10 each (the "Consolidated Shares"); and
(iii)
Share Subdivision and Share
Reclassification: subdivide and reclassify each Consolidated
Share into 199 Deferred Shares and one New Ordinary Share of £0.001
each.
The effects of the capital
reorganisation will be to consolidate the number of shares in issue
from 5,092,773,000 to 25,463,865, which will increase the Company's
share price by a factor of 200, whilst maintaining the current
nominal value per share of £0.001 each.
Conditional Subscription
Contingent on the Resolutions being
passed at the General Meeting, the Company has conditionally raised
£150,000 via a subscription for 7,500,000 New Ordinary Shares of
£0.001 each at an Issue Price of £0.02 per New Ordinary Share. The
proceeds of the Subscription will be used to participate in further
funding rounds both for either SatoshiPay Limited ("SatoshiPay"), or Vortex, a
decentralised exchange platform incubated by SatoshiPay, and
support general working capital costs of the Company.
Surrender and Issue of Director Warrants and Fee
Warrants
Contemporaneously with the Capital
Reorganisation, the Board of the Company has elected to cancel all
warrants over ordinary shares in the Company currently granted to
the Directors ("Existing Director
Warrants"). In order to maintain sufficient levels of cash
during this constrained period, the Board has elected to grant
2,500,000 warrants over ordinary shares to the Directors, in lieu
of Director cash salaries for the period from 1 October 2024 to 31
December 2025 ("New Director
Warrants"). The details of the New Director Warrants are set
out below. The figures have been calculated on a post Capital
Reorganisation basis:
Warrantholder
|
No. of warrants
cancelled
|
No. of new warrants
granted
|
New warrant exercise price
(£)
|
Warrants granted as
percentage of proposed enlarged issued share
capital
|
Anthony Fabrizi
|
170,000,000
|
2,000,000
|
£0.02
|
6.07%
|
Sean King
|
30,000,000
|
500,000
|
£0.02
|
1.52%
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
200,000,000
|
2,500,000
|
|
|
In addition, the Board of Directors
has elected to grant 750,000 warrants over ordinary shares in the
Company to a certain adviser to the Company ("Adviser Warrants") at an exercise price
of £0.02p. These have been issued in lieu of retainer
fees.
Both the New Director Warrants and
the Adviser Warrants allow the holder to subscribe for ordinary
shares in the Company, on a one to one basis, at an exercise price
of £0.02 for an exercisable period of two years from the date of
the General Meeting. The New Director Warrants and the Adviser
Warrants are not subject to any other performance
criteria.
Existing Warrants
Following the Capital
Reorganisation, the warrants granted to shareholders following the
capital raise in January 2024 ("Existing Warrants") will be amended on
the basis as set out in the table below:
|
At present*
|
Proposed
|
Nominal
|
Number of Existing
Warrants
|
100,000,000
|
100,000,000
|
£0.001
|
Exercise price
|
0.1p
|
20p
|
£0.001
|
Exercise ratio
|
1:1
|
200:1†
|
£0.001
|
|
|
|
|
*
does not include the Existing Director Warrants or New Director
Warrants
† exercise ratio denotes the number of warrants
following the Capital Reorganisation required to be exercised in
order to grant one new ordinary share
|
Related Party Transaction
Nick Slater, a substantial
shareholder in the Company, who currently holds approximately
11.44% of the Company's issued share capital, has subscribed to
purchase 1,750,000 ordinary shares as a part of the Subscription.
As a substantial shareholder, that being a person who holds over
10% of an issuer's issued share capital, this subscription is a
related party transactions pursuant to the AIM Rules for Companies.
The Directors of the Company consider, having consulted with its
nominated adviser, Cairn Financial Advisers LLP, that the terms of
the subscription by Nick Slater is fair and reasonable, insofar as
its shareholders are concerned.
Prospective Admission to AIM and Total Voting
Rights
In the event that all of the
Resolutions are passed at the General Meeting, application will be
made for Admission of the 7,500,000 Subscription Shares, which will
rank pari passu with the Company's existing ordinary shares. It is
expected that Admission will become effective and that dealings
will commence at 08.00 am on or around 8 January 2025.
Following Admission, the Company's
enlarged issued share capital ("Enlarged Issued Share Capital") will
comprise 32,963,865 ordinary shares of £0.001 each with voting
rights in the Company. This figure may be used by shareholders in
the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they
will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or
a change in the interest in, the share capital of the Company under
the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
An extract from the circular can be
found at the end of this announcement, comprising the Expected
Timetable of Events and the Letter from the Chairman of the
Company. The full Circular, together with supporting documents,
will be available from the Company's website,
https://bluestarcapital.co.uk/,
later today.
Capitalised terms in this
announcement have the meaning ascribed to them in the Definitions
section of the Circular.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of the UK Market Abuse Regulation. The Directors of the Company
take responsibility for this announcement.
For
further information please contact:
Blue Star Capital plc
|
+44 (0)
777 178 2434
|
Tony Fabrizi
|
|
|
|
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP
|
+44 (0) 20
7213 0880
|
(Nominated Adviser)
|
|
Jo Turner / Liam Murray / Ed
Downes
|
|
|
|
Axis Capital Markets Limited
|
+44 (0) 20
3026 0449
|
(Sole Broker)
|
|
Ben Tadd / Lewis Jones
|
|
About Blue Star
Blue Star is an investing company
with a focus on new technologies. Blue Star's investments include
SatoshiPay Limited, an experienced blockchain company with a strong
track record in innovative payment solutions; Lets Play Live, whose
B2B white label platform is a full-stack gaming ecosystem; Paidia,
a female focussed gaming platform; and Sthaler Limited, an identity
and payments technology business which enables a consumer to
identify themselves and pay using just their finger.
Extracts from the
Circular
EXPECTED TIMETABLE OF EVENTS
Publication and posting to
Shareholders of this document
|
17
December 2024
|
Latest time for receipt of Forms of
Proxy for the General Meeting
|
10:00 a.m.
on 2 January 2025
|
General Meeting
|
10:00 a.m.
on 6 January 2025
|
On
or around:
|
|
Record date for the consolidation,
subdivision and reclassification of the Existing Ordinary
Shares
|
6:00 p.m.
on 6 January 2025
|
Admission of the New Ordinary Shares
and the Subscription Shares
|
8:00 a.m.
on 8 January 2025
|
CREST accounts credited with the New
Ordinary Shares
|
Shortly
after 8:00 a.m. on 8 January 2025
|
Dispatch of definitive share
certificates in respect of the New Ordinary Shares
|
No later
than 20 January 2025
|
The dates and times given are
indicative only and are based on the Company's current
expectations. As at the date of posting, certain dates above need
to be agreed and, therefore, may be subject to change. If any of
the expected times and/or dates above change, the revised times
and/or dates will be notified to the Shareholders by announcement
through a Regulatory Information Service.
All references to time in this
document are to London (UK) time.
LETTER FORM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMPANY
1. Introduction
The purpose of this document is to
explain the details of, and reasons for, the Capital Reorganisation
and Subscription that the Directors are proposing to undertake. To
be implemented, both the Capital Reorganisation and the
Subscription will require the approval of Shareholders at the
General Meeting. Accordingly, at the end of this document, is a
notice convening a general meeting of the Company to consider and,
if thought fit, approve the Capital Reorganisation , the making of
consequential amendments to the Articles and the granting of share
authorities in order to allow the Directors to complete the
Subscription.
2. Background to and reasons for the Capital
Reorganisation and Subscription
On 28 September 2022, the Company
announced that it had undertaken a review of its investments and
operating structure. From the review, the Board noted the
significant difference between the share price and the net asset
value ("NAV") per share being reflected in the market. The Board,
therefore, considered that it should seek to exit from its two
larger investments, being Let's Play Live (then, Dynasty Gaming and
Media PTE Ltd. ("Dynasty")) and SatoshiPay Limited ("SatoshiPay"),
cut all non-essential costs and fund the Company in the interim,
insofar as possible, from the sale of non-core assets.
The Company announced its full year
results for the 12 months to 30 September 2023 in March 2024. In
these results, the Company reported a £6.3 million loss for the
year predominantly due to the write down the value of its
investment in Dynasty and Sthaler Limited. Whilst these impairments
did not affect the Company's cash position, the price of the
Company's shares continued to fall.
In the period since the publication
of its annual results to 30 September 2023, the Company has
provided further market updates on its investee companies,
primarily developments with Dynasty and SatoshiPay. On 7 October
2024, the Company provided an update on its portfolio of investee
companies and a trading update, which highlighted that the sale
process of SatoshiPay had suffered continual delays in 2024.
Further to this, Vortex, a decentralised exchange platform
incubated by SatoshiPay, required additional funding. Whilst the
Board still believes that a successful launch and funding round for
Vortex could materially enhance the valuation of SatoshiPay, there
is no certainty of when this may be completed. The Board has
indicated its interest in participating in any fundraising
undertaken by SatoshiPay subject to it being able to raise
sufficient funding to allow it to do so.
In the Half-yearly Results for the
six months ended 31 March 2024, announced on 27 June 2024, the
Company stated that it had approximately £40,000 in cash and cash
equivalents. Since that date, the Company has not raised any
further capital and, in line with its public statements, has been
operating from a severely financially constrained position. The
Board has been carefully monitoring the Company's cash position,
minimising the expenses of operating the Company wherever possible,
including the Directors forgoing taking any salaries in cash from
the period 1 February 2024 to 30 September 2024 with the hope of
reaching a position of greater certainty regarding SatoshiPay's
value. As stated in previous announcements, the value of the
Company is inextricably linked to the value of SatoshiPay, as it
accounts for approximately 90% of the Company's
NAV.
Despite its recent challenges and
the write-down of some of its investments in the portfolio, the
Board recognised that the Company's NAV per share remained
significantly higher than the current market capitalisation.
At the time of publication of this document, the close price was
0.02 pence per share, representing a market capitalisation of
approximately £1.1 million. As of the latest reporting period ended
31 March 2024, the NAV was approximately £5.27 million,
representing a NAV per share of approximately 0.1 pence,
highlighting a material disconnect to the current share
price.
Under the Companies Act 2006, the
Company is prohibited from issuing new shares below their nominal
value of 0.1 pence per share. With the Company's current share
price trading at approximately 0.02 pence (as at 16 December
2024), this restriction will prevent the Company from raising
additional equity investment to meet working capital needs and
support its portfolio of investments. The Capital Reorganisation
seeks to reduce the number of shares in issue by consolidating the
number of ordinary shares in issue and subsequently separating the
consolidated shares into ordinary shares and a class of deferred
shares with minimal rights. The effect of this Capital
Reorganisation will be to reduce the number of shares in issue,
repricing the current share price to a higher level and maintaining
the nominal value of the Company's ordinary shares.
Subscription
Conditional on the Resolutions being
passed at the General Meeting, the Company has raised £150,000 via
a Subscription for 7,500,000 new ordinary shares of £0.001 each at
an subscription price of £0.02 per New Ordinary Share
("Subscription
Shares").
Warrants
Contemporaneously with the Capital
Reorganisation, the Board has elected to cancel all warrants over
ordinary shares in the Company currently granted to the Directors
("Existing Director Warrants"). In order to maintain
sufficient levels of cash during this constrained period, the Board
has elected to grant 2,500,000 warrants over ordinary shares to the
Directors, in lieu of Director cash salaries for the period from 1
October 2024 to 31 December 2025 ("New Director Warrants").
Warrantholder
|
No. of warrants
cancelled
|
No. of new warrants
granted
|
New warrant exercise price
(£)
|
Warrants granted as
percentage of enlarged issued share capital
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anthony Fabrizi
|
170,000,000
|
2,000,000
|
£0.02
|
6.07%
|
Sean King
|
30,000,000
|
500,000
|
£0.02
|
1.52%
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
200,000,000
|
2,500,000
|
|
|
Note that the figures have been calculated on a post Capital
Reorganisation basis. The 50,000,000 warrants granted to Brian
Rowbotham on 30 January 2023 have also been
cancelled.
Board Opinion
The Board believes that the
successful implementation of the Capital Reorganisation and
Subscription will help stabilise the Company's financial position
through raising funds and allow it to participate in follow-on
funding rounds for SatoshiPay and Vortex, in addition to providing
the Company with further working capital.
The
Board is committed to carefully managing the Company's cash,
however, wishes to reiterate that
should the Company be unable to complete the Capital Reorganisation
and the Subscription, it would be left with a limited pool of
alternative options and would likely result in the Existing
Ordinary Shares ceasing to trade and subsequently, the Company
withdrawing from AIM. The Board does not believe that this would be
in the best interest of Shareholders. Against this background, the
Company is, therefore, seeking Shareholder approval now for the
Capital Reorganisation as set out in this
document.
3.
The Capital
Reorganisation
Companies Act 2006 prohibits the
issue of shares at a price below their nominal value. In such
situations, companies typically seek to reorganise their capital
structures with the effect of lowering the nominal value of their
shares. In this instance, the Company is also looking to increase
its share price, maintain the nominal value of its ordinary shares
and reduce the number of shares in issue. At present, the
issued ordinary share capital of the Company comprises
5,092,772,995 Ordinary Shares of £0.001 each.
The Directors are proposing a
capital reorganisation by way of:
(i)
Rounding Share Capital: The
issue of five (5) new ordinary shares ("Rounding Shares"), resulting in an
issued ordinary share capital of 5,092,773,000 ordinary
shares
(ii)
Share Consolidation:
consolidating every 200 Existing Ordinary Shares held on the Record
Date into one ordinary share of £0.20 each (the "Consolidated Shares")
(iii)
Share Subdivision and Share
Reclassification: subdivide and reclassify each Consolidated
Share into 199 Deferred Shares and one New Ordinary Share of £0.001
each
Each of the proposals set out in (i)
and (ii) above is to be effected by the passing of Resolution 1 to
be proposed at the General Meeting.
To illustrate the effect of the
Capital Reorganisation and the Subscription see the table
below:
|
At present*
|
Proposed
|
Nominal
|
Issued Share Capital
|
5,092,772,995
|
-
|
£0.001
|
|
|
|
|
Adjusted Issued Share
Capital
|
-
|
5,092,773,000
|
£0.001
|
|
|
|
|
Consolidated Issued Share
Capital
|
-
|
25,463,865
|
£0.020
|
|
|
|
|
Number of Deferred Shares
|
-
|
5,067,309,135
|
£0.001
|
|
|
|
|
Reclassified Issued Share
Capital
|
-
|
25,463,865
|
£0.001
|
|
|
|
|
Indicative share price
|
0.02p
|
4.0p
|
£0.001
|
|
|
|
|
Subscription
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Number of Subscription
Shares
|
-
|
7,500,000
|
£0.001
|
Enlarged Issued Share
Capital
|
-
|
32,963,865
|
£0.001
|
|
|
|
|
Number of Existing
Warrants
|
100,000,000
|
100,000,000
|
£0.001
|
Exercise price
|
0.1p
|
20p
|
£0.001
|
Exercise ratio
|
1:1
|
200:1
|
£0.001
|
|
|
|
|
*does not include the Existing Director Warrants or New
Director Warrants
|
|
|
The number of Warrants will
be subject to individual holdings and the deduction of fractional
entitlements.
The New Ordinary Shares will have
the same rights as the Existing Ordinary Shares including voting,
dividend and other rights.
It is likely that the Consolidation
will result in fractional entitlements to a New Ordinary Share
where any holding is not precisely divisible by 200. No
certificates will be issued for fractional entitlements to New
Ordinary Shares. Shareholders with a shareholding of less than 200
Existing Ordinary Shares will not be entitled to any Consolidated
Shares and Shareholders with a holding in excess of 200 Existing
Ordinary Shares, but which is not exactly divisible by 20 will have
their holding in the Consolidated Shares rounded down to the
nearest whole number. For example, a Shareholder holding 220
Existing Ordinary Shares would receive 1 Consolidated Share with
his fractional entitlement of 20 Existing Ordinary Shares being
aggregated with fractional entitlements from other Shareholders and
sold in the marketplace with the proceeds being retained by the
Company.
The Deferred Shares will have no
right to vote and a very limited right to participate in the
capital of the Company save in respect of insolvency and the
Company will not issue any certificates or credit CREST accounts in
respect of them. The Deferred Shares will not be admitted to
trading on any exchange.
4. Amendment to the
Articles
As a consequence of the Share
Capital Reorganisation, a resolution will be proposed at the
General Meeting to amend the Articles by the inclusion of the share
rights attaching to the Deferred Shares.
Resolution 3 has been proposed to
Shareholders as a special resolution to amend the Articles and a
copy of the Company's existing articles and proposed amendment to
the Articles can be found on the Company's website,
https://bluestarcapital.co.uk/.
The Deferred Shares will have
limited rights which will be set out in the amended Articles. The
amended Articles will also be available for inspection at the
General Meeting at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the
General Meeting and up until the close of the General
Meeting.
5. Dealing and Settlement
The Capital Reorganisation will be
effected by reference to Shareholders and their holdings of
Existing Ordinary Shares on the register as at the close of
business on the Record Date and is conditional on permission being
granted by the London Stock Exchange for the New Ordinary Shares to
be admitted to trading on AIM.
Subject to the Resolutions being
passed, it is expected that dealings in and settlement in CREST of
the Existing Ordinary Shares will continue until the close of
business on 6 January 2025 when, in the case of Existing Ordinary
Shares held in certificated form, the register will be closed for
transfers. The registration of uncertificated holdings in respect
of Existing Ordinary Shares will be disabled. It is expected that
Admission of the New Ordinary Shares will become effective and that
dealings in the New Ordinary Shares will commence at 8:00 a.m. on 8
January 2025.
It is intended that new share
certificates will be sent to Shareholders, who hold their shares in
certificated form, following Admission. These new share
certificates will set out the number of New Ordinary Shares owned
by a Shareholder on completion of the Capital Reorganisation and
will replace existing share certificates. Definitive certificates
for the New Ordinary Shares to be issued in certificated form are
expected to be dispatched by post no later than 20 January 2025.
Temporary documents of title will not be issued. Pending dispatch
of definitive share certificates, transfers of New Ordinary Shares
held in certificated form will be certified against the register
held by Link Group. Shareholders who hold their Existing Ordinary
Shares in uncertificated form are expected to have their CREST
accounts credited with the New Ordinary Shares as soon as possible
after 8:00 a.m. on 8 January 2025.
In the event the Resolutions are
passed and the Company is required to apply for a new ISIN and
SEDOL, the details of this will be announced by a regulatory news
service in due course.
6. Overseas Shareholders
The implications of the Capital
Reorganisation on Overseas Shareholders may be affected by the laws
of their respective jurisdictions. Overseas Shareholders should
inform themselves about and observe all applicable legal
requirements in such jurisdictions. It is the responsibility of
Overseas Shareholders to satisfy themselves as to the full
observance of the laws of each relevant jurisdiction in connection
with the Capital Reorganisation, including the obtaining of any
governmental, exchange control or other consents which may be
required, compliance with other necessary formalities which are
required to be observed and/or the payment of any taxes due in each
jurisdiction. Overseas Shareholders who are in any doubt about
their position should consult their professional advisers in the
relevant territory.
7. Taxation
The Directors have been advised that
for the purposes of UK taxation of chargeable gains, the receipt of
the New Ordinary Shares arising from the Capital Reorganisation
should not be treated as a shareholder having made a disposal of
all or part of his holding of Existing Ordinary Shares by reason of
the Capital Reorganisation.
8. General Meeting
Your attention is drawn to the
notice convening the General Meeting of the Company, set out at the
end of this document, to be held at 10:00 a.m. on 6 January 2025.
At the General Meeting the following Resolutions will be proposed,
of which, Resolutions 1, 2 and 4 shall be proposed as ordinary
resolutions and Resolution 3 and 5 shall be proposed as special
resolutions.
1. Resolution 1: Issue and Consolidation of
Share Capital
THAT, subject to the approval of
Resolutions 2 and 3, in accordance with section 618 of the Act,
five (5) New Ordinary Shares will be issued, having a nominal value
of £0.001 (0.1p) each in the capital of the Company. The resultant
5,092,773,000 shares in issue be consolidated into 25,463,865
ordinary shares having a nominal value of £0.20 (20p) (such that
every, 200 ordinary shares having a nominal value of £0.001 each,
will be consolidated into one ordinary share having a nominal value
of £0.20 each), such shares having the rights and restrictions set
out in the Articles and that fractions of issued shares
arising on consolidation be aggregated and sold and the proceeds
retained by the Company.
2.
Resolution 2: Sub-Division
and Reclassification of Shares
THAT, subject to the approval
of Resolutions 1 and 3, in accordance with section 618 of the Act,
each ordinary share of £0.20 each in the capital of the Company be
and it is sub-divided and reclassified into one (1) ordinary share
of £0.001 each and one hundred and ninety-nine (199) deferred
shares of £0.001 each in the capital of the Company, with each
share having the rights and restrictions set out in the
Articles.
3.
Resolution 3: Amendment to
the Articles
THAT, subject to and
conditional upon the passing of Resolutions 1 and 2 above, with
effect from the conclusion of the General Meeting, the Articles by
amended by the insertion of a new Article 146 which sets out the
rights attaches to the Deferred Shares.
4.
Resolution 4: Share
Authorities
That, the Directors be and are
hereby generally and unconditionally authorised pursuant to section
551 of the Act to exercise all or any part of the powers of the
Company to allot shares and grant rights to subscribe for, or
convert any security into, shares of the Company up to an aggregate
nominal amount of £500,000 such authority (unless previously
revoked or varied) to expire at the conclusion of the annual
general meeting of the Company to be held in 2025, save that the
Company may before such expiry make offers or agreements which
would or might require relevant securities to be allotted after
such expiry and the directors may allot relevant securities in
pursuance of such offers or agreements as if the authority
conferred hereby had not expired.
5.
Resolution 5: Share
Authorities
That, subject to the passing of
Resolution 4, the Directors be and are hereby granted power
pursuant to section 570(1) of the Act to allot equity securities
(as defined in section 560(1) of the Act) for cash pursuant to the
authority conferred on them by Resolution 5 above as if section 561
of the Act did not apply to such allotment, provided that such
power be limited to:
i) the
allotment of equity securities which are offered to all the holders
of equity securities of the Company (at a date specified by the
directors) where the equity securities respectively attributable to
the interests of such holders are as nearly practicable in
proportion to the respective number of equity securities held by
them, but subject to such exclusions and other arrangements as the
directors may deem necessary or expedient in relation to fractional
entitlements and any legal or practical problems under any laws or
requirements of any regulatory body or stock exchange in any
territory or otherwise; and
ii) the
allotment (otherwise than pursuant to subparagraph (i) above) of
equity securities up to an aggregate nominal amount of £500,000,
and provided that this power shall expire on the conclusion of the
next annual general meeting of the Company to be held in 2025, save
that the Company may make an o'er or enter into an agreement before
the expiry of that date which would or might require equity
securities to be allotted after that date and the directors may
allot equity securities in pursuance of such an offer as if the
power conferred hereby had not expired
9. Action to be taken
You will find enclosed with this
document a Form of Proxy in respect of the General
Meeting.
Whether or not you propose to attend the General Meeting in
person, you are asked to complete the Form of Proxy and return it
to the Company's registrars, , Link Group at PXS 1, Central Square,
29 Wellington Street, Leeds, LS1 4DL or by email at
shareholderenquiries@linkgroup.co.uk,
so as to arrive as soon as possible, but in any event, so as not to
be received any later than 10:00 a.m. on 2 January
2025.
Completion and return of the Form of
Proxy will not preclude you from attending and voting at the
General Meeting in person if you wish.
10. Recommendation
The
Directors unanimously consider that the Capital Reorganisation and
the Subscription is in the best interests of the Company and the
Shareholders as a whole.
Accordingly, your Directors
unanimously recommend that you vote in favour of the Resolutions to
be proposed at the General Meeting, as they intend to do in respect
of their own beneficial holdings which, in aggregate, amount to
18,250,000 Existing Ordinary Shares, representing approximately
0.36 per cent. of
the Company's existing issued ordinary share capital.
Yours faithfully,
Anthony Fabrizi, Executive
Chairman
Forward looking statement disclaimer
Certain statements made in this
announcement are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements are not historical facts but rather are based on the
Company's current expectations, estimates, and projections about
its industry; its beliefs; and assumptions. Words such as
'anticipates,' 'expects,' 'intends,' 'plans,' 'believes,' 'seeks,'
'estimates,' and similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of
future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond the
Company's control, are difficult to predict, and could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in
the forward-looking statements. The Company cautions shareholders
and prospective shareholder holders not to place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements, which reflect the view of the
Company only as of the date of this announcement. The
forward-looking statements made in this announcement relate only to
events as of the date on which the statements are made. The Company
will not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions
or updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect events,
circumstances, or unanticipated events occurring after the date of
this announcement except as required by law or by any appropriate
regulatory authority.