REG - Active Energy Group - New debt facility and notice of results <Origin Href="QuoteRef">AEGR.L</Origin>

Active EnergyAnnouncement

06/09/2014 02:19

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RNS Number : 5358J
Active Energy Group PLC
13 June 2014 
 
Active Energy Group Plc
("Active Energy Group" or the "Group" or the "Company" or "AEG") 
 
New debt facilities and preliminary results timing 
 
On 10 April 2014, Active Energy Group Plc (AIM:AEG), the fast-growing
pan-European supplier of wood chip for the Biomass for Energy ('BFE') and MDF
manufacturing industries, which is developing a unique high-energy Biomass
fuel granule and granule manufacturing solution, announced inter alia that it
had secured a US$2 million facility with its largest shareholder, Gravendonck
Foundation, which holds approximately 27.4% of AEG's issued share capital
(approximately 30.5% excluding shares held in treasury). 
 
The Board now announces that on Thursday 12th June 2014, AEG secured an
additional 365 day US$1 million facility from Gravendonck Foundation, also at
an interest rate of 15% pa. This facilityis intended to be used to finance the
acquisition of a new wood cutting machine and a new rotor for the existing
wood cutting machine at Yuzhny Port in Odessa, Ukraine, which AEG uses for its
shipments of woodchip to MDF manufacturers in Turkey. 
 
The Directors, having consulted with the Company's nominated adviser, consider
the terms of this new Gravendonck facility to be fair and reasonable insofar
as the Group's shareholders are concerned. 
 
The Board also announces that AEG contemporaneously has entered into a
facility agreement whereby an unrelated Ukrainian company,
Industrial-Financial Company "Ruteks" Limited ("Ruteks"), will provide the
Group up to 20 million Ukrainian Hryvnias (UAH), approximately US$1.7 million,
which is repayable by 31 December 2014. This sum, which is provided under a
Ukrainian Fiscal Incentive Programme, is intended to be used initially to
finance the acquisition of additional volumes of timber which AEG would intend
to convert to wood chip and ship to MDF manufacturers in Turkey. Under the
terms of this agreement, Ruteks is entitled to a participation fee of US$5 per
tonne on all shipments financed under this agreement. The Company has drawn
down UAH10m of this facility. 
 
Finally, the Board anticipates that AEG will issue its preliminary results for
the year ended 31 December 2013 in the second half of June. 
 
Richard Spinks, Active Energy Group CEO, commented: "We are continuing to
trade well and are seeing opportunities for further business in Ukraine,
notwithstanding the political pressures in the country. These new facilities
will significantly increase the financial and operating capacity of AEG's
operations in the country and enable us to take advantage of various highly
attractive opportunities being presented to us in Western Ukraine". 
 
Enquiries: 
 
Active Energy Group plc
Richard Spinks, Chief Executive Officer                                       
         Tel: +380 503 942 702 
 
WH Ireland (Nominated Adviser and Broker)    
Chris Fielding                                                                
                                   Tel: +44 20 7220 1666 
 
Novella Communications
Tim Robertson / Ben Heath                                                     
                   Tel: +44 20 3151 7008 
 
About Active Energy Group: 
 
·   Company website: www.active-energy.com 
 
·   Active Energy Group Plc, a London Stock Exchange-listed company (AIM:
AEG), is a pan-European supplier of wood chip, high-energy fuel granules and
granule manufacturing systems for the Biomass for Energy ('BFE') and MDF
manufacturing industries. 
 
·   The Group, headquartered in London, currently operates from four locations
across Europe: 
 
o Ukraine, where it is the largest producer and exporter of MDF-quality wood
chip 
 
o Spain and Montenegro, from where it supplies BFE Biomass wood chip to power
plants in Italy 
 
o Northern Ireland, where it operates an R&D facility for its new Biomass fuel
granulating systems 
 
·   The Group is led by a highly experienced and dedicated management team
with a proven track record of working in the industries and regions from which
its revenues are generated. 
 
·   In June 2013, AEG acquired its major trading partner and raised in excess
of £3 million to facilitate future growth and expansion of its international
production and shipping facilities. 
 
·   In May 2014, the Group announced the formation of a new subsidiary, AEG
Pelleting Limited, to commercialise and market a revolutionary new Biomass for
Energy ('BFE') fuel granulating system that converts sawdust and other
industrial and agricultural co-products into valuable fuel granules for use in
large-scale power plants and micro-CHP boilers. 
 
·   European Biomass for Energy ('BFE') Market: 
 
o  Biomass-fuelled power is expected to account for over 50% of European
renewable energy, according to an EU directive on National Renewable Energy
Action Plans. 
 
o  EU directives and continued commissioning of new Biomass and CHP power
plants in Europe continue to generate additional demand for Biomass fuel, with
little visibility on where that fuel will be sourced. 
 
o  The European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) estimates that Biomass-based
energy production will grow from 43TWh (Terawatt Hours) in 2005 to 250TWh in
2020. 
 
o  Key NGO bodies such as the European Biomass Association and Eurelectric
(the European Union of the Electricity Industry) advocate establishing
harmonised, binding sustainability criteria for solid Biomass fuel. 
 
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange