REG - Avacta Group PLC - Result of Oversubscribed Fundraise

AvactaAnnouncement

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RNS Number : 3508Y  Avacta Group PLC  27 March 2026

 

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN IT, IS RESTRICTED AND IS
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR
INDIRECTLY, IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN,
SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR
DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE IN THIS
ANNOUNCEMENT.

 

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE MARKET
ABUSE REGULATION (EU) 596 / 2014 WHICH FORMS PART OF UK LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018 (AS AMENDED) ("MAR").

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Avacta Group plc

 

("Avacta" or the "Group" or the "Company")

 

Results of Oversubscribed Placing and Subscription

 

 

LONDON and PHILADELPHIA - March 27, 2026 - Avacta Therapeutics (AIM: AVCT,
"the Company", "Avacta"), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company
developing pre|CISION(®), a tumor-activated oncology delivery platform, is
pleased to announce that, further to the Company's announcement on 26 March
2026 (the "Launch Announcement"), the Company has conditionally raised gross
proceeds of £10 million through the Placing of 15,000,000 new Ordinary Shares
(the "Placing Shares") and Subscription for 873,016 new Ordinary Shares (the
"Subscription Shares") by certain Directors of the Company, in each case, both
at a price of 63 pence per Ordinary Share (the "Issue Price").

 

Together, the Placing Shares and the Subscription Shares in aggregate
represent approximately 3.60 per cent. of the existing issued ordinary share
capital of the Company and the Issue Price represents a discount of
approximately 9.35 per cent. to the closing mid-market price of 69.5 pence per
Ordinary Share on 25 March 2026, being the last trading day prior to
publication of the Launch Announcement. The Placing and Subscription are
conditional, inter alia, on Admission occurring and the Placing Agreement not
being terminated prior to Admission.

 

Zeus Capital acted as sole broker and sole bookrunner in connection with the
Placing and Subscription.

 

Capitalized terms used in this announcement but not otherwise defined have the
meanings given to them in the Launch Announcement, unless the context provides
otherwise.

 

 

Director Subscriptions

 

As described in the Launch Announcement, certain Directors, being Richard
Hughes and David Bryant (the "Subscribers"), have subscribed for 873,016 new
Ordinary Shares at the Issue Price, representing an aggregate investment of
approximately £550,000 pursuant to the Subscription.

 

 Director        Position                Aggregate Subscription Amount  Number of Subscription Shares  Resultant Shareholding  % of Enlarged Share Capital
 Richard Hughes  Non-Executive Director  £500,000                       793,651                        793,651                 0.17
 David Bryant    Non-Executive Director  £50,000                        79,365                         79,365                  0.02

 

 

Warrants

 

As detailed in the Launch Announcement, at the time Zeus Capital was appointed
as broker to the Company it was agreed that, on raising £20 million, Zeus
Capital would be issued with a warrant to subscribe for 1.0 per cent. of the
issued share capital of the Company at the time the warrant is to be issued,
at a price to be determined by reference to the price of a future capital
raise. Accordingly, having met the fundraising required, the Company has
agreed to issue Zeus Capital with warrants over 4,364,457 Ordinary Shares
(the "Warrants") representing 0.96 per cent. of the Company's Enlarged Share
Capital. The issue of the Warrants is conditional upon Admission becoming
effective.

 

Each Warrant entitles Zeus Capital to subscribe for one new Ordinary Share in
the Company at a subscription price of 63 pence per Ordinary Share (being the
same as the Issue Price). The Warrants will be exercisable for a period of 5
years, expiring on 7 April 2031 and Zeus Capital may exercise the Warrants (in
whole or in part) at any time during this period. Zeus Capital has undertaken
not to dispose of any Ordinary Shares issued to it pursuant to the exercise of
the Warrant before 7 April 2027, and then only in consultation with the
Company. The Warrants were issued under existing authorities granted to the
Directors.

 

Related Party Transactions

 

Director Participation in the Subscription

 

The participation of Richard Hughes and David Bryant in the Subscription, each
being Non-Executive Directors of the Company, constitutes a related party
transaction under Rule 13 of the AIM Rules for Companies.

 

The independent directors of the Company (being Chris Coughlin, Shaun Chilton,
Mark Goldberg, and Paul Fry), having consulted with Strand Hanson, the
Company's Nominated Adviser, consider that the Subscribers' participation in
the Subscription is fair and reasonable insofar as the Company's shareholders
are concerned.

 

Participation of Zeus Capital in the Placing

 

Zeus Capital subscribed for 317,476 Ordinary Shares at the Issue Price, for a
consideration of £0.2 million (the "Zeus Placing Participation"). Richard
Hughes, a Non-Executive Director of the Company, is an associate of Zeus
Capital, being a director and majority shareholder of Zeus Capital.
Accordingly, Zeus Capital is a related party of the Company, and the Zeus
Placing Participation constitutes a related party transaction under Rule 13 of
the AIM Rules for Companies.

 

The independent directors of the Company for the purposes of assessing the
Zeus Placing Participation (being Chris Coughlin, Shaun Chilton, Mark Goldberg
and Paul Fry), having consulted with Strand Hanson, the Company's Nominated
Adviser, consider that Zeus Placing Participation is fair and reasonable
insofar as the Company's shareholders are concerned.

 

Issue of Warrants

 

The Company has agreed to issue Zeus Capital with warrants over 4,364,457
Ordinary Shares representing 0.96 per cent. of the Company's Enlarged Share
Capital. Richard Hughes, a Non-Executive Director of the Company, is an
associate of Zeus Capital, as described above. Accordingly, Zeus Capital is a
related party of the Company and the issue of the Warrants to Zeus Capital
constitutes a related party transaction under Rule 13 of the AIM Rules for
Companies.

 

The independent directors of the Company for the purpose of assessing the
Warrants (being Chris Coughlin, Shaun Chilton, Mark Goldberg, David Bryant and
Paul Fry), having consulted with Strand Hanson, the Company's Nominated
Adviser, consider that the terms of the Warrants are fair and reasonable
insofar as the Company's shareholders are concerned.

 

Admission and total voting rights

 

Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the admission of the
Placing Shares and Subscription Shares to trading on AIM ("Admission"). It is
expected that Admission will become effective and dealings in such Ordinary
Shares will commence at 8.00 a.m. on or around 7 April 2026. The Placing
Shares and the Subscription Shares will be issued fully paid and will rank
pari passu in all respects with the Company's Existing Ordinary Shares.

 

Admission is conditional upon, among other things, the Placing Agreement not
having been terminated and becoming unconditional in all respects.

 

Immediately following Admission, the Company's enlarged issued ordinary share
capital will be 456,288,511 Ordinary Shares. This figure may be used by
holders of Ordinary Shares ("Shareholders") as the denominator for the
calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their
interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the
Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and
Transparency Rules.

 

 

 

-Ends-

 

For further information from Avacta, please contact:

 

 Avacta Group plc                                   https://avacta.com/ (https://avacta.com/)

 Christina Coughlin, Chief Executive Officer        via Cohesion Bureau

 Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated Adviser)          www.strandhanson.co.uk (http://www.strandhanson.co.uk)

 James Harris / Chris Raggett / James Dance

 Zeus (Broker)                                      www.zeuscapital.co.uk (http://www.zeuscapital.co.uk)

 James Hornigold / Ed Beddows / George Duxberry

 Benjamin Robertson / Dominic King / Alex Bartram

 Cohesion Bureau                                    avacta@cohesionbureau.com (mailto:avacta@cohesionbureau.com)

 Communications / Media / Investors

 Richard Jarvis

 

About Avacta - https://avacta.com/ (https://avacta.com/)

Avacta Therapeutics is a clinical-stage life sciences company expanding the
reach of highly potent cancer therapies through its proprietary pre|CISION(®)
platform. pre|CISION(®) is a payload delivery system based on a
tumor-specific protease (fibroblast activation protein or FAP) that is
designed to concentrate highly potent payloads in the tumor microenvironment
while sparing normal tissues. Avacta's innovative pre|CISION(®) peptide drug
conjugates (PDCs) leverage this tumor-specific release mechanism to provide
unique benefits over traditional antibody drug conjugates, releasing active
payload in the tumor and reducing systemic exposure and toxicity and allowing
dosing to be optimized to deliver the best outcomes for patients.

 

 

 1    Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely

    associated

 a)   Name                                                         i-          Richard Hughes

                                                                   ii-         David Bryant
 2    Reason for the notification

 a)   Position/status                                              I-          Non-Executive Director

                                                                   II-         Non-Executive Director

 b)   Initial notification /Amendment                              Initial notification

 3    Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction

    platform, auctioneer or auction monitor

 a)   Name                                                         Avacta Group Plc

 b)   LEI                                                          2138009U3EG31OPMGH36

 4    Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of

    instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each
      place where transactions have been conducted

 a)   Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument  Ordinary Shares of 10p each in the Company

      Identification code

                                                                   GB00BYYW9G87
 b)   Nature of the transaction                                    Subscription for Ordinary Shares

 c)   Price(s) and volume(s)                                       Purchase of shares:

  Price  Volume(s)

                                                                   i 63p    793,651

                                                                   ii  63p    79,365

 

 d)   Aggregated information

      - Aggregated volume                                          873,016

      - Price                                                      63p

      - Total Value                                                £550,000

 e)   Date of the transaction                                      27 March 2026

 f)   Place of the transaction                                     LSE, AIM Market

 

 

d)

 

Aggregated information

 

- Aggregated volume

 

- Price

 

- Total Value

 

 

 

873,016

 

63p

 

£550,000

e)

 

Date of the transaction

 

 

27 March 2026

f)

 

Place of the transaction

 

 

LSE, AIM Market

 

 

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