Pires Investments - Two-year £1.235 million Unsecured Loan Facility
22/12/2022 11:22
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RNS Number : 6489K Pires Investments PLC 22 December 2022
22 December 2022
Pires Investments plc
("Pires" or the "Company")
Two-year £1.235 million Unsecured Loan Facility
Pires Investments plc (AIM: PIRI), the investment company focused on
next-generation technology, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a
two-year £1.235 million unsecured loan facility with a group of investors
(the "Investors") in order to provide it with additional funding flexibility.
Highlights
· The facility comprises a two-year £1.235 million unsecured loan
facility accruing interest at 7.5% per annum with a bullet repayment of
principal and interest at the end of the term. Warrants over 47,839,284 new
ordinary shares have been issued to the Investors which will vest if the
average of the Company's volume-weighted average price over five consecutive
trading days exceeds 5.163 pence within the three-year exercise period of the
warrants (the "Warrants"). The warrant exercise price is 4 pence, which
represents a 60% premium to the closing mid-market price of 2.5 pence per
Pires ordinary share on 21 December 2022.
· The Board believes that it is important to ensure that the Company has a
number of financing options available to enable it to actively progress its
investment strategy, particularly when current market conditions are
attractive for investment by the Company.
· The current expectation of short to medium-term realisations from the
Company's investment portfolio also means that permanent equity capital may
not be required, therefore this funding structure potentially reduces dilution
for existing shareholders by enabling the funding to be repaid from cash
received from investment realisations rather than the issue of equity.
· In the event of the Company achieving realisations or raising new
equity, the debt facility requires that a certain portion of the net proceeds
will be paid to the Investors, reducing the amounts owed under the loan
facility.
· This loan facility provides the Company with a more attractive
alternative to an equity placing at, most likely, a discount to its current
market value. The Investors include Barry Downes, Brian Kinane and Greg
D'Ambrosio who are partners or senior management at Sure Valley Ventures, the
venture capital firm that manages certain of the funds that the Company is
invested in.
· The Warrants issued have a three-year exercise period from the date
of grant, being 22 December 2022 and may also provide an additional source of
funding for the Company depending on the Company's future share price
performance.
Nicholas Lee, Director of Pires, commented:
"This facility provides us with flexibility and the ability to continue to
actively pursue our investment strategy at an opportune time when attractive
businesses are struggling to secure funding thereby providing us with
excellent opportunities for investment. We believe that the terms are
attractive for a two-year unsecured facility and provides the Company with
various financing options going forward."
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the UK
Market Abuse Regulation. The person who arranged the release of this
information is Nicholas Lee, Director of the Company.
Enquiries:
Pires Investments plc Tel: +44 (0) 20 3368 8961
Nicholas Lee, Director
Nominated Adviser Tel: +44 (0) 20 7213 0880
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP
Liam Murray/Ludovico Lazzaretti
Broker Tel: +44 (0) 20 7469 0935
Peterhouse Capital Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20 7469 0936
Duncan Vasey/Lucy Williams
Financial media and PR Tel: +44 (0) 20 3004 9512
Yellow Jersey
Sarah Hollins
Henry Wilkinson
Annabelle Wills
Notes to Editors
About Pires Investments plc
Pires Investments plc (AIM: PIRI) is an investment company providing investors
with access to a portfolio of next generation technology businesses with
significant growth potential.
The Company is building an investment portfolio of high-tech businesses across
areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Cyber Security,
Machine Learning, Immersive Technologies and Big Data, which the Board
believes demonstrate evidence of traction and the potential for exponential
growth, due to increasing global demand for development in these sectors.
For further information, visit: https://piresinvestments.com/
(https://piresinvestments.com/)
Caution regarding forward looking statements
Certain statements in this announcement, are, or may be deemed to be, forward
looking statements. Forward looking statements are identified by their use of
terms and phrases such as ''believe'', ''could'', "should" ''envisage'',
''estimate'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'', ''potentially'', "expect",
''will'' or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions,
including references to assumptions. These forward looking statements are not
based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations
and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth, results of operations,
performance, future capital and other expenditures (including the amount,
nature and sources of funding thereof), competitive advantages, business
prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements reflect the
Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information
currently available to the Directors.
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