RCS - Aurrigo Int PLC - Placing and Proposed Admission to Trading on AIM

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12/09/2022 13:00

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RNS Number : 1330Z  Aurrigo International PLC  12 September 2022

 

 

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ISSUED AND TO BE ISSUED ORDINARY SHARES AND THE PROPOSED ADMISSION TO TRADING
ON AIM.

 

 

12 September 2022

 

Aurrigo International plc

 

Placing and Proposed Admission to Trading on AIM

 

Aurrigo International plc ("Aurrigo" or the "Company"), a leading
international provider of transport technology solutions, announces its
intention to seek admission of its shares to trading on the AIM market of the
London Stock Exchange ("Admission") and a placing (the "Placing") of
41,666,667 Ordinary Shares at 48 pence per Ordinary Share (the "Placing
Price"). The Placing has conditionally raised gross proceeds of approximately
£8 million, with support from high quality institutional investors. Singer
Capital Markets Securities Limited is acting as Sole Bookrunner and Placing
Agent and Singer Capital Markets Advisory LLP has been retained as Nominated
Adviser and Broker.

 

The Company will today publish its AIM Admission Document and has applied for
Admission with effect from Thursday 15 September 2022. Placing

 

Summary

 

·    Headquartered in Coventry, UK, Aurrigo has a 29-year history as a
manufacturer and supplier of product solutions to premium automotive OEMs.

·      It is highly regarded as a specialist in autonomous and
semi-autonomous technology solutions and is now moving into the aviation,
ground handling and cargo industries.

·    The Company has developed six autonomous vehicles to date, which can
be utilised to reduce costs, resolve operational issues and tackle labour
shortages, whilst also improving sustainability.

·     In order to capitalise on the global opportunity in aviation,
which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Aurrigo has raised £8
million to fund its strategic growth plans.

·     Based on the Placing Price, the market capitalisation of the
Company at commencement of dealings will be £20 million.

·    On Admission, the Company will have a total of 41,666,667 Ordinary
Shares in issue, with 12.9% of its Common Shares in public hands.

·      Proceeds of the Placing will be used to:

-     Realise the potential growth of the Company's Aviation Division;

-     Scale headcount at all levels, both in the UK and internationally;

-     Increase brand awareness and enhance the Company's profile; and

-     Capitalise on its early mover advantage, through the deployment of
Auto-Sim and Auto-Dolly, the company's lead products.

 

·      The Company has applied for admission to trading on AIM under the
ticker "AURR".

·   Admission and commencement of dealings on AIM are anticipated to take
place at 08:00 a.m. on 15 September 2022.

 

Prof. David Keene, CEO of Aurrigo, said:

"This transaction provides the company with essential funding to accelerate
our growth domestically and internationally. The global transportation market
is ripe for disruption. Aviation in particular has significant structural
constraints, with decades old equipment and labour shortages hampering its
recovery from Covid-19 and its long-term growth prospects. Our innovative,
autonomous technologies are ready to revolutionise airport ground handling of
baggage and cargo, and our simulation software can unlock efficiencies for all
aspects of airport operations worldwide.

"Our 29-year experience in automotive parts and systems development and our
expertise in complex project delivery programs means that we are very well
positioned to deliver on these products which have immense potential to solve
a serious industry problem internationally.

"An AIM IPO would represent a significant milestone for Aurrigo and provide a
platform to fulfil its great potential and make a meaningful difference to
airports, airlines, passengers and cargo around the world."

 

Except where the context requires otherwise, defined terms herein shall have
the meanings given to them in the AIM Admission Document.

Enquiries

 Aurrigo International plc                                   via Instinctif Partners

 Andrew Cornish, Non-Executive Chair

 David Keene, Chief Executive Officer

 Ian Grubb, Chief Financial Officer

 Singer Capital Markets (Nominated Adviser and Sole Broker)  +44 (0) 20 7496 3000

 Phil Davies, Rick Thompson, George Tzimas

 Kailey Aliyar

 Instinctif Partners (Financial Communications)              +44 (0)20 7457 2020

 Tim McCall, Rozi Morris, Mark Walter                        aurrigo@instinctif.com

 

Background on Aurrigo

Aurrigo is a leading international provider of transport technology solutions.
The company designs, engineers, manufactures and supplies OEM products and
autonomous vehicles to the automotive and transport industries. It is highly
regarded as a specialist in autonomous and semi-autonomous technology
solutions for the aviation, ground handling and cargo industries.

 

The company has three divisions, Automotive Technology, Autonomous Technology
and Aviation Technology.

 

Automotive Technology

Develops a range of components and systems including electronic control units,
wiring harness systems, interior and exterior parts, high level customer
delight features and safety critical systems. The division is IATF 16949 (the
highest automotive standard) and ISO 14001 accredited and is capable providing
customers with a complete vehicle engineering service. The division benefits
from long standing customer relationships which include Jaguar Land Rover,
Aston Martin Lagonda, Morgan Motors, Bentley, McLaren and others.

 

Autonomous Technology

Was established in 2016 to develop autonomous capabilities, supported by the
company's extensive experience in automotive vehicle engineering. It develops
and manufactures autonomous vehicles and supporting systems from the "ground
up".

 

The autonomous vehicle products which have been developed to date include:

·   Auto-Pod: a four-seat vehicle designed for non-road going passenger
transportation, e.g. around airports, city centres, sporting venues,
university campuses and age care communities.

·   Auto-Shuttle: a ten-seat passenger vehicle which can operate fully
autonomously, or be driven manually as a conventional electric vehicle, fully
road-legal.

·      Auto-Deliver: a one-off prototype, first and last mile, home
shopping/logistics vehicle.

·      Auto-Connect: Aurrigo's own purpose built, cyber resilient,
vehicle management platform designed to monitor, supervise and ultimately
capture revenues from the movements of all types of the company's autonomous
vehicles.

·     Auto-Stack: the company's proprietary Autonomous Driving Software
(ADS). Controls the core vehicle driving functions such as steering, braking,
drive power, multiple sensor integration, safety, location mapping,
localisation to the map and route and navigation guidance.

 

Aviation Technology

The Aviation Technology division was established in 2019 to exploit the
potential opportunity for the introduction of automated airport vehicles and
the supporting services both in consulting and operations. Its
proof-of-concept baggage movement vehicle was trialled at Heathrow Terminal 5
in 2019. The company has since developed and is trialling a number of electric
vehicle products:

 

·      Auto-Sim is a proprietary, sophisticated cloud-based tool which
can be used by airports, airlines and ground handling companies to model the
business case for the deployment of the Company's vehicles, including the
Auto-Dolly, Auto-DollyTug, Auto-Cargo and Auto-Patrol. It can also be used for
the simulation of all other currently manually driven airside vehicles and
operations.

·    Auto-Dolly is an innovative automated electric baggage
transportation solution for airports specifically designed to reduce baggage
and cargo loading and unloading times, improve movement efficiencies, improve
health & safety, significantly reduce manpower needs and operational
costs. It can carry a standard aviation baggage container called a ULD or
loose bags.

·   Auto-Patrol is an off-road prototype product designed to enable
autonomous unmanned remote security and surveillance.

·     Auto-DollyTug is designed to carry a standard aviation baggage
container called a ULD or loose bags like the Auto-Dolly product but with the
added benefit of being able to tow an additional three conventional baggage
dollies. The vehicle can operate fully autonomously or can be driven manually.

·    Auto-Cargo will be designed to carry a standard cargo pallet whilst
also towing a standard cargo trailer, thereby replacing the existing 'dockside
truck' and two dolly combination commonly used at airports.

 

Key Strengths

The Directors believe that the company has the following key strengths:

Industry leading, innovative solutions

·    Strong heritage of automotive expertise, underpinning efficient
design capabilities and ability to optimise the use of commonly available
automotive parts and techniques.

·    Created award winning, industry leading autonomous vehicles by
investing heavily in its proprietary products and software.

·      Developed and owns all IP relating to its autonomous vehicle
technology - valued at around £16m.

·   Continued investment in research and development of products and
software to maintain market leading position.

 

End-to-end solution for industry specific problems

·   The aviation industry is struggling with severe labour shortages since
Covid-19, exacerbated by the reliance on manual and inefficient processes.

·    Aurrigo has developed six autonomous vehicles which can potentially
reduce costs, resolve operational issues and tackle labour shortages for
airports, whilst also improving sustainability.

·     The Directors believe that there are limited alternatives to
Aurrigo's end-to-end solutions.

·  The Directors believe that Aurrigo's end-to-end solution including its
planning software, suite of autonomous vehicles and fleet management system is
a significant competitive advantage.

 

Global opportunity with long term structural growth drivers

·   The global transport industry is seeking to improve its processes,
tackle workforce shortages and reduce the environmental impact of
operations.

·     The Directors believe these trends will increase demand for smart
and sustainable solutions, offering significant future growth
opportunities.

·    Aurrigo's solutions will, in the opinion of the Directors, offer
faster turnarounds for airlines, providing strong selling efficiencies as
airlines look to replicate these and make demands of airports not utilising
Aurrigo solutions.

 

Strong relationships with leading customers and innovators

·    Aurrigo has supplied leading Tier 1 suppliers and
vehicle manufacturers for over 29 years, including Aston Martin, Bentley,
Jaguar, Land Rover, McLaren and Rolls Royce. Its consistent delivery of high
quality products has built long-term customer relationships.

·    Through developing autonomous vehicles specifically for the aviation
industry, Aurrigo has engaged with British Airways, Changi Airport
(Singapore), Gerald Ford International Airport (USA) and International
Airlines Group.

·    Aurrigo also has partnerships with prestigious brands such as Amazon
Web Services, Thales and Vodafone as well as with academic institutions
including the University of Warwick, University of Coventry and Aston
University to further develop and validate its technology.

·      Aurrigo's ability to attract high calibre customers and partners,
in addition to the recent progress within its pipeline underpin the Board's
confidence in its growth potential.

 

Management team and Board expertise

·    Aurrigo's established senior leadership team have extensive
experience across automotive engineering and manufacturing, as well as the
robotic and autonomous industries.

·  Proven ability to grow the business, successfully developing new
products and entering new geographies.

·   The PLC Board further enhances the profile and credibility of the
business and brings extensive experience of working within the automotive and
aviation industries.

 

Significant Addressable Market

The current methods of moving baggage, particularly from airport to airplane,
rely mainly on diesel powered vehicles, with very little change over the past
several decades. It has also remained a highly labour-intensive operation with
limited investment in updating the established methodology and vehicles used.

 

According to the 2021 report published by Research and Markets (Global Airport
Baggage Handling Market Report 2020-2025: Provision of End-to-End Solutions to
Present New Growth Opportunities), the airport baggage handling market is
poised for automation which will improve passenger experience and the
efficiency of baggage handling operations of airports. As at 29 July 2022, the
sector was estimated to grow to £12.3 billion per annum by 2027 with the
Company's estimated serviceable available market at an estimated £2.57
billion per annum by 2027.

 

Reasons for admission and use of proceeds

The Directors believe that the Placing and Admission will provide capital for
the Company's next stage of development. The net proceeds are intended to be
used to:

 

·    Accelerate the growth of the Company's Aviation Technology division
to deliver its target to provide baggage support operations to 22 airports by
the end of 2026;

·      Scaling headcount at all levels, both in the UK and
internationally, including hiring a dedicated Singapore-based team at Changi
Airport;

·      Increase brand awareness to enhance the Company's profile;

·   Capitalise on its early mover advantage, through the deployment of
Auto-Sim and Auto-Dolly, the Company's lead products; and

·      Continue product development and IP generation.

 

Board of Directors

Andrew Cornish - Non-Executive Chair

Andrew is currently CEO of Middlesex County Cricket Club and previously CEO of
Somerset County Cricket Club. However, it's in the aviation and automotive
industries that Andrew has spent the majority of his career as CEO of
Liverpool Airport Holdings Ltd, Executive Board member at Aer Lingus, and
Managing Director and Group Board Director at Manchester Airport Group. Prior
to aviation he was the Managing Director of Unipart's Automotive Division. His
early career was spent at Eastman Kodak, the majority of which was
internationally based, in various senior general management and marketing
roles. Additionally, Andrew has held a number of Non-Executive and external
roles including Ambassador for HRH The Prince of Wales at BITC, Member of ECB
anti-corruption committee, Chair of Manchester Enterprise Academy and Fellow
of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

 

David Keene - Chief Executive Officer

David has 39 years in the Automotive industry, including 29 years' ownership
of Aurrigo. David graduated from Coventry University with a BSc. in
Electronics Electrical Engineering and is a Fellow of the Institute of
Engineering and Technology (FIET) and the Royal Society for the Encouragement
of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA). David founded RDM Group, in 1993
after 11 years at Rover Group having started on the graduate recruitment and
development program and leaving at senior management level. David is a
founding member and sits on the board of the UK Automotive Council which has
set the strategy for Automotive in the UK for the last 12 years and the board
of Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) High Value Manufacturing Catapult. In
2016 David was awarded visiting Professor status at Coventry University in
Autonomous Vehicles. David is regularly interviewed as an authority on
automotive design and manufacturing as well as autonomous vehicle and systems
development.

 

Ian Grubb - Chief Financial Officer

Ian joined Aurrigo as CFO in February 2022 and brings with him a wealth of
financial and senior management experience. Ian has extensive accountancy
experience from a broad spectrum of industries. A competent strategist capable
of developing systems and people and can manage, motivate, train and develop a
team in a highly pressurised and challenging work environment. His previous
roles include, Leacy Classic Motor Group, Jupiter Marketing Limited and
associated companies, fresh fruit and vegetable import and distribution group,
THE Distribution Ltd - a business dealing in warehouse and distribution of
home entertainment products, Holiday Hypermarket - a travel agency with 37
hypermarkets, Red Mill Snack Food Ltd and TSB plc. Ian trained at Touche Ross
and progressed to audit manager in his 4 year term there.

 

Graham Keene - Corporate Development Officer

Graham has 37 years' experience across management services, production and
finance in automotive and manufacturing. Graham has held both the
manufacturing director role and CFO position at RDM Group for last 29 years.
Previous roles included Royal Doulton 1986 - 1988 In their Management Services
Section, Sandwell MBC 1988 - 1990 Business Process Development in the areas of
contract tendering procedures and commercial management with the private
sector, West Midlands Fire Service 1990 - 1991 organisational development for
preventative maintenance procedures and cost restructuring associated with
maintenance functions, Hereford and Worcester CC 1991 - 1995 organisational
development including local government restructuring, organisational change
management, financial management. Graham founded Richmond Design and Marketing
Ltd (RDM Group) in Feb 1993 with David Keene.

 

Penelope (Penny) Coates - Non-Executive Director

Penny's executive career began in Manufacturing with Mars and then Walkers
Snackfoods (PepsiCo), followed by Retail, first in strategy development at
Boots then becoming a Director of various business units, and then of Own
Brand for Asda (Walmart). Penny next moved into Airport management with the
Manchester Airport Group as MD of Airports, Group COO and Main Board Director.

 

Transitioning to Non Executive Director and Trustee roles, Penny recently
spent a year as interim Chair for the successful development phase of the East
Midlands Freeport (from bid to the start of trading). Penny is now Deputy
Chair of Chester Zoo, Advisor to the Councils of Birmingham (in relation to
Birmingham Airport), a Non Executive Director of Supply Pilot, a Trustee of
the National Forest and a Trustee of the National Space Centre. Penny is also
a Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Leicestershire.

 

Penny has prior Non-Executive and advisory experience with the Airport
Operators Association, AMP Capital (member of Luton Airport Board), The
Cooperative Society, Loughborough University and Melton Building Society.

 

Joseph Elliott - Non-Executive Director

Joseph has considerable experience in the automotive industry and has
previously been chairman of both SPA DIY Motor Stores and A1 Motor Stores. He
is a director and trustee of Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust. Previously he
served on the Society of Motor Manufactures Aftermarket Committee from 1990 to
2000 and was Coventry City Football Club Chairman in 2007. He ran his family
firm, Elliott's car parts and accessories from 1959 to 2004 and has held
numerous other roles including, Chairman and Director of A1 Motor Stores
1983-1991, Director Baby Lifeline Charity 1988-1996, Chairman Coventry
Transport Museum 2003-2013, Director Culture of Coventry, 2013-present,
Coventry City of Culture 2021 Development Board Director 2020-present and
NSPCC Coventry Business Board 2011-2019 Director/Trustee.

 

Lewis Girdwood - Non-Executive Director

Lewis is currently CFO of Esken, a London stock exchange listed company who
own Southend airport and provide GSE services to airports such as Manchester
and have an energy company as part of the group. Lewis was appointed to Esken
on 1 April 2019. Lewis previously served as CFO to IAG Cargo Limited, which
provides global cargo services to British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and
other IAG airlines. Prior to that, he was Head of Financial Planning and
Analysis at easyJet, responsible for financial business partnering across the
airline. Lewis has also held senior finance roles at Premier Foods PLC,
British Bakeries Limited and Racal Electronics Group International. He is also
a member of the Audit Committee of charity Tommy's.

 

A copy of the Admission Document will be available on the Company's website
at www.aurrigo.com (http://www.aurrigo.com)

 

Important notice

 

The information contained in this announcement is for background purposes only
and does not purport to be full or complete. Any purchase of the Company's
shares on Admission should be made solely on the basis of the information
contained in the Admission Document. No reliance may or should be placed by
any person for any purpose on the information contained in this announcement
or its accuracy, fairness or completeness. The information in this
announcement is subject to change.

 

Certain figures contained in this announcement have been subject to rounding
adjustments. Accordingly, in certain instances, the sum or percentage change
of the numbers contained in this announcement may not conform exactly with the
total figure given.

 

Forward-looking statements:

 

This announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be,
''forward-looking statements''. These forward looking statements can be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms
''believes'', ''estimates'', ''anticipates'', ''expects'', ''intends'',
''plans'', ''may'', ''will'' or ''should'' or, in each case, their negative or
other variations or comparable terminology. All statements other than
statements of historical fact included in this announcement are
forward-looking statements. They appear in a number of places throughout this
announcement and include statements regarding the Directors' or the Group's
intentions, beliefs or current expectations.

 

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties
because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not
occur in the future and therefore are based on current beliefs and
expectations about future events. Forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and the Group's actual operating results and
financial condition, and the development of the industry in which it operates
may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking
statements contained in this announcement. In addition, even if the Group's
operating results, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of
the industry in which the Group operates are consistent with the forward-
looking statements contained in this announcement, those results or
developments may not

be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods. Accordingly,
prospective investors should not rely on these forward-looking statements.

 

These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this
announcement. The Company and Singer Capital Markets expressly disclaim any
obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any
forward looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the
Company's expectations with regard thereto, any new information or any change
in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based,
unless required to do so by law or any appropriate regulatory authority.

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