28 January 2020
Clear Leisure Plc
(“Clear Leisure” or “the Company”)
PBV Monitor and ForCrowd
Business Update
The Board of Clear Leisure (AIM: CLP) is pleased to give shareholders an
update on its technology investment portfolio:
PBV Monitor srl (“PBV”)
PBV, the Italian legal database company in which the Company has a 10%
interest, has received an investment of €300,000 from an Italian investment
company which has also held a minority stake in Clear Leisure since 2017. The
funds have been raised at a pre-new money valuation of €3m, similar to
the valuation at which Clear Leisure made its own investment in PBV in
December 2018.
The investment of €300,000 will comprise an investment of €150,000 in PBV
equity and a €150,000 subscription for a PBV 18-month convertible loan note
with an annual interest rate of 10%. Should the loan note be converted into
PBV shares at the end of the 18-month term it will be on the same valuation as
the investment in PBV equity.
Clear Leisure intends to maintain its holding in PBV at 10% by subscribing for
€15,000 in PBV equity and €15,000 in the PBV convertible loan on the same
terms as described above.
The process to integrate services with Italy’s second largest financial news
publishing group, as announced on 31 October 2019, has taken longer than the
board of PBV expected and its Intelligence Search online service is still
under final testing due to increased categorisation capabilities being added
to the search engine. The board of Clear Leisure, however, remains confident
that its investment in PBV represents a unique opportunity and this view is
shared by the new investor.
PBV has confirmed that the initial legal awards event: “Best Italian Lawyers
and Best Law Firms in Italy”, organised by Class Editori Group in Milan is
being held on 5 February. PBV is providing all the category data for the
awards which will allow the judging panel to choose the winners at the event.
The awards, part of the previously announced strategic partnership between PBV
and Class Editori Group, will generate revenues for PBV, under an agreed
revenue sharing scheme.
ForCrowd srl (“ForCrowd”)
ForCrowd has appointed additional members to its board and, subject to the
approval of Commission Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa (“CONSOB”)
the Italian regulator Clear Leisure’s CEO and executive chairman, Francesco
Gardin, will become ForCrowd’s chairman : he will not receive any
remuneration for this role. In the event that any fees for his services are
approved at a future date, they will be paid to Clear Leisure.
ForCrowd is currently reviewing applications to raise funds via its platform
from three Italian companies operating in renewable energy, real estate and
online business cost optimisation services respectively. The applications must
satisfy strict criteria, both from a business perspective and for compliance
with CONSOB crowdfunding admission regulations.
Francesco Gardin, Chairman and CEO of Clear Leisure, commented, “With the
help of respected external investors whom we have introduced to our investee
companies, we believe the Company’s technology investment strategy is taking
shape with PVB’s new fund raising being the first example of this. The
Company is now in talks with several further investment entities, interested
in making direct investments in our existing portfolio companies.
“My proposed appointment as ForCrowd’s Chairman will, we believe, better
facilitate ForCrowd’s approach with potential institutional investors, such
as the Italian Universities’ incubators, particularly in the Milan area. The
strategy will be to offer these institutions framework agreements to enable
their many start-up vehicles special terms for fund raising on the ForCrowd
platform.”
-ends-
For further information please contact:
Clear Leisure Plc
Francesco Gardin, CEO and Executive Chairman
+39 335 296573
SP Angel Corporate Finance (Nominated Adviser & Broker)
Jeff Keating / John Mackay
+44 (0)20 3470 0470
Leander (Financial PR)
Christian Taylor-Wilkinson
+44 (0) 7795 168 157
About Clear Leisure Plc
Clear Leisure plc (AIM: CLP) is an AIM listed investment company which has
recently realigned its strategic focus to technology related investments, with
special regard to interactive media, blockchain and AI sectors. The Company
also owns shareholdings in a number of historic investments primarily in the
Italian real estate companies, which it is currently seeking compensation
through court action.
For further information, please visit, www.clearleisure.co.uk
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