REG - RiverFort Global Opp - Trading Update

Riverfort Global OpportunitiesAnnouncement

14/04/2022 07:30

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20220414:nRSN3949Ia&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 3949I  RiverFort Global Opportunities PLC  14 April 2022

 

 

 

14 April 2022

RiverFort Global Opportunities plc

 

("RGO" or the "Company")

 

Trading update

 

RGO is pleased to provide an update on its investment portfolio.

 

Debt and equity linked portfolio

 

The Company's debt and equity linked portfolio is performing well and
currently comprises over 20 investment positions in companies such as Jubilee
Metals plc, Deepverge plc, Challenger Exploration Limited and Troy Resources
Limited.  During the second half of 2021, traditional equity funding has been
readily available for small-listed companies, however, from the start of 2022,
these markets have become more difficult and we are seeing increasing demand
for the Company's capital which can be deployed so as to be specifically
tailored to a company's needs.

 

Smarttech247

 

Good progress continues to be made on the listing of Smarttech247, by way of
a proposed reverse takeover of Smarttech247 by Conduity Capital plc.
Smarttech247 is a global managed detection and response company with a leading
market position in security operations.  Its platform provides threat
intelligence with managed detection and response. Smarttech247's service is
geared towards proactive prevention using the latest in cloud, big data
analytics and machine learning, along with its incident response team.

 

The company also recently hosted a global cybersecurity conference in Dublin
which included over 25 speakers from organisations around the world who
discussed many aspects of cybersecurity, from new technologies and new attack
vectors to regulations that are reshaping cyber and business risks. Notable
speakers included representatives from Microsoft, IBM, NCIS and the Institute
of Cancer Research.

 

Following on from Smarttech247's performance for the period ended 31 July
2021, which represented a significant increase compared to the previous year,
the company has continued to win new clients, including a contract with an
innovative fintech company worth in excess of €600,000 over three years.
The company is also progressing the roll out of its stable of internally
developed automated security products currently consisting of the successful
ThreatHub (threat and vulnerability modelling and management) and NoPhish (an
AI driven phishing response solution to threat emails).

 

Smarttech247 continues to go from strength to strength as the world is
increasingly exposed to cybersecurity attacks which can wreak havoc at
companies and institutions around the globe.

 

RGO invested €1.4 million in Smarttech247 by way of a convertible loan in
May 2021.

 

 

Pluto Digital plc ("Pluto")

 

Pluto is a software technology company and operator in the decentralised
finance ("DeFi") and non-fungible tokens ("NFT")/Metaverse (virtual
environments) sectors.  Pluto has just finalised its audited accounts
("Accounts") and recently held a webinar to provide an update to its
shareholders.  The Accounts were prepared to 30 September 2021 and have been
fully audited.  They show that since March 2021, when the company raised £31
million in new funds, Pluto has grown its net assets by circa £30 million on
a net basis. Therefore, as at 30 September 2021, Pluto's net assets amounted
to £61 million or 9.5 pence per share.

 

Since then, Pluto has continued to progress its business which includes
working alongside Maze Theory Limited ("Maze Theory") a London-based digital
entertainment studio, to release high quality games that incorporate token
economics to empower the next generation of gamers.  As part of this
arrangement, Pluto is investing £4 million In Maze Theory and has formed a
new gaming blockchain and metaverse studio, called Emergent Games, as a joint
venture with Maze Theory.

 

Also, having fully acquired the YOP platform in September 2021, Pluto has been
actively developing this platform to help enable users to operate in and
navigate the DeFi space which has been growing strongly and which, by December
2021, is believed to have had circa US$275 billion of Total Value Locked.

 

On 8 April 2022, NFT Investments PLC ("NFT") announced that it was no longer
proceeding with its proposed acquisition of Pluto and therefore Pluto is
currently pursuing other alternatives to access public markets, which is most
likely to focus on Canadian markets.

 

For further details on Pluto Digital, please see the following link:
https://plutodigital.medium.com (https://plutodigital.medium.com)

 

RGO holds 21,666,667 shares in Pluto.

 

 

Pires Investments plc ("Pires")

Pires recently invested in a new Sure Valley Ventures ("SVV") fund ("SVV2"),
alongside the British Business Bank ("BBB") who have committed £50 million to
the new fund with other private investors, including Pires investing up to
£35 million.  SVV2 is being managed by the same team which, to date, has
been highly successful in achieving a number of cash realisations from, and
upward revaluations of, companies in the first SVV fund ("SVV1").

Furthermore, the profit share arrangements within SVV2 are designed to
encourage the involvement of private investors alongside the BBB, meaning that
Pires and the other private investors would expect to receive a significantly
enhanced share of the total return generated by the fund compared to industry
standard.

Also, Getvisibility, one of Pires' investments that it holds both directly and
via its holdings in SVV1 and Sure Ventures plc, has recently raised €10
million at a significantly higher valuation compared to when Pires first
invested.

Getvisibility, is a leader in data visibility and control, using
state-of-the-art artificial intelligence ("AI") to classify and secure
unstructured information. Getvisibility also provides risk and compliance
assessments as well as enforcing protection on sensitive data. The company
operates across the US, Europe and the Middle East and North Africa with a
presence in several industry sectors including banking, healthcare and the
public sector. Getvisibility's clients include a leading global producer of
energy and chemicals, a major airport group, one of the largest financial
institutions in the Middle East as well as US government entities in the
pharmaceutical and manufacturing sectors.

Pires' direct stake in Getvisibility (including its recent additional
investment) is now valued at circa €1,500,000 or over 4 times its total
investment cost to date since it made its first investment two years ago. In
addition, Pires has a further interest in Getvisibility via its 13% interest
in SVV1 and an indirect interest through its holding in Sure Ventures plc,
which together are now valued at circa €1,330,000. Pires' interest in
Getvisibility, in aggregate, is therefore now valued at circa €2,830,000.

RGO has a circa 19.54% shareholding in Pires.

 

RGO is currently progressing its audit for 2021 and a fuller trading update
will be provided with its full year results in the coming weeks.

 

 

Philip Haydn-Slater, Non-executive Chairman of RGO commented:

 

"We are very pleased with the progress of our investment portfolio with
significant positive developments being achieved at a number of our larger
investments. We are confident that we can achieve attractive returns from our
portfolio in the short term for the benefit of our shareholders.  We look
forward to publishing our 2021 results in the coming weeks."

 

 

 

Enquiries:

 

 RGO plc                                       Tel: +44 (0) 20 3368 8978

 Philip Haydn-Slater, Non-Executive Chairman

 Nicholas Lee, Director

 Nominated adviser                             Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396

 Roland Cornish/Felicity Geidt

 Joint Broker                                  Tel: +44 (0) 20 7562 3351

 Peterhouse Capital Limited

 Lucy Williams

 Joint Broker                                  Tel: +44 (0) 20 7186 9950

 Shard Capital Partners LLP

 Damon Heath

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation 2014/596/EU which is part of domestic UK law pursuant to the Market
Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) regulations (SI 2019/310).

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  TSTQZLBFLZLFBBK