REG - Tirupati Graphite - Update on Tirupati Speciality Graphite

Tirupati GraphiteAnnouncement

21/08/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 8455J  Tirupati Graphite PLC  21 August 2023

 

21 August 2023

Tirupati Graphite plc

('Tirupati', 'TG' or the 'Company')

Update on TSG

Tirupati Graphite plc (TGR.L, TGRHF.OTCQX) (the "Company") the specialist
graphite producer and a supplier of critical minerals for the green transition
economy, provides an update with regards to the potential business combination
and ongoing relationship with Tirupati Speciality Graphite Private Limited
(now renamed PranaGraf Materials & Technologies Private Limited) ("TSG" or
"PranaGraf").

 

PranaGraf is an Indian Company engaged in the manufacturing and development of
downstream flake graphite products and projects, research and development of
graphene and advanced materials, and development of mineral processing
technologies. The recent rebranding of TSG as PranaGraf better reflects the
business and its strategy; however, it does not change the relationship it has
with TG.

 

Given the synergies between TG and PranaGraf, on 10 October 2018 the two
parties agreed to a business combination arrangement under a share swap deal.
 However, due to unforeseen regulatory restrictions, the acquisition could
not be completed, and therefore no investment has been made by Tirupati into
PranaGraf.

 

Following a review by a Board subcommittee which appointed a top tier Indian
legal advisor, TG announced on 11 July 2022 that it had identified a number of
options:

 

·    continued pursuit of regulatory approval for the Proposed
Acquisition;

·    exploring the possible participation in alternative investment
vehicles for investment in TSG; and

·    exploring possible commercial arrangements with TSG.

 

In the meantime, the Company has focused its resources on its twin priorities
of:

 

i)             addressing the operational challenges at its
graphite mines in Madagascar primarily caused by extreme weather conditions to
enable the ramp-up of production, and

ii)            completion of the acquisition of Suni Resources
which owns two ready to develop globally significant DFS Status graphite
projects in Mozambique.

 

Having now completed these two strategic imperatives, TG intends to focus its
efforts to develop the options identified last year in order to reach a
workable arrangement with PranaGraf.

 

Shishir Poddar, Executive Chairman of Tirupati Graphite, said:

 

"The 2018 agreement between Tirupati and PranaGraf to combine the businesses
has been frustrated by regulatory restrictions. The many benefits encourage us
to continue to seek solutions to enable a combination to be executed. Having
completed the acquisition of Suni Resources and arranged the progress of ramp
up of production at our Madagascar projects, we are now well placed to focus
on this and shall update the markets as we progress further."

 

ENDS

 

For further information, please visit https://www.tirupatigraphite.co.uk/
(https://www.tirupatigraphite.co.uk/) or contact:

 

 Tirupati Graphite Plc

 Puruvi Poddar - Chief of Corporate & Business Development        admin@tirupatigraphite.co.uk (mailto:admin@tirupatigraphite.co.uk)

                                                                  +44 (0) 20 39849894
 Optiva Securities Limited (Broker)

 Ben Maitland - Corporate Finance                                 +44 (0) 20 3034 2707

 Robert Emmet - Corporate Broking                                 +44 (0) 20 3981 4173

 FTI Consulting (Financial PR)                                    +44 (0) 20 3727 1000

 Ben Brewerton / Nick Hennis / Lucy Wigney                        tirupati@fticonsulting.com

 

About Tirupati Graphite

 

Tirupati Graphite Plc is a specialist graphite producer and a supplier of
critical minerals for the green transition economy.  The Company places a
special emphasis on "green" applications, including renewable energy and
energy efficiency, energy storage and thermal management and is committed to
ensuring its operations are sustainable as well.

 

The Company's operations include primary mining and processing in Madagascar,
where the Company operates two key projects, Sahamamy and Vatomina; 30,000 tpa
installed capacity of high-quality flake graphite concentrate with up to 97%
purity is currently being produced and sold to customers globally. The Company
has also acquired two advanced stage, and world class, natural Graphite
projects in Mozambique, and has commenced work to optimise the economics for
development of the construction initiated Montepuez project.

 

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