REG - Obtala Limited - Funding Update <Origin Href="QuoteRef">OBT.L</Origin>

WoodboisAnnouncement

02/10/2017 07:01

RNS Number : 3352S
Obtala Limited
02 October 2017
2 October 2017 
Obtala Limited
("Obtala", the "Group" or the "Company")
(AIM: OBT)
Funding Update
Obtala Limited (AIM: OBT), the African focused agricultural and forestry company, is pleased to announce that it has raised an additional $2 million from a further and final subscription for preference shares in Argento Limited (Obtala's 75% owned forestry subsidiary) in accordance with the terms announced on 1st December 2016. 
6,000 additional Argento Preference shares are to be issued at a price of US$350 per share, bringing the total in issue to 75,000 which is the maximum number of Preference Shares permitted for issue. There were 6 investors which were a mix of HNWs as well as further management and significant shareholder investments.
Proceeds from the committed US$2.0m are to be received during the following settlement periods:
 On or before:
 29th September 2017  US$250,000
 31st October 2017                      US$750,000
 30th November 2017   US$1,000,000
The Directors and significant shareholder of the Company who have agreed to further invest the following principal amounts on or before 31st October 2017 for Argento Preference shares are:
Miles Pelham  Chairman $100,000 286 Argento shares
Paul Dolan   CEO $100,000 286 Argento shares
Frank Scolaro Founder       $100,000 286 Argento shares
The above parties are considered Related Parties for the purposes of the AIM Rules. The Directors who are not involved in the transaction consider, having consulted with the Company's Nominated Adviser, that the terms of the Placing are fair and reasonable in so far as its Shareholders are concerned. The total Argento Preference Shares now held by the Directors and significant shareholder following this subscription are now:
Miles Pelham  Chairman 7,072 Argento shares
Paul Dolan   CEO 1,001 Argento shares
Frank Scolaro Founder 715 Argento shares 
Considering the successful completion of this round, the Company has decided to cease discussions with Jiangsu Dolphin International Trading Co. Ltd and terminate the subscription agreement signed 2nd May 2017, due to ongoing regulatory issues that the Board could not ascribe a definitive timeline to the resolution of.
As noted in our initial Argento Preference Share subscription announcement on 1 December 2016, monies raised ($20.25m in total) will be used to fund exponential increases in production capability at Argento Ltd, working capital for Obtala, and investment into agricultural production in Tanzania. Now that the Company has a substantial forestry trading division acquired through the acquisition of WoodBois International ApS, our immediate focus is to secure tranches of $25m in trade finance to fund the working capital required for accelerated growth trading revenues and profits, as noted in our Q3 2017 Quarterly Business Update.
Miles Pelham, Chairman of Obtala, commented "Completion of this final Preference Share funding represents an important step for the company as we accelerate the monetization of our latent assets. Asian investor appetite remains healthy and we hope to expand access to this investment by actively pursuing a dual-listing. 
The progress of the company over the last twelve months and exponential growth in revenues will leave us well positioned to attract further capital investment from Asia as we seek to deliver on our transformation strategy".
Obtala Limited
Miles Pelham - Chairman
Paul Dolan - CEO
Martin Collins - Deputy Chairman
www.obtala.com
+44 (0)20 7099 1940
ZAI Corporate Finance Limited (Nomad)
John Treacy
+44 (0)20 7060 2220
Brandon Hill Capital (Joint Broker)
Jonathan Evans
+44 (0)20 3463 5000
Beaufort Securities Limited (Joint Broker)
Jon Belliss
+44 (0)20 7382 8300
This announcement contains inside information forthe purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014. 
Further Information
Terms of the Argento Preference share
Issue Date 1st December 2016
Tenor Perpetual
Denomination                  $350
Preferred Dividend 5%
Ordinary Dividend              Yes
Takeover ratchet                Yes, 150% upon change of control
Drag along rights               Yes
Tag along rights                 Yes
Convertible period              30thAugust 2017 and perpetually onwards
Conversion property Either of the following, at the choice of Preference share holder:
     a.Into Argento Limited ordinary shares on 1-for-1 basis
     b.Into Obtala Limited ordinary shares on a 1-for-1435 basis
Obtala Conversion price        20p (using deal FX rate of 1.22)
Dilution protection             Yes
Full conversion of the 6,000 Preference shares now agreed to be issued into new Obtala ordinary shares would result in the issue of a further 9,594,000 new Obtala ordinary shares, representing approximately 3.27 per cent. of Obtala's existing issued ordinary share capital.

This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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