Proposed Firm Placing and Placing and Open Offer
· * Accsys Technologies today announces a fundraising to raise gross proceeds of €30 million by way of a Firm Placing and Placing and Open Offer, which has been underwritten by Numis who are also acting as Joint Broker to the Company alongside Matrix.
· * The Firm Placing and Placing and Open Offer will comprise a total of 200,000,000 New Ordinary Shares at a price of €0.15 per New Ordinary Share, representing a 58.9 per cent. discount to the Closing Price of €0.365 per Existing Ordinary Share on 3 February 2011.
· * 99,698,736 New Ordinary Shares will be issued through the Firm Placing and 100,301,264 New Ordinary Shares will be issued through the Placing and Open Offer.
· * The Prospectus is expected to be published later today and, when published, copies can be obtained by contacting Accsys on +44 (0)208 150 8835 or by email at info@accsysplc.com and also from the registered office of Accsys at Kensington Centre, 66 Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UD and the offices of ABN AMRO Bank N.V. at Gustav Mahlerlaan 10, 1000 EA Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The Prospectus will also be available on the Company's corporate website (www.accsysplc.com/investor_governance.asp) and through the website of Euronext Amsterdam (Dutch residents only) at no cost.
· * The Group's growth strategy is to continue to pursue licensing opportunities but also to focus on increasing the Company's own Accoya® sale and production capability in order to realise the potential benefits resulting from the expected increase in the demand for Accoya®.
· * Net proceeds of the Firm Placing and Placing and Open Offer will be used to meet the short-term working capital requirements and on-going operating costs of the Group and to meet the costs of construction relating to the expansion of the Arnhem plant.
· * As this additional capacity is utilised, it is expected that the Group will move to a position of sustained profitability without any contribution from licence income being required.
Interim Management Statement
· * In the three month period to 31 December 2010, Accsys has continued to see increasing demand for Accoya® while building on the process improvements achieved over the course of the previous year.
· * During the period, underlying demand for Accoya®wood has continued with Accoya® wood revenues (excluding sales to Diamond Wood) increasing by 67% from €1.4m to €2.4m compared to the same quarter in the previous year.
· * Continued expansion of distribution network and new licensing opportunities:
o Three new distribution agreements signed, including the first in Chile, Australia, Belgium and Luxembourg;
o Option agreement signed with a major multinational corporation for a licence to build an Accoya® production plant in Europe together with the rights to sell Accoya® in a number of European countries.
* Further progress has also been made in the period with our Tricoya® joint development partner, Medite Europe Limited. We are confident that the joint development work will result in a decision to move forward with Tricoya®.
· * Continued focus on operational disciplines with a further 13% reduction in other operating costs in the quarter compared to the same quarter in the previous year.
Paul Clegg, CEO of Accsys, commented:
"The Firm Placing and Placing and Open Offer that is being launched today will provide us with the necessary funds for short term working capital requirements and ongoing operating costs. It will also allow us to expand our Arnhem production facility to keep pace with growing demand for Accoya® from around the world and an expectation of orders at significantly larger volumes than seen in the past. This growing demand is reflected by the recent signing of three new distribution agreements, including the first in each of Chile, Australia, Belgium and Luxembourg making a total of 24 distribution, supply or agency agreements.
Whilst the Group's growth strategy is to focus on increasing revenues from Accoya® we continue to pursue licensing opportunities which the Board believes will provide long-term profitability. The continued efforts of our business development team in furthering licensing agreements, including the signing of an option agreement, demonstrates Accsys' progression towards this long term goal. The money raised by the Firm Placing and Placing and Open Offer launched today will leave us well placed to meet our goals and to secure the future success of the Company."
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