Keras Resources plc / Index: AIM / Epic: KRS / Sector: Mining

29 October 2024

Keras Resources plc ('Keras' or the 'Company')

Subscription to Raise £372,500

Keras Resources plc (AIM: KRS) is pleased to announce that it has raised a total of £372,500 through a subscription of 14,900,000 new ordinary shares of 1 pence each ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 2.5 pence per Ordinary Share (the "Subscription Shares") (the "Subscription").

The Subscription is equally split between Christopher Grosso, a 17% shareholder in the Company, investing through the Diane Grosso Credit Shelter Trust, and Joseph Carbone, an investor introduced by Christopher Grosso.  

The funds raised will be used by the Company for general working capital.

Graham Stacey, CEO of Keras commented: "As we continue to grow and expand our product mix to include PhoSul®, a direct application product as opposed to our dry rock phosphate products used in various organic fertilizer blends, the move of our processing operations to Delta has been a key business overhaul which has needed the support of a key funder and my thanks to Chris Grosso for his continued support of our business model and structure, and for the introduction of Joseph Carbone who similarly supports the development of the organic agricultural space. We remain bullish about this growing market segment and a portion of the funds raised will go towards bolstering our team with sales personnel, which in the organic space requires very specific knowledge and relationships."  

Related Party Transaction

The Subscription by Christopher Grosso, a substantial shareholder in the Company, constitutes a related party transaction pursuant to AIM Rule 13 of the AIM Rules for Companies. The Board, all of whom are considered Directors independent of the Subscription, consider, having consulted with the Company's Nominated Adviser, that the Subscription is fair and reasonable insofar as the shareholders of the Company are concerned. 

Following the Subscription, Christopher Grosso will have a beneficial interest in 21,153,350 Ordinary Shares of the Company, representing approximately 22.17 per cent. of the enlarged share capital of the Company. 

Following the Subscription, Joseph Carbone will have a beneficial interest in 7,450,000 Ordinary Shares of the Company, representing approximately 7.81 per cent. of the enlarged share capital of the Company. 

Details of the Subscription

The Subscription has been conducted utilising the Directors' existing authorities to issue new Ordinary Shares. Application has been made for admission of the 14,900,000  Subscription Shares to trading on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange ('Admission').  It is anticipated that Admission will take place at 8 a.m. on or around 1 November 2024. The Subscription Shares will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares, which are currently traded on AIM.

Following Admission, there will be 95,397,177 Ordinary Shares in issue with each share carrying the right to one vote.  There are no shares currently held in treasury.  The total number of voting rights in the Company will therefore be 95,397,177 and this figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Rules and Transparency Rules.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 (as amended) as it forms part of the domestic law of the United Kingdom by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended). Upon the publication of this announcement via the Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

**ENDS**

For further information please visit www.kerasplc.com, follow us on Twitter @kerasplc or contact the following:

Notes:

Keras Resources (AIM: KRS) wholly owns the Diamond Creek organic phosphate mine in Utah, US. Diamond Creek is one of the highest-grade organic phosphate deposits in the US and is a fully integrated mine to market operation with in-house mining and processing facilities. Keras's 100% held subsidiary Falcon Isle Resources Corp. ("FIR") recently entered into a 50/50 Joint Venture with Idaho-based PhoSul LLC to produce PhoSul®, a certified organic 240 SGN granule tailored specifically to increase P₂O₅ available to crops, from FIR's Integrated Processing facility in Delta, Utah. The Integrated Processing Facility produces a variety of organic phosphate products including milled 10 mesh and 50 mesh P₂O₅ products as well as PhoSul® granules which can be tailored to customer organic fertiliser requirements.

The Company is focused on continuing to build market share in the fast-growing US organic fertiliser market and build Diamond Creek into the premier organic phosphate producer in the US .