26 August 2015
Vela Technologies plc
("Vela" or the "Company")
Intention to invest in Blockchain Tech Limited
Placing to raise £250,000
Introduction
The Board of Vela (AIM: VELA), the investing company focused on early stage and pre-IPO disruptive technology investments, is pleased to announce that the Company has conditionally raised £250,000 (before expenses) through the issue of 125,000,000 new ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each in the Company (the "Placing Shares") with existing shareholders and new investors at a price of 0.2 pence per Placing Share (the "Placing").
The funds raised pursuant to the Placing will provide additional working capital for the Company and give it the flexibility to take advantage of potential investment opportunities in line with the Company's investing strategy.
Specifically, it is the intention of the Board to invest approximately £175,000 of the net proceeds of the Placing to acquire an equity stake in Blockchain Tech Limited ("BTL"), a technology company incorporated in the Isle of Man (the "Proposed Investment"). BTL, headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, is exploring applications of blockchain technology in a variety of existing industries, including money transmission, insurance, voting and smart contracts. BTL's current focus is on developing a remittance solution, Interbit, as well as providing consultancy services to firms looking to leverage blockchain technology. Interbit, based in London, is developing blockchain technology to offer remittances to up to 20 countries at competitive prices against the costs of existing remittance services.
Intention to invest approximately £175,000 in Blockchain Tech Limited
BTL has signed a binding letter of intent, dated 16 June 2015, with Northern Aspect Resources Ltd ("NARL"), a company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (NEX:NTH.H), in which NARL has agreed, subject to certain conditions, to acquire all of the issued and outstanding share capital of BTL (the "Transaction"). Upon completion of the Transaction the continuing business of NARL will be BTL and it is the intention for the company to be re-named Blockchain Tech Inc.. Subject to the certain conditions being met it is anticipated that the Transaction will complete around the end of September 2015.
The investment by Vela will be made into NARL, conditional on the Transaction completing. It is anticipated that Vela would have a c. 5% equity interest in the fully diluted issued share capital of NARL (expected to be re-named Blockchain Tech Inc.). Should the Transaction between NARL and BTL not complete the investment by Vela would not take place. There can be no assurance that the Transaction will be completed.
Further details on the Transaction are available at:
http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=76205081&qm_symbol=NTH.H
Placing to raise £250,000
The Placing is conditional, inter alia, on the passing of certain resolutions of the Company to enable the issue of the Placing Shares which will be proposed at a general meeting of the Company ("General Meeting"), expected to be held on or around 18 September 2015, and on admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM ("Admission"). A notice convening the General Meeting is expected to be sent to shareholders shortly.
The Placing is not conditional on the Proposed Investment completing. If the Proposed Investment did not complete the Company would put the funds towards other investment opportunities in line with the Company's investing strategy.
The Placing price represents a 4.8 per cent. discount to the Company's closing mid-market price of 0.21 pence on 25 August 2015, being the last practicable business day prior to this announcement. The Placing Shares will represent 21.4 per cent. of the enlarged issued share capital of the Company.
The Placing has been arranged by Vicarage Capital Limited, broker to Vela. The principals of Smaller Company Capital Limited, who act as an appointed representative to Vicarage Capital Limited, will own c. 14% of the fully diluted issued share capital of NARL on completion of the Transaction.
Following Admission the issued share capital of Vela will consist of 584,088,020 ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each, each carrying the right to one vote. Following Admission the total number of voting rights in the Company will therefore be 584,088,020 and this figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
Commenting on the successful equity placing and proposed new investment, Antony Laiker (Executive Director) said:
"Blockchain as a technology is currently creating considerable excitement, with household names like NASDAQ, UBS, Deloitte and BNP, to name but a few, at various stages of committing to developing blockchain applications. This may be just be the beginning. Applications of this technology extend beyond just financial transactions to almost any area of activity that would benefit from proving ownership or provenance to an asset- for example land registry or works of art.
BTL would be Vela's tenth investment. Following on from our recent updates on some of our portfolio companies, we anticipate being in a position to communicate further to shareholders on our portfolio of investments in the near future."
For further information please contact:
Vela Technologies plc |
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Brent Fitzpatrick, Non-Executive Chairman Antony Laiker, Director |
Tel: +44 (0) 7802 262 443 |
Allenby Capital Limited |
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Nick Athanas/Katrina Perez/James Reeve |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3328 5656 |
Vicarage Capital Limited (Broker) Rupert Williams/Jeremy Woodgate |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3651 2910 |
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