22 April 2016
Greatland Gold plc
("Greatland" or "the Company")
Financing Update
Greatland Gold plc (LON:GGP), the London Stock Exchange AIM listed precious and base metals exploration and development business, is pleased to announce the Company has raised £460,000 through a strategic placing and subscription of shares in the Company.
Highlights:
§ Placing and subscription of 245,333,333 new ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each ("Ordinary Shares") in the capital of Greatland at a subscription price of 0.1875p per Ordinary Share, raising gross proceeds of £460,000 (the "Placing");
§ Placing and subscription undertaken at a discount of 6.25 per cent to the mid-market closing price as at 20 April 2016 of Greatland, the point at which the Company commenced the Placing;
§ Greatland Non-Executive Director Paul Johnson to participate in the Placing and acquire a further 13,333,333 Ordinary Shares for a subscription total of £25,000;
§ Issue of 245,333,333 warrants to subscribe for 245,333,333 new Ordinary Shares in Greatland at an exercise price of 0.375p per warrant, within a 24 month exercise period (i.e. one warrant issued at 0.375p for each ordinary share purchased at 0.1875p), potentially raising a further £920,000 for the Company at 0.375p, should the options be exercised;
§ The Placing is subject to approval at General Meeting, to be held on 11th May 2016. Further details of the General Meeting are below;
§ The net proceeds of the Placing will be used to augment existing working capital balances and to facilitate strategic project development of certain existing portfolio projects, whilst exploring potential new opportunities.
Callum Baxter, Executive Director of Greatland commented: "I am pleased to announce this additional fundraising which was undertaken with reference to the mid-price of Greatland's shares at the point the transaction was commenced.
The incoming net proceeds of the Placing, when added to existing cash resources, place the Company in a strong financial position with around £950,000 cash at bank and no debt.
Greatland now has the financial resources to move forward the most engaging current portfolio prospects and to seriously consider new opportunities that have the potential to add material value for shareholders. Further information will be provided to market in respect of the ongoing strategic review and the crystallisation of new opportunities as and when appropriate.
The Board believes that Greatland, particularly having now secured additional financing, is in a highly advantageous position to build value as the resource sector shows increasing signs of recovery."
Placing and subscription summary
Greatland has agreed a placing and subscription to raise £460,000 gross proceeds through the issue of 245,333,333 Greatland Ordinary Shares at price per share of 0.1875p (the "Placing Shares").
Each Placing Share issued has an accompanying warrant to subscribe for an additional Greatland new Ordinary Share at a price of 0.375p at any time within the 24 months following admission to trading of the Placing Shares (representing the issue of a total of 245,333,333 warrants). Should all of these warrants be exercised, a further £920,000 will be raised for the Company at a price of 0.375p.
Subject to shareholder approval of all resolutions at the General Meeting on 11 May 2016, including the approval of the issue of Ordinary Shares in lieu of remuneration to the Board (the "Salary Sacrifice Shares"), as announced on 20 April 2016, the 245,333,333 Placing Shares and the 47,428,570 Salary Sacrifice Shares are expected to be admitted to trading on or around 19 May 2016. For the purposes of the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules ("DTRs"), the issued ordinary share capital of Greatland following the issue and allotment of the Placing Shares and the Salary Sacrifice Shares comprises 1,485,099,848 Ordinary Shares with voting rights attached (one vote per share). There are no shares held in treasury. This total figure of 1,485,099,848 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculation by which they will determine whether they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in Greatland under the DTRs.
Director Proposed Share Purchase
Paul Johnson, a Non-Executive director of the Company is to participate in the Placing, subscribing for 13,333,333 Ordinary Shares, for a total consideration of £25,000. Paul Johnson's participation in the Placing constitutes a related party transaction pursuant to Rule 13 of the AIM Rules for Companies.
The independent directors, having consulted with Grant Thornton UK LLP, the Company's Nominated Adviser, confirm that they are satisfied that the terms of Paul Johnson's participation in the Placing are fair and reasonable insofar as the Company's shareholders are concerned.
Following the completion of the Placing, and assuming shareholders support the salary sacrifice proposal announced on 20 April 2016, Paul Johnson (and his associated parties) will hold an interest in 77,739,969 Greatland Ordinary Shares, representing 5.23 per cent of the Company's issued share capital and voting rights.
General Meeting
A General Meeting of the Company will be held at 11am on 11th May 2016 at the Company's Registered Office: 1 Adam Street, London, WC2N 6LE. A notice of meeting is being prepared and will be published via market announcement and posted to shareholders on Monday 25th April 2016.
The purpose of the meeting is to approve the Board's salary sacrifice proposal outlined in the Company's announcement dated 20th April 2016. In addition, in order to undertake the Placing, the Company will be seeking the approval of shareholders to issue and allot shares in the manner outlined above.
Enquiries:
Greatland Gold PLC
Callum Baxter / Andrew Bell
Tel +44 (0)20 7747 9980
Email: [email protected]
www.greatlandgold.com
Grant Thornton UK LLP (Nominated Adviser)
Colin Aaronson / Richard Tonthat / Daniel Bush
Tel +44 (0)20 7383 5100
SI Capital Limited (Broker)
Nick Emerson / Andy Thacker
Tel +44 (0)14 8341 3500
Finsbury (Media Relations)
Gordon Simpson / Olivia Simpson
Tel +44 (0)20 7251 3801
Notes for Editors:
Greatland Gold plc is London listed (LON:GGP) natural resource exploration and development company with a current focus on gold and nickel exploration projects.
The Company has four main projects; two situated in Western Australia and two in Tasmania. All projects are 100% owned by Greatland.
Greatland is seeking to identify large mineral deposits in areas that have not been subject to extensive exploration previously. It is widely recognised that the next generation of large deposits will come from such under-explored areas and Greatland is applying advanced exploration techniques to investigate a number of carefully selected targets within its focused licence portfolio.
The Company is also actively investigating a range of new opportunities in precious and strategic metals and will update the market on new opportunities as and when appropriate.
