Cost reduction initiatives and issue of equity

9 July 2019

 

EQTEC plc

("EQTEC", the "Company" or the "Group")

 

Implementation of cash cost reduction initiatives and issue of equity

 

EQTEC plc (AIM: EQT), the technology solution company for waste gasification to energy projects, announces that, further to its announcement of 28 June 2019, certain Directors and senior managers of the Company have now agreed the following cash reductions to their remuneration:

·        Thomas Quigley, Non-Executive Director of the Company, has agreed:

-   that his remuneration for the period from 1 July 2019 until 31 December 2019 will be paid to him in arrears on the first business day following the end of this period and he has irrevocably undertaken to apply this sum (net of any required tax deductions) in subscribing for new ordinary shares of €0.001 each in the capital of the Company ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 0.33 pence per share (the "Conversion Price"), being equal to the placing price of the placing announced on 28 June 2019; and

-   that his remuneration for the period from 1 January 2020 until 30 June 2020 will be paid to him on a monthly basis on the last business day of each month and he has irrevocably undertaken to apply this sum (net of any required tax deductions) in subscribing for new Ordinary Shares in the Company at the Conversion Price,

(the "Non-Executive Remuneration Arrangement").

·        Ian Price and Gerry Madden, Executive Directors of the Company, have agreed:

-   that 40 per cent. of their remuneration for the period from 1 July 2019 until 31 December 2019 will be paid to them in arrears on the first business day following the end of this period and each has irrevocably undertaken to apply this sum (net of any required tax deductions) in subscribing for new Ordinary Shares in the Company at the Conversion Price; and

-   that 40 per cent. of their remuneration for the period from 1 January 2020 until 30 June 2020 will be paid to them on a monthly basis on the last business day of each month and, each has irrevocably undertaken to apply this sum (net of any required tax deductions) in subscribing for new Ordinary Shares in the Company at the Conversion Price,

(the "Executive Remuneration Arrangement"). 

·        Yoel Aleman and David Palumbo, senior managers of the Group, being Chief Technical Director and Commercial Director respectively, have agreed:

-   that 40 per cent. of their remuneration for the period from 1 July 2019 until 31 December 2019 will be paid to them in arrears on the first business day following the end of this period and each has irrevocably undertaken to apply this sum (net of any required tax deductions) in subscribing for new Ordinary Shares in the Company at the Conversion Price; and

-   that 40 per cent. of their remuneration for the period from 1 January 2020 until 30 June 2020 will be paid to them on a monthly basis on the last business day of each month and, each has irrevocably undertaken to apply this sum (net of any required tax deductions) in subscribing for new Ordinary Shares in the Company at the Conversion Price.

The Directors and senior managers have each undertaken that they will only dispose of any interest in the new Ordinary Shares until June 2020 through the Company's broker.

In addition, further to the announcement of 28 June 2019, the Company has agreed to issue 15,151,515 new Ordinary Shares to Mr Quigley, trading as Cloudberry Corporate Advisers, in lieu of corporate advisory fees in relation to the debt restructuring announced on 28 June 2019 (the "Cloudberry Shares").  On admission of the Cloudberry Shares, Mr Quigley will be interested in 15,345,063 Ordinary Shares representing 0.50% of the Company's issued share capital (as enlarged by the Cloudberry Shares).

 

Further to the announcement of 28 June 2019, the Company has also issued 30,773,543 warrants to subscribe for such number of new Ordinary Shares.

 

Related party transactions

 

As Directors of EQTEC, Ian Price, Gerry Madden and Thomas Quigley are related parties of the Company under the AIM Rules for Companies ("AIM Rules").  As a result, the Non-Executive Remuneration Arrangement, the Executive Remuneration Arrangement and the issue of the Cloudberry Shares are related party transactions pursuant to Rule 13 of the AIM Rules.  Accordingly, the independent Director of the Company (being Ian Pearson), having consulted with the Company's Nominated Adviser, Strand Hanson Limited, considers that the terms of the Non-Executive Remuneration Arrangement, the Executive Remuneration Arrangement and the issue of the Cloudberry Shares are fair and reasonable in so far as the Company's shareholders are concerned.

 

Admission and total voting rights.

 

Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for admission of the Cloudberry Shares to trading on AIM ("Admission").  It is expected that Admission will become effective and dealings in the Cloudberry Shares will commence on or around 15 July 2019.

 

Following Admission, the Company will have a total of 3,092,505,807 Ordinary Shares in issue carrying voting rights.  The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury.  Therefore, with effect from Admission, 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 Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

 

Enquiries

 

EQTEC plc	+353 (0)21 2409 056
Ian Price - Chief Executive Officer Gerry Madden - Finance Director
Strand Hanson - Nomad, Financial Adviser & Broker	+44 (0) 20 7409 3494
James Harris / Richard Tulloch / Jack Botros
IFC Advisory - Financial PR & IR	+44 (0) 20 3934 6630
Tim Metcalfe / Miles Nolan / Zach Cohen

 

Notes to Editors

 

About EQTEC plc

 

EQTEC's business model involves sourcing and providing assistance in developing waste elimination projects to which it will ultimately sell its EQTEC Gasifier Technology ("EGT") and O&M services.  EGT enables project developers to construct waste elimination plants and recover electrical and thermal energy from the waste streams.

 

EQTEC sources projects that have a local supply of waste in need of elimination and conversion.  It builds relationships and brings together the developers, the waste owners, the building contractors and funders.  It then supplies the energy recovery technology and provides engineering services to the projects. Furthermore, EQTEC will provide O&M services to the operating projects generating recurring revenues over the life of the projects.

 

The Company is quoted on AIM and trades as EQT.  Further information on the Company can be found at www.eqtecplc.com.

 

PDMR Notification

 

The notification below is made in accordance with the requirements of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR").

1.	Details of the persons discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Thomas Quigley
2.	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Non-Executive Director
b)	Initial notification / amendment	Initial notification
3.	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	EQTEC plc
b)	LEI	63540085VSYVDEINJO04
4.	Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
a)	Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument	Ordinary Shares of EUR0.001
	Identification code	IE00BH3XCL94
b)	Nature of the transaction	Issue of shares in lieu of fees
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Share Price (GBX) Volume(s) 0.33 pence 15,151,515
d)	Aggregated information - Aggregated volume  - Price	N/A
e)	Date of the transaction	9 July 2019
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue