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THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF EU REGULATION 596/2014 (WHICH FORMS PART OF DOMESTIC UK LAW PURSUANT TO THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018), AS AMENDED BY REGULATION 11 OF THE MARKET ABUSE (AMENDMENT) (EU EXIT) REGULATIONS 2019/310.

 

OTAQ plc

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

 

Results of Open Offer and Placing

 

OTAQ, a highly innovative technology company targeting the aquaculture, geotracking and offshore markets, is pleased to announce, that it has raised gross proceeds of approximately £751,577, pursuant to the Open Offer, as set out in the shareholder circular dated 12 October 2022 (the “Circular”).

 

The Company has received valid acceptances from Qualifying Shareholders under their Basic Entitlements in respect of 12,119,086 Open Offer Shares, and applications from Qualifying Shareholders under the Excess Application Facility in respect of a further 6,670,335 Open Offer Shares.  Total acceptances from Qualifying Shareholders under the Open Offer were accordingly received in respect of 18,789,421 Open Offer Shares, representing 62.2 per cent of the shares available to be applied for under the Open Offer.  Accordingly Excess Applications have been satisfied in full.

 

As announced on 12 October 2022 the Company has raised £2.0 million through the firm Placing of 50,000,000 New Ordinary Shares.  A further £400,000 has been raised by way of the Broker Option, which was exercised in full in respect of the subscription an additional 10,000,000 New Ordinary Shares as announced on 17 October 2022.  Together with the Open Offer the Company has raised gross proceeds of approximately £3.15 million (approximately £2.80 million, net of expenses), subject, inter alia, to the passing of the Resolutions at the Shareholder General Meeting to be held on 7 November 2022 and to Admission of the Enlarged Share Capital to trading on the Access Segment of the AQSE Growth Market, which is expected to take effect on 9 November 2022.

 

Pursuant to the Open Offer and Placing, including the exercise of the Broker Option, 19,697,355 Warrants will be granted to applicants under the Open Offer and placees under the Placing.

 

Working Capital

 

The net proceeds of the Placing, including the Broker Option, and Open Offer will provide the Company with sufficient funding for at least the next 12 months and will enable OTAQ to pursue the future strategy laid out in the Circular.

 

Directors’ participation in the Open Offer

 

The participation of certain of the Directors in the Open Offer is set out below

 

	Number of Existing Ordinary Shares	Percentage of Existing Ordinary Capital	Number of Open Offer Shares	Number of New Ordinary Shares following AQSE Admission	Percentage of Enlarged Share Capital following AQSE Admission	Number of Warrants following AQSE Admission
Alex Hambro	312,273	0.83%	375,000	687,273	0.59%	93,750
Philip Newby(1)	875,820	2.32%	500,000	1,354,676	1.18%	125,000
George Watt	210,910	0.56%	400,000	610,910	0.52%	100,000
Sarah Stoten	368,648	0.98%	625,000	993,648	0.85%	156,250

 

1. Philip Newby’s beneficial holding includes 349,606 Existing Ordinary Shares held by his wife, Diane Newby

 

Settlement and dealings

 

Application has been made to the Aquis Stock Exchange for the admission to trading on the Access Segment of the AQSE Growth Market (“Admission”) of the Enlarged Share Capital. It is expected that Admission will become effective at 8.00 a.m. on 9 November 2022.

 

Following completion of the Capital Reorganisation, the Placing, including the exercise of the Broker Option, and the Open Offer, details of which are set out in full in the Circular, the Enlarged Share Capital will be 116,547,473 ordinary shares of 1p each. The above figure of 116,547,473 may be used by Shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they can 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.

 

Capitalised terms not otherwise defined in the text of this announcement are defined in the Circular dated 12 October 2022 which is available for inspection on the Company’s website, www.otaq.com.

 

Enquiries:

 

OTAQ plc	+44 (0)1524 748028
Alex Hambro, Non-Executive Chairman
Phil Newby, Chief Executive Officer
Matt Enright, Chief Financial Officer
Dowgate Capital Limited	+44 (0)20 3903 7715
(Financial Adviser, AQSE Corporate Adviser & Broker)
David Poutney / James Serjeant / Russell Cook / Nicholas Chambers
Walbrook PR Limited	+44 (0)20 7933 8780 or
(Financial PR)	OTAQ@walbrookpr.com
Tom Cooper / Nick Rome	07971221972 or 07748325236