Hybridan Small Cap Feast

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Audioboom 1,970p  £310.6m (BOOM.L)

The global podcast company, announced the continued expansion of its podcast network with the launch of three new podcasts from Audioboom Studios, the Company’s new production arm. Audioboom’s continued investment into content development will further grow the Company’s intellectual property, deliver increased gross margins to the business, expand audience reach, and develop premium advertising inventory. ‘Devils in the Dark’ launching February 28th, will be the first show from Audioboom Studios in the United Kingdom. Hosted by YouTube creator Helen Anderson and Danni Howard, they explore gruesome and totally shocking true crime cases in history. Celebrity make-up artist, comedian, self-proclaimed culinary queen and It’s Happening co-host, Joey Camasta, launched ‘Could I Get in Your Pantry’ on February 14th. The podcast sees Camasta welcome actors, comedians, podcasters and more to share a hook-up story and the meal that was involved. ‘National Park After Dark’ is a true crime, storytelling podcast. Every Monday, Co-hosts Cassandra Yahnian and Danielle LaRock explore a different morbid story within the US National Park System. Brendan Regan, Chief Content Officer of Audioboom, commented: “The level of passion and commitment our production team is bringing to these projects, alongside our roster of talented hosts, is a true testament to Audioboom’s focus on developing the most creative entertainment content in both the UK and US markets.”

Bango 183.5p  £139.5m (BGO.L)

The global platform for data-driven commerce, announces that multi-play communications company Entel has launched a new Apple Music bundled offer through the Bango Platform, initially in Chile. This launch of Apple Music is the fourth major content service launched by Entel using the Bango Platform, following Amazon Prime, Google and Netflix. Eligible subscribers to Entel’s mobile broadband and HOME products (a wireless broadband hub for accessing media services in the home) can receive Apple Music at no charge for an introductory period of 6 months. The offer, entitlement management and upsell of this Apple Music offer are provided to customers through the Bango Platform. The launch of this Apple Music offer expands an existing relationship between Entel – which has pioneered the partnership model between telcos and streaming media companies in the LatAm region – and Bango, which provides the platform used by a growing number of telcos to scale-up their third-party bundling and offers business.

Ferrexpo 184p  £1,083m (FXPO.L)

The world’s 3rd largest exporter of high grade iron ore pellets to the global steel industry, is closely monitoring developments in Ukraine following the official announcement by the government of Ukraine of an incursion by Russian armed forces into the territory of Ukraine. The Group is continuing to assess developments locally and will prioritise the safety of its workforce. At the present time, the Group’s mining and processing facilities are operating, which are located adjacent to the city of Horishni Plavni, in central Ukraine, where the situation remains stable. However, the government of Ukraine has now suspended rail transportation. The Group will make a further announcement as and when appropriate. 

Open Orphan 13.75p  £92.3m (ORPH.L)

The rapidly growing specialist contract research organisation (CRO) and world leader in testing infectious and respiratory disease products using human challenge clinical trials, announces the appointment of Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan as Chief Executive Officer of Open Orphan with immediate effect. Mo joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director in October 2021 and has worked closely with the team since then. Executive Chairman, Cathal Friel will continue in his role under the new management structure. Mo is a business leader and customer-focused CRO executive with over 25 years of global clinical research experience across clinical operations, project management, business development and executive management functions. He previously worked at Pharm-Olam International, a global CRO, for 19 years from 2000-2019. Mo worked across a variety of senior positions including Executive Vice President of Clinical Development and Global Director of Clinical Operations. Mo was a key leader in driving the expansion and growth of the company from a small niche Eastern European CRO to a global player with offices across all continents. Laterally, he led global business development at Pharm-Olam resulting in significant growth and a successful sale in 2017, delivering substantial returns to its shareholders. Prior to this he worked at Innovex and Quintiles CRO (IQVIA).

Poolbeg Pharma 5.35p  £26.75m (POLB.L)

The clinical stage infectious disease pharmaceutical company with a capital light clinical model, has signed an agreement with OneThree Biotech, Inc. a biology-driven artificial intelligence company, to identify new drug targets and treatments for Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Under the terms of the transaction and as aligned with Poolbeg’s strategy, OneThree Biotech’s state-of-the-art AI analysis tools will identify drug assets which target immune-response pathways, have a higher probability of clinical success and have the potential to prevent and / or treat infectious diseases. The analysis will prioritise drugs with existing Phase I safety data, reducing spend and risk, which can feed into Poolbeg’s rapid, capital light clinical development strategy and its expanding pipeline of assets. The analysis is expected to commence in Q1 2022 with preliminary outputs from this work expected in H2 2022.

Samarkand Group 127.5p  £65.3m (AQSE:SMK)

Samarkand Group plc, the cross-border eCommerce technology solution provider, has signed a three-year contract with Revolution Beauty, a global mass beauty and personal care business. The agreement builds on Samarkand Group’s existing Nomad Storefront technology by incorporating Revolution Beauty’s existing Tmall Global Flagship store, and includes its Nomad Distribution services, through listings on Douyin and other platforms. The contract appoints Samarkand as the exclusive cross-border eCommerce partner for China and covers a range of marketplace, DTC and social commerce channels and will commence on Tuesday March 1^st 2022. David Hampstead, CEO of Samarkand Group commented: “We are very pleased to be selected as the trusted partner for China of Revolution Beauty, one of the UK’s leading direct-to-consumer beauty companies. The Chinese eCommerce market has unique challenges and being selected to represent Revolution Beauty in China reflects our expertise and extensive experience in solving these challenges as international brands look to grow in the market.” 

Spectra Systems 144p  £65.1m (SPSY.L)

Spectra Systems Corporation, a leader in machine-readable high speed banknote authentication, brand protection technologies and gaming security software, is introducing its FusionTM machine-readable, covert polymer substrate at the Banknote Conference in Washington DC this week. Dr. Nabil Lawandy gave a presentation on this new breakthrough in security for polymer banknotes which was well attended and well received. In addition, several strategic partners and central banks were invited to the company’s suite where there were demonstrations of the product and samples available for inspection. Dr. Nabil Lawandy, Chief Executive Officer, stated: “We are extremely pleased with the response to our breakthrough product and the opportunity to have in person discussions with potential customers and strategic partners.”

Tertiary Minerals 0.2p  £3.15m (TYM.L)

The mineral exploration and development company, whose strategic focus is on energy transition and precious metals announced that contractors have been appointed for the Company’s upcoming drill programme at the Pyramid Silver-Gold Project in Nevada. Drill pad construction and site access is complete and Envirotech Drilling LLC  of Winnemucca, Nevada has been appointed as contractor to undertake reverse circulation  drilling; Surface mineralisation has been shown to extend over a strike extent of at least 530 metres at the North Ruth target, with grades as high as 595 g/t silver (17.35 ounces/ton) and 0.66 g/t gold intersected in exploration trenches; The objective of the drill programme is to establish the continuity of the silver and gold mineralisation at depth and will comprise six holes for an estimated 4,000 feet of RC drilling; Envirotech will mobilise and begin drilling in the second week of March 2022.

Tirupati Graphite 68.5p  £59.3m (TGR.L)

The specialist graphite and graphene company developing sustainable new age materials, announces that Tirupati Speciality Graphite Private Limited, whom the Company has a binding acquisition agreement to acquire 100% of the equity shares subject to regulatory approvals, has signed an exclusive UK marketing and distribution agreement with Minralis Limited for TSG’s range of expandable graphite-based CarboflameX® and GrafEN 45545® products. TSG is developing a suite of graphite-based products to be used in hi-tech applications like lithium-ion batteries, composites, foils, gaskets, thermal management and expandable graphite-based flame retardant products for which it has secured UK REACH registration for marketing in the UK. The Company continues to work on creating global markets for these graphite-based products and has prioritised the growing UK demand for flame retardant technology in response to the UK Government’s 2021 commitment to invest £5bn into building safety, including the replacement of unsafe cladding, following the enquiry into the 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Trifast 136p  £185.1m (TRI.L)

The international specialist in the design, engineering, manufacture, and distribution of high-quality industrial fastenings and Category ‘C’ components principally to major global assembly industries, issued a Q3 Trading Update for the period 1 October 2021 to 31 December 2021. “Following on from >30% year-on-year growth in HY1 (at constant exchange rate; against HY2020: growth of 3.2%), we have continued to see underlying demand across all of our key markets with the Group’s monthly revenues showing consistent year-on-year growth, even as set against the record trading recovery levels we saw in Q3 of FY2021. We have seen very strong performances in particular from our distributor trading in the UK, Europe and out of Taiwan, new light vehicle platform wins in the USA and robust energy, tech and infrastructure growth in Hungary. In conjunction with strong Q3 trading from our recent acquisition, TR Falcon, these have more than offset continued short-term market disruption in some segments.  Whilst we have continued to outperform light vehicle production in the YTD period, semi-conductor chip shortages have held back volumes behind prior year in Europe and the UK. In addition, December floods in Malaysia, coupled with specific sub-contractor transfer issues at a key health and home customer, have temporarily reduced trading in the Asia region.” “Our price increase programme continues to progress at pace, with the majority of first phase negotiations now successfully completed and the remainder expected to be concluded in the coming weeks.”

What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen?

URA Holdings, a London based mining exploration and development company, intends to list on the Main Market (Standard). URA, a former AIM-listed company, is refinanced and ready for listing as an African focused mineral exploration company. The Company’s purpose is to seek unique, value-enhancing opportunities in minerals as a project generator including to prove-up early-stage exploration projects to spin out/farm out or sell. The strategy is initially focussed on Southern and Central Africa, and good opportunities will occur in countries with relatively stable and reliable political system such as Zambia. The Company has raised £1.05m before costs. The net proceeds of the Placing will be primarily applied for the development of the Group’s Njoka project and working capital.  Admission is expected week commencing 21st February 2022.

Neometals Ltd to join AIM. Neometals innovatively develops opportunities in minerals and advanced materials essential for a sustainable future. The Company has four key battery materials projects that support the global transition to more circular supply chains and cleaner energy. Three with downstream focus on sustainable materials processing and recycling and one upstream mineral extraction opportunity. Mkt Cap is expected to be approximately AU$716m. Expected 28 Feb 2022.

Cleantech Lithium reported in the press to be planning an AIM float. The Company is developing two projects in Chile. Cleantech is planning to extract lithium from brines utilising environmentally friendly technologies and renewable energy.  

GCP Co-Living REIT plc, intends to float on the Main Market. The Company is a  newly established, externally managed investment company, which it is intended will carry on business as a Real Estate Investment Trust, subject to meeting the necessary qualifying conditions. The Company will invest, predominantly, in independent Co-Living Asset, both operational and under development, let to a diversified mix of residents, located in urban centres in the UK and Ireland where there is a shortage of high quality, affordable residential accommodation. Due March 2022.

Spinnaker Acquisitions plc, intends to join the Main Market (Standard). The Company have conditionally agreed to acquire the entire issued share capital of HomeServe Labs Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of FTSE250 quoted public company HomeServe Plc, by way of a reverse takeover conditional, inter alia on relisting and successful completion of fundraising activities to be undertaken by way of a placing and direct subscriptions by new and existing investor. If the Proposed Transaction proceeds to completion, it is proposed to change the name of the Company to Ondo InsurTech Plc and the name of Labs, which will become a subsidiary of the Company, to LeakBot Ltd. Should the Proposed Transaction not proceed, then the Company would need to apply for the suspension of its listing of ordinary shares to be lifted and for trading to be restored. £5m capital to be raised. Due early 2022.

Carbon Air, a nano-technology company which leverages the adsorption properties of activated carbon and other advanced materials to improve suspension systems, enhance acoustics or reduce noise, to join AIM. The Company’s proprietary technology has allowed it to develop a unique portfolio of solutions for a variety of sizeable end markets, including vehicle suspension systems, acoustic insulation for domestic appliances and micro-speakers for smartphones. Mkt Cap and Capital to be raised TBC. Due Late Feb.

Spiritus Mundi due to join the Main Market (Standard), a special purpose acquisition vehicle which will seek acquisition targets in Europe and Asia in the clinical diagnostics sector. The Company has already raised approximately £1.2m in a pre-IPO fundraising round. Delayed until second half of Q1 2022.

Recycling Tech Group to join AIM, a UK-based engineering, research and manufacturing company that has developed a modular and mass producible machine, the RT7000, which processes hard to recycle plastic waste into a synthetic oil that can be sold back to the petrochemicals industry as a chemical feedstock to make new plastics. Targeting a £40m raise. Due early March 2022.

Nu-Oil and Gas  to acquire Guardian Maritime Ltd and Guardian Barriers IP Ltd and become Guardian Global Security plc and join the Main Market (Standard). Guardian is a technology group that supplies products to prevent unauthorised entry into areas that are deemed to have value, with maritime security being the main focus initially. Due Feb.

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