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Aquis Exchange 645p  £177m (AQX.L)

The exchange services group announced that Glenn Collinson has been appointed to succeed Niki Beattie as Chair of Aquis Exchange. The appointment is effective 1 January 2022.  Niki steps down from the Board after nine years, having joined Aquis Exchange as its first Chair in January 2013. Glenn’s appointment follows a search for a suitable successor to the position of Chair of Aquis Exchange, co-ordinated by Senior Independent Director Richard Bennett, which considered both external and internal candidates for the role. Glenn first joined the Company’s Board in March 2019 before transferring to the Board of Aquis Stock Exchange Limited  in March 2020. Glenn re-joined the Group’s Board on 17 September 2021 as an independent non-executive director (INED). Glenn started his career at Racal and worked for Motorola, Texas Instruments and Cambridge Consultants Ltd. before co-founding Cambridge Silicon Radio in 1998. There he served as an executive director and helped grow the company from a concept to a $3bn market capitalisation entity in 2006 (as CSR PLC) and one of the biggest players in the Bluetooth market. Since leaving CSR he has held a number of non-executive directorships in UK and French companies – both public and private – that specialise in technology.

Alumasc 207.5p  £75m (ALU.L)

The premium sustainable building products, systems and solutions group, announces that Vijay Thakrar will take up the role of Non-executive Chairman of the Group, with effect from 1 January 2022, following the retirement of John McCall as Chairman and Non-executive Director on 31 December 2021. Vijay Thakrar joined the Board of Alumasc as an independent Non-executive director on 15 January 2019. Vijay was previously a partner at Deloitte and EY before taking up a number of Non-executive director (NED) roles. Vijay is currently a non-executive director on the Boards of Alpha FX Group plc, RSM Group and Treatt plc and a member of the Audit & Risk Committee of the John Lewis Partnership. Upon being appointed Chairman, Vijay Thakrar will chair the Nomination Committee and step down as Chair of the Audit Committee, in line with best practice. A search process for a new Non-executive Director, who will Chair the Audit Committee is well progressed, and an announcement will be made in the near future. Stephen Beechey will be appointed as Chairman of the Remuneration Committee in succession to Jon Pither who retired on 21 October 2021, with immediate effect.

Kitwave 143.25p  £100.28m (KITW.L)

Kitwave announces a pre-close trading update for the year ended 31 October 2021.  Following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and the return to stronger trading in the second half of the year, as is usual with the seasonal nature of the business, the Board is pleased to confirm the Group traded ahead of revenue expectations in H2, with volumes in most business segments returning to pre-pandemic levels. This has resulted in adjusted operating profit being significantly ahead of expectations which had been cautious due to the timing uncertainty of COVID-19 restrictions being lifted. While many of the Group’s industry peers have been impacted by HGV driver issues, Kitwave’s in-house established fleet of c. 400 delivery vehicles and drivers means the Group is not dependent on third party logistics providers and enabled operations to continue as normal. The strong relationships with the Group’s large network of brand suppliers has ensured supply chain issues have been kept to a minimum with substitute products available and high customer service levels maintained.

Netscientific 110p  £23.1m (NSCI.L)

The international life sciences and sustainability technology investment and commercialisation Group has arranged an investment of a further $1m (c. £0.750m) into its Lifesciences’ portfolio company, EpiBone Inc, a revolutionary regenerative medicine company focused on bone and cartilage reconstruction based in the US. The $1m investment amount is part of an overall $11m close alongside Boston based investors, and notable family offices. In line with NetScientific’s capital-light investment approach, the investment comprises of $734k from NetScientific’s balance sheet and $266k in advised funds from Group’s corporate finance and venture capital subsidiary EMV Capital Ltd (EMVC). It follows NetScientific’s conversion of $250k CLA and interest into equity in January 2020 (resulting in  0.82% of the company on a fully diluted basis). The funding will take EpiBone through to a scale-up round expected in late 2022, and enable the company to accelerate development of its pipeline.  The company’s proprietary bioreactor technology is the product of 20 years of fundamental research and experience with orthopaedic tissue engineering, resulting in a three-step process to regenerate human bone. Its lead bone product (EB-CMF), a potential treatment for ramus continuity defects in the mandible, is now in Phase 1 human trials.  

NFT Investments 2.45p  £25.9m (AQSE:NFT)

The company specialising in the identification, acquisition, investment, and development of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), announced an investment of US$250,000 into Afterparty Inc, a platform for creators to engage with their fans and generate revenues from events such as live streaming. The investment is in the form of a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE), and part of a US$3m fund-raising round being conducted by Afterparty, which is incorporated in the US. Afterparty is creating a decentralised platform, using Web 3.0 technologies, to provide creators with the tools to monetise and manage their fan relationships, deliver live virtual experiences, and sell digital merchandise. Creators can mint and launch their own NFTs on the platform, they can issue tokens to fans so they can get into “token-gated” virtual experiences such as VIP parties. In contrast to Web 2.0 technologies like Instagram, the bulk of the revenue on the decentralised web goes to the creators. Afterparty will initially focus on the music industry, hosting live events in which artists and creators can set their own pricing terms and leverage fan fervour to create revenue.

Novacyt 2.45p  £25.9m (NCYT.L)

The international specialist in clinical diagnostics, announces that further to the announcement on 2 November 2021, the Company’s genesig® COVID-19 Real-Time PCR test has been approved in the UK under the UK Health Security Agency’s Medical Devices (Coronavirus Test Device Approvals) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (CTDA). The genesig ® COVID-19 test is Novacyt’s first test to be added to the CTDA register and the Company will now work to resume the sale of the product in the UK. Novacyt’s genesig® COVID-19 assay was launched on 31 January 2020 and was one of the world’s first commercially available tests for COVID-19. To date, the genesig®COVID-19 test, which targets the ORF1ab gene, continues to be able to detect all known variants and mutations of COVID 19, with over 4.5m sequences analysed, as documented in Novacyt’s latest weekly bioinformatic surveillance report. On 2 November 2021, Novacyt also stated that if no further products were added to the CTDA register, the impact on full year revenues for 2021 would be circa £3m. With this approval, the financial impact on 2021 will be significantly lower as the genesig® COVID-19 test accounts for approximately 30% of the circa £3m revenue shortfall.

Power Metal 1.63p  £21.8m (POW.L)

The exploration company seeking large-scale metal discoveries across its global project portfolio announces a 3 month option has been signed whereby Kavango Resources plc (LON:KAV) may acquire up to 51.15% of the issued share capital of Kalahari Key Mineral Exploration Pty Limited, Botswana (KKME). Kalahari Key currently has an effective 60% interest in the Molopo Farms Complex Project after Power Metal completed the earn-in to an effective 40% direct Project interest announced 22 April 2021 (the Earn-In). 

Reabold Resources 0.14p  £12.95m (RBD.L)

The AIM investing company which focuses on investments in upstream oil and gas projects notes that Rathlin Energy (UK) Limited, the operator of PEDL183 and the West Newton Field, has today published an update to residents regarding ongoing plans for the West Newton A and West Newton B sites. Rathlin’s update to residents notes, inter alia, that, having taken into account the concerns of its West Newton A project development application, it intends to submit a new application, whilst continuing to take legal advice with regards to making an appeal of East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s decision of the original application. In addition, Rathlin notes that it will make application to extend the condition requiring operations to be completed by April 2022 at West Newton B by the end of the year. Reabold holds a ca. 56 per cent. economic interest in West Newton via its ca. 59 per cent. shareholding in Rathlin, which, in turn, has a 66.67 per cent. interest in PEDL183. In addition, Reabold has a 16.665 per cent. direct licence interest in PEDL183.

Tectonic Gold 1.36p  £9.6m (AQSE:TTAU)

The Intrusive Related Gold (IRGS) exploration pioneer announced the successful renewal of its Australian Federal Government R&D Tax Incentive Scheme participation for the 2021 tax year. Tectonic successful in renewal of R&D status for IRGS research program—$275,000 cash rebate estimated with funds expected before year end. Current field work and analytics expected to have continued participation in 2022 and beyond.

Velocys 8.2p  £87.4m (VLS.L)

The sustainable fuels technology company announced the completion of a placing, which was significantly oversubscribed,  at a price of 8 pence per Placing Share to raise a total of £25m. The Company also announced details of an Open Offer to raise up to an additional approximately £2m at the Placing Price.  The net proceeds of the Fundraise will be used primarily for capital investment in the current manufacturing capability to enable output of at least 12 reactors per year and, in addition, the build-up of reactor parts inventory to expedite commissioning of that equipment; funding to advance the two reference projects (Bayou Fuels in Mississippi, US and Altalto in Immingham, UK) to the point of securing external investment into the detailed engineering stage; setting aside funds to back process guarantees and equipment warranties to clients; general working capital needs over the next 24 months, including the potential co-payment to secure site option extension for the Altalto project; and providing a line of sight to achieving net positive cash flow during 2024.

What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen?

Equinox International Holdings plc, UK-headquartered medical cannabis company aiming to become the UK’s leading ‘Land-to-Brand’ vertically integrated medical cannabis company, to seek admission of its entire share capital to trading on AIM. Seeking to raise funds to build a state-of-the-art cultivation, extraction and production facility on a Home Office-approved 20-acre UK site. Offer and timing TBA

RentGuarantor Holdings PLC provides a rent guarantee service to tenants wishing to rent property in the UK from the Private Rental Sector. The rent guarantee service is an online service where applications can be managed on a secure and bespoke digital platform designed and built by RentGuarantor Holdings PLC. Due to join the Aquis Stock Exchange on 8 Dec.

Windward to join AIM. Windward is a leading predictive intelligence company, fusing artificial intelligence (AI) and maritime expertise seeking to digitalise the global maritime industry. As at 30 September 2021, the Company had 120 permanent employees and had an annual contract value of US$19.7m, with 99 per cent. of the revenue being subscription based. Offer and timing  TBC.

Ondine Biomedical to join AIM. Ondine Biomedical Inc. is a life sciences company, incorporated in Canada, focusing on the development of photodisinfection-based therapies to provide solutions to drug-resistant infections  Capital to be raised: £22.2m ($30.0m). Anticipated market capitalisation on Admission at the placing price: £103.9m ($140.1m). Due 6 Dec.

Lift Global, a financial media and technology-focused investment company led by well-known stock market commentator Zak Mir, to apply for admission of its Ordinary Shares to trading on the Access segment of Aquis Stock Exchange Growth Market. The Company plans to raise approximately 1.7m before expenses. First dealings in the shares are expected to commence in December 2021. The flotation is expected to value Lift at approximately £2.7m.

ThomasLloyd Energy Impact Trust plc, a newly established closed-ended investment company which will invest in a diversified portfolio of unlisted sustainable energy infrastructure assets in fast-growing and emerging economies in Asia, seeking to join the premium segment of the Official List . Due 14 Dec raising up to $335m.

4GLOBAL to join AIM, a London based software, data and services sport and health company. Offer TBA. Due early Dec.

Skillcast to join AIM. Skillcast provides software and content subscriptions and related professional services to enable companies to implement their staff compliance and training obligations.  Offer TBA. Due early Dec.

Superdielectrics to join AIM, a Company which is focused on developing technology to build supercapacitors with high energy density, low cost, and environmentally benign electrical energy storage devices that will help create a clean and sustainable global energy and transportation system. Admission is expected to take place in early December 2021. The Company intends to raise approximately £20m by way of a placing on Admission.

LEAF Mobile Inc. (TSX: LEAF) (OTCQB: LEMLF), a leading Canadian free-to-play mobile game group, announced its intention to join the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange this winter. The Company, which started trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on February 10th, 2021, will assume a dual-listed structure. The Company intends to raise gross proceeds of approximately CAD$10m and the flotation is expected to value LEAF Mobile at approximately £130m. LEAF is operating within a fast-growing sector with a rapidly increasing total addressable market. Mobile Games are the world’s most popular form of gaming.

Sovereign Metals (ASX:SVM) to dual list on AIM. SVM is developing the Kasiya Rutile Project in their Malawi Rutile Province located in Malawi, Southeast Africa.  The project, which is Sovereign’s near-term focus, has delineated Inferred Resources of 644Mt at 1.01% rutile (0.7% rutile cut-off) including a high-grade component of 137Mt at 141% rutile (1.2% rutile cut-off) and is on track to release a scoping study in late 2021.  Sovereign’s graphite projects in Malawi include Malingunde, where Resources and Reserves under the JORC Code (2012 edition) have been previously delineated supporting a 2018 prefeasibility study (and updated per the DRA competent persons report on the Company’s website).
The Company does not intend to raise any capital prior to or concurrent with admission to AIM.  The market capitalisation on Admission is expected to be approximately A$280m (being approximately £150m). Due 14 Dec.

Gelion to join AIM. UK-Australian energy-storage innovator founded in 2015 by Professor Thomas Maschmeyer as a spin-out from the University of Sydney, Australia’s first university. Due late Nov on AIM. Offer TBC.

DSW Capital to join AIM. DSW is a challenger mid-market professional services business headquartered in the Northwest of England. DSW operates a licencing model and licences the DSW and associated brand names in return for a royalty based on a percentage of fee income.  Due early Dec. Raising £5m.

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.

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 December.

ATOME headquartered in Leeds, focussed on the large-scale production of green hydrogen and ammonia intends to join AIM towards the end of the year. ATOME intends to be spun-out from AIM-listed President Energy Plc, an oil and gas company which has incubated and financially supported ATOME to date, by way of a dividend in specie and flotation.

Alinda Capital Infrastructure Investments to join the Specialist Fund Segment of the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange raising up to £350m. Due Late November.

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. Q4 2021.

M7 Regional E-Warehouse REIT intends to apply for admission onto The Property Stock Exchange (Wholesale Segment). On Admission, the company plans to acquire a portfolio of UK retail warehouses worth £120m from M7 Real Estate Investment Partners VIII. The portfolio currently comprises 18 retail warehouse properties across the UK totalling 978,317 sq ft and fully let to 53 occupiers. Rent collections for Q2 2021 stand at 93% and are expected to revert to 100% in the coming quarters.

*A corporate client of Hybridan LLP

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