Ilika plc (LON:IKA) Chief Financial Officer Steve Boydell caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss their successful institutional & retail placings, what the fund will be used for, total share allocation, deadline, and the excess application facility.
Q1: First off, congratulations on Ilika’s successful institutional and retail placings, I think your secured £21 million. Steve, what is the principal use of the funds?
A1: There’s three principle uses of the funds.
£10 million of the proceeds of the placing are expected to be used to fund the development of our large scale battery technology which is for a consumer appliance and electric vehicle applications, which we’ve codenamed Goliath. That’s to take it beyond conventional lithium-ion battery performance.
£5 million is expected to be invested in increasing the capacity of our Goliath pre-pilot line that we have here in Romsey, taking it from 1 kilowatt hour to 10 kilowatt hours, and that’s largely through increased automation of our processes.
Then the balance is to strengthen our balance sheet and provide additional working capital to support the Goliath product development.
Q2: How have you allowed retail investors to participate in the placing?
A2: So, retail investors have been able to participate through a £3 million retail offer by Primary Bid that actually closed on Friday last week, but also through a £3.7 million open offer. The circular for this was posted out to existing shareholders yesterday but it’s also available as a download from the investor section of our website.
Q3: What determined the total share allocation then in the placing for retail investors?
A3: So, the total of £6.7 million that we’ve made available to retail investors through the retail and open offers is the maximum that the company can offer without the need to issue a prospectus. That would have involved considerable extra costs and delays to the fundraising process, which is why we’ve elected to go this route.
Q4: When is the deadline for participating in the open offer?
A4: The deadline for the receipt of the completed application form along with payment is 11:00am on the 27th of July.
Q5: Now, do the open offer mentions a one to 52 entitlement? What happens if a retail investor would like to purchase more than they’re entitled in the placing?
A5: So, applications by shareholders will be satisfied in full up to their open offer entitlement so that 1 in 52, but shareholders can apply for more than that 1 in 52 through the excess application facility. So, if all of the open offer entitlements are not taken up by shareholders, Ilika will allocate shares up to the maximum 3.7 million allowed so those shareholders who’ve applied through this excess application facility.
