Raises £3.4 million To Accelerate Development

RNS Number : 7142E

Active Energy Group PLC

08 July 2019

 

Active Energy Group Plc / EPIC: AEG / Sector: Alternative Energy

8 July 2019

Active Energy Group Plc

('Active Energy', 'AEG' or the 'Company')

Raises £3.4 million To Accelerate Development of US Focussed Biomass Business

Active Energy, the London quoted international biomass based renewable energy business, is pleased to announce that it has raised £3,439,719 (before expenses) through the further subscription of  Series B convertible loan notes ("CLNs") by both existing as well as new European and Asian institutional investors (the "Fundraise").  

The net proceeds of the Fundraise will be utilised primarily to accelerate the construction of a 5 tonne per hour ('tph') CoalSwitch™ plant at the Company's 151 acres industrial site in Lumberton, North Carolina (the 'Lumberton Site'). In addition, the funds will support the planning and engineering work streams that are required for a further 50 tph plant and support additional complementary activities including saw logging which will open up additional revenue streams for AEG. 

Lumberton is being developed to be the Company's first permanent production facility for CoalSwitch™, AEG's proprietary technology that transforms low-cost biomass material into high-value green fuels, and to serve as the primary base for all its biomass fuel operations in the U.S.  The first 5 tph plant, which has been shipped from the Company's original Utah site, is targeted to become operational in Q4 2019.  This will create further revenue for Active Energy and follows the recent execution of two lease agreements for AEG at the Lumberton Site which will generate combined annual rent of US$264,000 from the site.

Terms of the CLN

The newly-issued Series B CLNs will rank pari passu to the existing issued CLN's and have a conversion price of 1p each, a maturity date of 15 March 2022 and accrue interest at 8% per annum, payable quarterly in arrears.  The CLNs will be listed on The International Stock Exchange and it is expected that the proceeds from the Fundraise will be received by AEG during July 2019.

Michael Rowan, Active Energy Chief Executive said, "This £3.4 million funding will enable us to accelerate the construction of our 5 tonne per hour plant and the subsequent delivery of first commercial CoalSwitch™ product, which will drive revenues in the short to medium term and mark a watershed in the Company's development. 

"As stated previously, we are building a next generation biomass business and the Fundraise is another strong vote of confidence from investors regarding the commercialisation strategy of our innovative products, coupled with our broader growth strategy.  We have come an extremely long way in a relatively short period of time and we are now focused on building out our operational capacity and developing the Lumberton Site, which includes carrying out the engineering studies for our next plant that has a targeted capacity of 50 tph as well as securing future revenue streams. We executed two lease agreements at the end of June that will provide an immediate source of income and we also recently secured a five-year contract for the supply of up to 800,000 tonnes per annum of feedstock to Lumberton.

"I am confident that we now have a secure platform for growth and I look forward to providing further updates on our progress at Lumberton in the coming weeks."

Additional Information on the Lumberton Site

The Lumberton Site includes all requisite ancillary facilities for the production of CoalSwitch™, including all relevant power supplies, water treatment facilities, an analysis lab and offices. The Directors believe that the size of the Lumberton Site ensures the opportunity for significant expansion of the initial CoalSwitch™ plant via the construction of additional CoalSwitch™ production facilities targeting capacity of up to 400,000 tonnes per annum over the next 2 years.  Furthermore, the Directors expect that AEG will benefit from additional near-term commercial opportunities including complementary biomass, saw logging and other opportunities in the Lumberton and North Carolina areas.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.

**ENDS**

Enquiries& Further Information:

Website	LinkedIn
www.aegplc.com	www.linkedin.com/company/activeenergy

Enquiries
Active Energy Group Plc	Michael Rowan Chief Executive Officer (Active Energy) Antonio Esposito Chief Operations Officer (Active Energy)
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker	David Hignell / Lindsay Mair / Jamie Spotswood	Office: [phone]
St Brides Partners Financial PR Adviser	Melissa Hancock / Gaby Jenner	[e-mail] Office: [phone]

About Active Energy Group:

Active Energy Group plc is a London listed (AIM: AEG) renewable energy company that has developed a proprietary technology which transforms low-cost biomass material into high-value green fuels.  Its patented product CoalSwitch™ is the world's only drop-in biomass fuel that can be mixed at any ratio with coal or completely replace coal in existing coal-fired power stations without requiring plant modification.

Active Energy Group's immediate strategic focus is the production and commercialisation of CoalSwitch™ and SuperFuel™, a low emission CoalSwitch™ blend that utilises waste coal fines. 

 

END

 

 

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