Result of Placing

RNS Number : 8952R

Alliance Pharma PLC

19 June 2018

 

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN IT, IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION, OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER STATE OR JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.  PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE AT THE END OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU NO. 596/2014).

Alliance Pharma plc 

("Alliance" or the "Group")

Result of Placing

Alliance Pharma plc (AIM: APH), the specialty pharmaceutical company, is pleased to announce the successful completion of the bookbuild for the Placing announced earlier today.

A total of 37,362,638 new ordinary shares in the capital of the Company (the "Placing Shares") have been placed by Numis Securities Limited ("Numis") and Investec Bank plc ("Investec" and, together with Numis, the "Bookrunners") at a price of 91 pence per Placing Share, with existing and new institutional investors, raising gross proceeds of £34.0 million (before expenses). The Placing Price of 91 pence per Placing Share represents a discount of 10.8 per cent. to the intra-day share price of 102p at 12.10 p.m. (being the time the Placing Price was agreed).

The Placing Shares represent approximately 7.8 per cent. of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company prior to the Placing.

Application has been made for the Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange plc (the "London Stock Exchange" and together, "Admission"). It is expected that Admission will take place at or around 8.00 a.m. (London time) on 21 June 2018 and settlement for the Placing Shares is expected to take place on the same date on a T+2 basis.

Following Admission, the total number of shares of the Company in issue will be 514,205,522. Alliance currently holds no shares as treasury shares and therefore, following Admission, the total number of voting shares in the Company will be 514,205,522.

The figure of 514,205,522 ordinary shares should be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

Capitalised terms used but not defined in this announcement have the same meanings as set out in the placing announcement of the Company released at 7.00 a.m. (London time) today, 19 June 2018.

Peter Butterfield, Chief Executive Officer of Alliance, commented:

"We are delighted to announce the success of this placing, which included demand from both existing and new institutional investors and reflects strong support for our acquisition of Nizoral in the APAC region. Nizoral will become the fourth International Star brand in our product portfolio and will add further momentum to our rapidly growing APAC business.

"We would like to welcome new investors and to thank, sincerely, existing shareholders as we continue to build and grow Alliance."

For further information:
Alliance Pharma plc	Tel:  [phone]
Peter Butterfield, Chief Executive Officer
Andrew Franklin, Chief Financial Officer
www.alliancepharma.co.uk
Numis Securities Limited	Tel:  [phone]
Nominated Adviser: Michael Meade / Freddie Barnfield / Freddie Naylor-Leyland
Corporate Broking: James Black
Investec Bank plc	Tel:  [phone]
Corporate Finance: Daniel Adams
Corporate Broking: Patrick Robb / David Herring
Buchanan	Tel:  [phone]
Mark Court / Sophie Wills / Gemma Mostyn-Owen
[e-mail]

Notes to editors

Alliance Pharma plc is an international specialty pharmaceutical company.

Headquartered in Chippenham, UK, Alliance commenced trading in 1998 and has been listed on AIM since 2003. Alliance has a strong track record of acquiring established niche products and it currently owns or licenses the rights to approximately 90 pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare products. It has sales in more than 100 countries either directly via its affiliates or through its selected network of distributor partners. Alliance joined the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2003 and trades under the symbol APH.

IMPORTANT NOTICES

Neither this Announcement, nor any copy of it, may be taken or transmitted, published or distributed, directly or indirectly, in, or into the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, or South Africa or to any persons in any of those jurisdictions or any other jurisdiction where to do so would constitute a violation of the relevant securities laws of such jurisdiction. This Announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or issue, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, acquire or subscribe for any shares in the capital of the Company in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan or South Africa or any other state or jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is not authorised or to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such offer or solicitation.  Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of securities laws of such jurisdictions.  The Placing Shares have not been, and will not be, registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act") or under any securities laws of any state of other jurisdiction of the United States and may not be offered, sold, resold, transferred or delivered, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States except pursuant to an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the US Securities Act and in compliance with the securities laws of any state of other jurisdiction of the United States.

There is no intention to register any portion of the Placing in the United States or to conduct any public offering of securities in the United States or elsewhere.  All offers of Placing Shares will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Prospectus Directive 2003/71/EC, as amended from time to time, including by Directive 2010/73/EC to the extent implemented in the relevant member state and includes any relevant implementing directive measure in any member state (the "Prospectus Directive") from the requirement to produce a prospectus.  

Members of the public are not eligible to take part in the Placing. This Announcement and the terms and conditions set out in Appendix I are for information purposes only and are directed only at: (a) persons in Member States of the Economic European Area who are qualified investors within the meaning of article 2(1)(e) of the Prospectus Directive ("Qualified Investors"); and (b) in the United Kingdom, Qualified Investors who are persons who (i) have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within the definition of "investments professional" in article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the "Order"); (ii) are persons falling within article 49(2)(a) to (d) ("high net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc") of the Order; or (iii) are persons to whom it may otherwise be lawfully communicated; (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons").  This Announcement must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not Relevant Persons.

Persons (including without limitation, nominees and trustees) who have a contractual right or other legal obligations to forward a copy of this Announcement should seek appropriate advice before taking any action.  This Announcement has been issued by, and is the sole responsibility of, the Company.

Numis Securities Limited ("Numis"), which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA"), is acting for the Company and no-one else in connection with the transactions and arrangements described in this Announcement and will not regard any other person (whether or not a recipient of this Announcement) as a client in relation to the transactions and arrangements described in this Announcement. Numis is not responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of Numis or for providing advice in connection with the contents of this Announcement or the transactions and arrangements described herein.

Investec Bank plc ("Investec"), which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (the "PRA") and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA and the PRA, is acting solely for the Company and no-one else in connection with the transactions and arrangements described in this Announcement and will not regard any other person (whether or not a recipient of this Announcement) as a client in relation to the transactions and arrangements described in this Announcement.  Investec is not responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of Investec or for providing advice in connection with the contents of this Announcement or the transactions and arrangements described herein.

The distribution of this Announcement and the offering of the Placing Shares in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law.  No action has been taken by the Company, Numis and/or Investec that would permit an offering of such shares or possession or distribution of this Announcement or any other offering or publicity material relating to such shares in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required.  Persons into whose possession this Announcement comes are required by the Company, Numis and Investec to inform themselves about, and to observe, such restrictions.

No prospectus will be made available in connection with the matters contained in this announcement and no such prospectus is required (in accordance with the Prospectus Directive) to be published. Persons needing advice should consult an independent financial adviser.

In connection with the Placing, each of the Bookrunners and any of their affiliates, acting as investors for their own account, may take up a portion of the shares in the Placing as a principal position and in that capacity may retain, purchase, sell, offer to sell for the own accounts such shares and other securities of the Company or related investments in connection with the Placing or otherwise. Accordingly, references to Placing Shares being offered, acquired, placed or otherwise dealt in should be read as including any issue or offer to, or acquisition, placing or dealing by, the Bookrunners and any of their affiliates acting in such capacity. In addition, the Bookrunners and any of their affiliates may enter into financing arrangements (including swaps) with investors in connection with which the Bookrunners and any of their respective affiliates may from time to time acquire, hold or dispose of shares. The Bookrunners do not intend to disclose the extent of any such investment or transactions otherwise than in accordance with any legal or regulatory obligations to do so.

Cautionary statements

This Announcement may contain and the Company may make verbal statements containing "forward-looking statements" with respect to certain of the Company's plans and its current goals and expectations relating to its future financial condition, performance, strategic initiatives, objectives and results. Forward-looking statements sometimes use words such as "aim", "anticipate", "target", "expect", "estimate", "intend", "plan", "goal", "believe", "seek", "may", "could", "outlook" or other words of similar meaning. By their nature, all forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances which are beyond the control of the Company.  As a result, the actual future financial condition, performance and results of the Company may differ materially from the plans, goals and expectations set forth in any forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements made in this Announcement by or on behalf of the Company speak only as of the date they are made. The information contained in this Announcement is subject to change without notice and except as required by applicable law or regulation, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to publish any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this Announcement to reflect any changes in the Company's expectations with regard thereto or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.

Neither the content of the Company's website (or any other website) nor the content of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into or forms part of this Announcement.

Information to Distributors

Solely for the purposes of the product governance requirements contained within: (a) EU Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments, as amended ("MiFID II"); (b) Articles 9 and 10 of Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2017/593 supplementing MiFID II; and (c) local implementing measures (together, the "MiFID II Product Governance Requirements"), and disclaiming all and any liability, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise, which any "manufacturer" (for the purposes of the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements) may otherwise have with respect thereto, the Placing Shares have been subject to a product approval process, which has determined that the Placing Shares are: (i) compatible with an end target market of retail investors and investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties, each as defined in MiFID II; and (ii) eligible for distribution through all distribution channels as are permitted by MiFID II (the "Target Market Assessment").

Notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, distributors should note that: the price of the Placing Shares may decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment; the Placing Shares offer no guaranteed income and no capital protection; and an investment in the Placing Shares is compatible only with investors who do not need a guaranteed income or capital protection, who (either alone or in conjunction with an appropriate financial or other adviser) are capable of evaluating the merits and risks of such an investment and who have sufficient resources to be able to bear any losses that may result therefrom. The Target Market Assessment is without prejudice to the requirements of any contractual, legal or regulatory selling restrictions in relation to the Placing.  Furthermore, it is noted that, notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, the Bookrunners have only procured investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Target Market Assessment does not constitute: (a) an assessment of suitability or appropriateness for the purposes of MiFID II; or (b) a recommendation to any investor or group of investors to invest in, or purchase, or take any other action whatsoever with respect to the Placing Shares.

Each distributor is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the Placing Shares and determining appropriate distribution channels.

 

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