Confirmed proceeds and closure of Placing

RNS Number : 9286K

Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd

27 April 2020

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR").

Not for release, publication, or distribution to United States newswire services or for release, publication or dissemination in the United States and does not constitute an offer of the securities herein.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction. Any securities described in this press release have not been, and will not be, registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration except in transactions exempt from, or not subject to, registration under the US Securities Act and applicable US state securities laws. There is no public offering of the securities in the United States expected.

27 April 2020

Chaarat Gold Holdings Limited

("Chaarat" or the "Company")

Confirmed proceeds and closure of the Placing

Chaarat (AIM:CGH), the AIM-quoted gold mining company with assets in the Kyrgyz Republic and Armenia is pleased to announce that, further to its announcement of 15 April 2020 (RNS 6997J), it has closed the Placing ¹ , having raised gross proceeds of approximately US$13.8 million from the issue of 42,112,025 new ordinary shares of US$0.01 each (the "Placing Shares") at 26 pence per Placing Share, subject to the admission of the Placing Shares to trading on the AIM market of London Stock Exchange plc ("Admission").

The share issue consists of:

•	the subscription for 12,954,962 Placing Shares by existing shareholders and new investors;
•	the subscription for 25,396,945 Placing Shares by Labro Investments Limited ("Labro"), Chaarat's largest shareholder, the majority of shares in which Martin Andersson (the executive chairman of Chaarat) is directly beneficially interested; and
•	the subscription for 3,760,118 Placing Shares by directors (including 2,569,868 by Martin Andersson) and senior management.

Following the subscriptions for the Placing Shares announced today, the Company has decided to close the Placing with immediate effect.

Chaarat also announces that it has issued 297,330 new ordinary shares of US$0.01 each.  These comprise:

•	177,330 new ordinary shares 2 issued to Labro (the "Labro Fee Shares") pursuant to drawdowns made by the Company on the committed revolving term loan facility (the "Labro Facility") announced by the Company on 14 December 2018 (RNS number 5046K); and
•	120,000 new ordinary shares (the "Option Shares") issued to satisfy the Company's obligations under the Company's 2017 incentive plan to a former director on the exercise by that director of previously vested options.

An application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the 44,112,025 Placing Shares, the 177,330 Labro Fee Shares and the 120,000 Option Shares (together, the "New Ordinary Shares") to be admitted to trading on AIM, and it is expected that admission will become effective and dealings in the New Ordinary Shares will commence at or around 8:00am (London time) on 30 April 2020.

Following Admission of the New Ordinary Shares:

•

the Company's enlarged issued share capital will comprise 524,562,210 ordinary shares of US$0.01 each.  This figure may be used by shareholders of the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine whether they are required to notify their interests in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules Sourcebook; and

•

Labro and Martin Andersson will hold the following ordinary shares of US$0.01 in the capital of the Company: № of shares % of issued share capital Labro3 202,828,442 38.67% Martin Andersson4 5,829,996 1.11% Combined Total 208,658,438 39.78%

Financing update

In view of the level of interest in the Placing beyond the announced $12 million, Labro's participation in the Placing was reduced from US$10 million to US$8.3m and comprised a US$2 million cash subscription and a conversion to equity of US$6.3 million of indebtedness under the Labro Facility, reducing the outstanding principal amount and interest accrued under the Labro Facility to US$ Nil .  US$6.5 million of the Labro Facility remains available for drawdown until 31 December 2020.

Artem Volynets, Chief Executive Officer of Chaarat, said:

" We are delighted to see continued support from our keys shareholders as well as welcome new investors into the exciting Chaarat story. Raising US$13.8 million beyond the previously announced US$12 million in the current challenging market environment shows the attractiveness of Chaarat's value proposition. The prime motivation behind this placing was to strengthen the balance sheet and allow the Company to continue its strategy amidst the current macro-economic factors.

We believe that   continuous stability of the Kapan operation in Armenia, along with progress on the Tulkubash construction programme in the Kyrgyz Republic, and the deleveraging of the business allows us to progress with our strategic plans and take advantage of the opportunities presented. "

¹ Definitions

Capitalised terms used but not otherwise defined in this announcement have the meanings given to them in the 'Proposed Equity Capital Raise and Funding Update' announcement released on 15 April 2020 under RNS Number 6997J.

² Regulation 19 Waiver

There is a provision in the Company's Articles of Association (the "Articles") (Regulation 19) which states that the Board has the right to require any holder of more than 20% of the Ordinary Shares to make a mandatory offer to all the Company's shareholders to acquire their Ordinary Shares if they acquire an additional interest in any Ordinary Shares.

The Labro Fee Shares do not fall under the waiver for market share purchases of up to three million Ordinary Shares announced by the Company on 24 February 2020 (RNS number 8217D) and, as explained below, a separate waiver has been granted by the Board.

The Labro Facility requires the Board to exercise its discretion under Regulation 19 of the Articles so as not to require a mandatory offer to be made in connection with the issue to Labro of any Ordinary Shares pursuant to the Labro Facility or as a result of any redemption or purchase by the Company of its own voting shares at any time in the future, but not in respect of any other purchase of Ordinary Shares or any interest therein by Labro (the "Waiver"). The Board has resolved to grant the Waiver.

285,541 of the shares being subscribed for by Martin Andersson personally do not fall under the waiver granted by the board on 14 April 2020 and announced by the Company on 15 April 2020 ( RNS number 6997J).  On 24 April 2020, the Board (excluding Martin Andersson) exercised its discretion to waive the requirement for a mandatory offer for the Company by Labro, to allow Martin Andersson to receive an additional 285,541 Ordinary Shares in the Placing.

³   Labro also holds loan notes for US$1,000,000 (the "LoanNotes") convertible into 2,849,330 ordinary shares of US$0.01 each in the capital of the Company ("Ordinary Shares") (assuming full conversion of principal and interest to maturity).  If all the Loan Notes were subsequently converted (assuming full conversion of principal and interest to maturity), if an additional 8 million shares fell due to be issued to Labro pursuant to the loan security fee arrangements announced by the Company on 15 April 2020 (RNS 6997J), and if no options to subscribe for Ordinary Shares issued by the Company were exercised, no other convertible loan notes issued by the Company were converted and no other Ordinary Shares were issued), Labro would hold 213,677,772 Ordinary Shares representing 39.91% of the resulting enlarged share capital.

⁴   Pursuant to restricted share awards and share options granted by the Company to Mr Andersson, he may become entitled to a further 18,111,821 Ordinary Shares. If Mr Andersson were to acquire all the shares to which he may become entitled (and no other restricted share awards vested and no other options to subscribe for Ordinary Shares issued by the Company were exercised and no other Ordinary Shares were issued), on a combined basis, Labro and Mr Andersson would together hold 237,619,589 Ordinary Shares representing 43.07% of the resulting enlarged share capital.

Enquiries
Chaarat Gold Holdings Limited	[phone]
Artem Volynets (CEO)	[e-mail]
Numis Securities Limited	[phone]
John Prior, Paul Gillam (NOMAD)
James Black (Corporate Broking)
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP	+ 44 (0) 20 3470 0470
Ewan Leggat (Joint Broker)
finnCap Limited	[phone]
Christopher Raggett (Joint Broker)
Camille Gochez (Joint Broker)

About Chaarat

Chaarat is a gold mining company which owns the Kapan operating mine in Armenia as well as Tulkubash and Kyzyltash Gold Projects in the Kyrgyz Republic. The Company has a clear strategy to build a leading emerging markets gold company with an initial focus on Central Asia and the FSU through organic growth and selective M&A.

Chaarat is engaged in active community engagement programmes to optimise the value of the Chaarat investment proposition.

Chaarat aims to create value for its shareholders, employees and communities from its high-quality gold and mineral deposits by building relationships based on trust and operating to the best environmental, social and employment standards. Further information is available at  www.chaarat.com .

Appendix 1 - PDMR forms

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Labro Investments Limited
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position / status	Person/Entity closely associated with the Chairman
b)	Initial notification / amendment	Amendment
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Chaarat Gold Holdings Limited
b)	Legal entity identifier	213800T2A5CV84VTFJ70
4	Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
a)	Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument	Ordinary shares of US$0.01 each
	Identification code	VGG203461055
b)	Nature of the transaction	Acquisition by way of a placing
c)	Currency	GBP
d)	Price(s) and volume(s)		Price(s)	Volume(s)
			26p	25,396,945
e)	Aggregated information · Aggregated volume · Aggregated price · Aggregated total	25,396,945 26 pence £6,603,205.70
f)	Date of the transaction	15 April 2020
g)	Place of the transaction	XLON

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Martin Andersson
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position / status	Chairman
b)	Initial notification / amendment	Amendment
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Chaarat Gold Holdings Limited
b)	Legal entity identifier	213800T2A5CV84VTFJ70
4	Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
a)	Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument	Ordinary shares of US$0.01 each
	Identification code	VGG203461055
b)	Nature of the transaction	Acquisition by way of a placing
c)	Currency	GBP
d)	Price(s) and volume(s)		Price(s)	Volume(s)
			26p	2,569,868
e)	Aggregated information · Aggregated volume · Aggregated price · Aggregated total	2,569,868 26 pence £668,165.68
f)	Date of the transaction	15 April 2020
g)	Place of the transaction	XLON

 

END

 

 

MSCUBVVRRKUSURR