Admission to AIM and First Day of Dealings

RNS Number : 4128X

Facilities by ADF plc

05 January 2022

 

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN 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 OF AMERICA (THE "UNITED STATES" OR THE "US"), AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL (EACH A "RESTRICTED JURISDICTION").

5 January 2022

Facilities by ADF plc

("ADF", the "Company" or the "Group")

Admission to Trading on AIM and First Day of Dealings

ADF, the leading provider of premium serviced production facilities to the UK film and high-end television ("HETV") industry, is pleased to announce the admission of its entire issued ordinary share capital to trading on AIM ("AIM"), a market operated by London Stock Exchange plc ("Admission").

Admission will take place and dealings will commence at 8:00 a.m. today under the ticker "ADF".

ADF hires out its facilities to productions throughout the UK and Europe, providing its services to some of the world's largest traditional and on-demand content production companies. ADF is the only high-volume facilities provider in Europe that is approved by albert, an organisation that measures and assesses the environmental impact of businesses in the film and television industry.

In conjunction with Admission, gross proceeds of £18.4 million have successfully been raised by way of a placing with institutional investors of 36,788,000 new and existing ordinary shares of 1 pence ("Ordinary Shares") each (the "Placing") at a price of 50 pence per share (the "Placing Price").

Cenkos Securities plc is acting as Nominated Adviser, sole broker and sole bookrunner in relation to Admission.

Key Highlights

· The market capitalisation of the Company on Admission will be £37.8 million.

· ADF's business was established in 1992 in Bridgend, Wales, and has since grown to the point where it is now a leading provider of premium production facilities servicing productions with its fleet of over 500 trailers and vehicles.

· The Company provides its services to the largest global production companies including Netflix, Sky, BBC, ITV, Disney, HBO, and Apple, amongst others and has worked on some of the UK's most popular television series, such as The Crown, Gangs of London and Peaky Blinders.

· ADF has an estimated 35 per cent. market share of providing facilities to the UK HETV market.

· The Group has ambitions to grow its business to £100 million revenue.

· The successful fundraising included the placing of 30,000,000 new Ordinary Shares, raising gross proceeds of £15.0 million for the Company and 6,788,000 existing Ordinary Shares, raising gross proceeds of £3.4m for certain selling shareholders, in each case at the Placing Price.

· The net proceeds of the Placing received by the Company will provide the Company with additional resources to finance the acquisition of new capital equipment to meet increasing demand and to strengthen the Group's balance sheet.

· The Company's admission document is available for viewing at www.facilitiesbyadf.com.

· The ISIN of the Ordinary Shares is GB00BNZGNM64, the SEDOL of the Ordinary Shares is BNZGNM6 and the Company's LEI number is 984500F550EB62EDCP28.

John Richards, Chairman, commented:

"ADF is delighted to now be listed on AIM at such an exciting time for the business and for the British Film and High-End TV industry. The funds raised will further strengthen the Company's financial position in continuing to meet increasing demand and will also raise the Company's profile as a leading provider of premium facilities to the film and HETV industry.

"I am grateful for all the hard work of our team and the support of shareholders.  We look forward to life on the public markets and to the opportunities that it brings to our Company."

Marsden Proctor, CEO, said:

"The UK is enjoying a boom in investment in infrastructure and High-End TV & Film production. Driven by the world's streaming giants and their subscribers' insatiable appetite for box sets & films.

"According to the British Film Institute making film and High-End TV shows in 2021 will have hit £6bn, more than double the spend in 2020. As an established business with a reputation for excellence, high quality production facilities and a strong network of contacts throughout the industry, we are very confident in the long-term opportunities for the Company."

For further enquiries:

Facilities by ADF plc Marsden Proctor, Chief Executive Officer Neil Evans, Chief Financial Officer John Richards, Chairman	via Alma PR
Cenkos (Nominated Adviser and Broker) Ben Jeynes / Max Gould / George Lawson - Corporate Finance Alex Pollen - Sales	Tel: [phone]
Alma PR (Financial PR) Josh Royston Andy Bryant John Coles Molly Gretton	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]

OVERVIEW OF FACILITIES BY ADF

ADF's production fleet is made up of premium mobile make-up, costume and artiste trailers, production offices, mobile bathrooms (known as honey wagons), diners, school rooms and technical vehicles. The Group provides these production facilities and additional services after a planning process with the customer held well in advance of filming. In servicing productions, ADF staff are available on site and each production is allocated an account manager who acts as a single lead point of contact during filming.

The Group serves customers in an industry that has experienced significant growth in recent years with additional demand driven by a material rise in the consumption of film and HETV content via streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney and Amazon Prime. The UK film and TV industry has directly benefited during this growth due to the quality of its production facilities and studios, highly skilled domestic workforce, geography, accessibility to Europe, English language environment and strong governmental support. Major US streaming companies have now set up permanent bases in the UK, with the UK now Netflix's third largest operation after the USA and Canada.

The above trends have led to increased demand for the Group's services, with ADF's fleet capacity already almost fully booked for the 2022 calendar year, and the Group is seeing booking lead times of on average seven months prior to the commencement of filming.

KEY STRENGTHS

The Directors believe that ADF's key strengths include:

· a high quality, market-leading offering resulting in strong relationships with some of the world's largest film and HETV producers;

· an experienced management team with a wide and deep network of contacts;

· strong revenue and earnings visibility;

· being an established player in an industry with high barriers to entry; and

· being the only facilities provider in Europe that is approved by albert, the authority on environmental sustainability for the film and television industry - an endorsement of the Group's positive ESG strategy.

Cenkos Securities plc, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK,  is acting exclusively for the Company and no one else in connection with Admission. Cenkos Securities plc will not regard any other person as its client in relation to Admission and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to its clients, nor for providing advice in relation to the contents of this announcement or any transaction, arrangement or other matter referred to herein.

 

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