Placing of 840,000 new ordinary shares

RNS Number : 0818I

First Derivatives PLC

28 June 2013

 



28 June 2013

First Derivatives plc

("First Derivatives" or "the Company")

Placing of 840,000 new Ordinary Shares

Director Dealing

First Derivatives (AIM: FDP.L, ESM: GYQ.I), a leading provider of software and consulting services to thecapital markets industry, is pleased to announce that it has placed 840,000 new ordinary shares (the "Placing Shares") at 564 pence per share, with certain institutional and other investors (the "Placing") to raise approximately £4.74m (gross).

The Placing has been undertaken by Charles Stanley Securities and Goodbody Stockbrokers to satisfy strong investor demand following the announcement of the Company's final results for the twelve months ended 28 February 2013 on 18 June 2013 and the subsequent investor road show undertaken by the Company and was significantly oversubscribed.

The net proceeds of the Placing will be used to supplement the Company's working capital requirements going forward as the Company continues its rapid growth.

The placing price of 564 pence per ordinary share represents a discount of less than 1 per cent.to the Company's closing mid-market price on 27June 2013 of567.5 pence.

Application has been made for the 840,000 Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and ESM. The Placing is conditional on admission of the Placing Shares to tradingand it is expected that admission will take place on 3 July 2013. The Placing Shares will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares of the Company,but will not rank for the final dividend of 8.4 pence per share announced on 18 June 2013 and which was marked ex-dividend on 26 June 2013. Following this allotment, the total issued share capital of the Company will increase to 18,684,656 Ordinary Shares. The Company does not hold any shares in treasury and therefore the total number of voting rights in First Derivatives is 18,684,656. This figure may 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 charge to their interest in, the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

In addition, Charles Stanley Securities has placed a further 5,000 First Derivatives ordinary shares (the "Vendor Placing") with one of the institutional participants in the Placing on behalf of David Anderson, the Chairman of the Company, who will be standing down as Chairman at the forthcoming AGM.  The Vendor Placing was undertaken at a price of 564 pence per share and on the same commercial terms as the Placing.  Following this transaction Mr Anderson retains a holding of 104,000 ordinary shares representing approximately 0.56 per cent. of the enlarged issued share capital of the Company. Completion of the Vendor Placing is not conditional on the completion of the Placing.

Brian Conlon, Chief Executive Officer of First Derivatives, commented: "We are delighted to have received investment both from existing and new 'blue chip' institutional investors and I am very pleased to be welcoming the new holders to the Company. This placement has seen us continue to widen our shareholder base as part of the continuous development of the Group, with the oversubscription being a great vote of confidence in First Derivatives and the management's strategy going forward."

Enquiries:

First Derivatives plc	[phone]
Brian Conlon, Chief Executive Officer	www.firstderivatives.com
Graham Ferguson, Finance Director
Charles Stanley Securities	[phone]
(Nominated Adviser& Broker)
Russell Cook
Carl Holmes
GoodbodyCorporate Finance	[phone]
(ESM Adviser)
Finbarr Griffin
Goodbody Stockbrokers Linda Hickey
Walbrook PR	[phone]
Financial PR	[e-mail]
Bob Huxford	[e-mail]
Helen Westaway

About First Derivatives

First Derivatives is a global provider of software and consulting services to the financial services industry. With over 16 years' experience working with leading financial institutions, it continues to deliver technologically advanced products and services that anticipate and respond to the evolving needs of global capital markets.

First Derivatives currently employs over 750people worldwide and counts many of the world's top investment banks, brokers and hedge funds as its customers. It has operations in London, New York, Stockholm, Shanghai, Singapore, Toronto, Sydney, Dublin, Newry and Hong Kong.

For further information please visit www.firstderivatives.com.

 

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