Raises £750,000 to support Company's divisions

RNS Number : 9740N

WideCells Group PLC

15 August 2017

 

15 August 2017

WideCells Group PLC ('WideCells Group' or 'the Company')

Raises £750,000 to expand and support the Company's three divisions

WideCells Group PLC, the healthcare services company focused on providing stem cell services and ground-breaking insurance for stem cell treatment, is pleased to announce that it has raised gross proceeds of £750,000 through the issue of 5,357,143 ordinary shares at 14p per share by way of a private placing (the 'Placing') with new and existing shareholders as well as the Board of Directors.  The funds raised will be used to execute on a range of additional opportunities the Group has identified since listing in July 2016, rapidly accelerate the roll out of its three stem cell services divisions, CellPlan, WideCells and WideAcademy, and further its penetration of the rapidly growing stem cell market.

WideCells Group CEO, João Andrade, said, "This is an extremely exciting phase in our development as we look to accelerate the growth of all three divisions, CellPlan, WideCells and WideAcademy, through the aggressive roll out of new and existing products and services.  Our growth trajectory has been steep and we are set to continue this in the coming months as our proprietary insurance product CellPlan gains traction, the marketing of INDUS, a novel synthetic bone graft which promotes new bone formation increases, and the expansion of our stem cell bank relationships as well as our own storage capabilities expands.  Furthermore, having recently been granted a research licence from the UK's Human Tissue Authority, this cash injection will enable us to proceed with further cutting-edge stem cell research in a market that is projected to be worth US$170 billion by 2020 which is intended to help drive more revenues for the company in the future.

"We are ideally positioned to build on our position as a key service provider and leading international innovator in the stem cell arena.  We recently ranked as the 21st most disruptive company globally by DISRUPT 100; I look forward to continuing in this vein, increasing revenue and rewarding shareholders for their support." 

CellPlan

With the Company's e-commerce platform live, CellPlan can now be purchased by both new and existing customers of Biovault Technical Ltd ('Biovault'), the UK's largest private human tissue storage facility.  The platform enables the Group to target existing customers, who can purchase its stem cell insurance product, CellPlan, direct, whilst every new Biovault customer automatically receives CellPlan for a 12-month period, the cost of which is covered by Biovault as part of its package to new storage customers.  A portion of the funds raised will be used to develop the second stage of the e-commerce platform to roll out extended provider network and marketing spend to acquire more clients.  Additionally, the Company intends to strengthen marketing activities to accelerate growth and uptake - both to additional cord blood storage facilities and the extended provider network.

WideCells

The Company's first stem cell storage facility, the Institute of Stem Cell Technology at the University of Manchester Innovation Centre, has been granted a Research Licence (the 'Licence') from the UK's Human Tissue Authority.  This Licence, Number 12669, enables the Company to proceed with cutting-edge stem cell research at its base in Manchester and build on its position as a leading international innovator in the stem cell arena.  A portion of the funds raised will be used to deliver additional storage services, including stem cells from the placenta, cord blood plasma, teeth cells and synthetic bone substitute INDUS, and to drive storage uptake.

WideAcademy

WideAcademy is focused on becoming a thought leader in stem cell technology and accordingly the Company aims to establish itself as a high-profile resource for both healthcare professionals and families alike.  It aims to achieve this goal by establishing collaborations with leading multinational technology companies and reputed educational institutions and developing a website and mobile App which can deliver and distribute high quality and trustworthy information about this cutting edge and innovative industry.  The funds will be used to create and develop a digital platform to facilitate distribution of content globally, accelerate WideAcademy Courseware and secure and advance partnerships with educational institutions and technology companies.

The Placing

The Placing has raised gross proceeds of £750,000 by the issue of 5,357,143 new ordinary shares of £0.0025 each in the share capital of the Company (the 'Placing Shares') to new and existing shareholders and Directors of the Company, at a price of 14 pence per Placing Share (the 'Placing Price'), conditional only on Admission (as defined below).

Applications have been made for admission of the Placing Shares to listing on the Standard segment of the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on the Main Market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange plc ('Admission').  Admission is expected to take place on 18 August 2017.

The Placing Shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing ordinary shares in the share capital of the Company (including as to the right to receive dividends (and other distributions, if any) declared, made or paid by the Company after the date of issue of the Placing Shares).

Directors' participation in the Placing

Details of the directors' participation in the Placing are set out below:

Director	Number of Placing Shares subscribed for	Price per Placing Share	Number of shares held following the issue of the Placing Shares	Shareholding following the issue of the Placing Shares
João Andrade	15,000	Placing Price	8,055,000	12.43%
David Bridgland	71, 429	Placing Price	403,979	0.62%
Lopes Gil	15,000	Placing Price	8,050,000	12.42%
Graham Hine	20,000	Placing Price	3,258,698	5.03%
Marilyn Orcharton	7,143	Placing Price	158,095	0.24%
Alan Greenberg	35,714	Placing Price	35,714	0.06%
Alvaro Salas	21,429	Placing Price	181,663	0.06%

The notification set out below (made in accordance with the requirements of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 ('MAR')) provides further detail of the directors' participation.

Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Names	1. João Andrade - Chief Executive Officer 2. David Bridgland - Chief Financial Officer 3. Lopes Gil - Chief Operating Officer 4. Graham Hine - Chairman 5. Marilyn Orcharton - Non-Executive Director  6. Alan Greenberg - Non-Executive Director 7. Alvaro Salas - Director WideCells Espanã S.L.
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Directors of the Company
b)	Initial notification /Amendment	Initial notification
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	WideCells Group PLC
b)	LEI	n/a
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 £0.0025 each
b)	Identification code	GB00BD060S65
c)	Nature of the transaction	Placing
d)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Name Price(s) Volume(s) João Andrade David Bridgland Lopes Gil Graham Hine Marilyn Orcharton 14p 14p 14p 14p 14p 15,000 71,429 15,000 20,000 7, 143 Alan Greenberg Alvaro Salas 14p 14p 35,714 21,429
d)	Aggregated information  - Aggregated volume - Price	185,714 £26,000 (185,714 new ordinary shares at 14 pence per new ordinary share)
e)	Date of the transaction	18 August 2017
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

Total voting rights

Following the issue of the Placing Shares the Company's total issued share capital will consist of 64,821,010 ordinary shares of £0.0025 each.  As each ordinary share carries one vote the total number of voting rights attached to the ordinary shares in the Company is 64,821,010.  

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 ordinary shares in the Company in accordance with the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority.

**ENDS**

For further information, please visit the Company's website www.widecellsgroup.com, follow us on Twitter @WideCells_Group or contact:

WideCells Group	CEO - João Andrade	Tel:  [phone]
Smaller Company Capital Ltd	Broker - Jeremy Woodgate & Rupert Williams	Tel: [phone]
Shard Capital Partners LLP	Broker - Damon Heath & Erik Woolgar	Tel: [phone]
St Brides Partners Ltd	PR - Charlotte Page & Olivia Vita	Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editors

WideCells Group PLC is building an integrated stem cell services company, focused on making stem cell treatments accessible and affordable.  In June 2017, the Group was ranked as the 21st most disruptive company globally by DISRUPT 100, an annual index celebrating the businesses with the most potential to influence, change or create new global markets.

With this in mind, it has created three divisions:

·     CellPlan: the world's first stem cell healthcare insurance plan with financial cover for medical treatment, travel and accommodation expenses and concierge service to manage the treatment process

·     WideCells: the Institute of Stem Cell Technology has been established and is based in the University of Manchester Innovation Centre to focus on stem cell research and regenerative medicine. WideCells also has international cryogenics divisions specialising in stem cell storage.

·     WideAcademy: developing an education and training division to promote awareness of the benefits of stem cell storage across the global general practice community.

The Group has built an experienced senior management team that has been integral to the development of its growth and business to date.

Stem Cell Fast Facts:

·     Cord blood (which is taken from the umbilical cord) provides the most effective source of stem cells for families' due to it being simple, safe and painless to collect relative to other sources of stem cells such as bone marrow - WideCells will focus on promoting the collection and storage of this.

·     Since 2005, there has been a 300% increase in the number of illnesses that can be treated using stem cells

·     82 illnesses can currently be treated using stem cell procedures

·     Despite initial storage often costing no more than a few £thousand, actual treatment can cost in the £hundreds of thousands

 

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