Exercise of Warrants

RNS Number : 7380U

Myanmar Investments Intl Ltd

26 October 2017

 

26 October 2017

Myanmar Investments International Limited

Exercise of Warrants

Myanmar Investments International Limited [AIM: MIL] ("MIL" or the "Company"), the AIM-quoted, Myanmar focused investment company, today announces that it has received notice of the exercise of 49,375 AIM-quoted warrants, which trade under the TIDM:MILW (the "Warrants"). Each Warrant allows the Warrant holder to subscribe for one ordinary share of nil par value of the Company (the "Ordinary Shares"). 

The 49,375 Warrants were exercised during the 15 business day period which commenced on 1 October 2017, following the quarter ended 30 September 2017, at a price of $0.75 per new Ordinary Share.

Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for admission of 49,375 Ordinary Shares to trading on AIM (the "Admission") and it is expected that Admission will take place and that trading will commence on AIM on or around 1 November 2017.

The issued share capital of the Company following the issue of the new Ordinary Shares is 36,802,291 Ordinary Shares of nil par value, with voting rights. The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in Treasury. In addition, following the reduction of the 49,375 Warrants pursuant to the exercise, the Company will have 15,976,507 Warrants in issue.

Following Admission, the above figure of 36,802,291 Ordinary Shares may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

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For further information please contact:

Aung Htun Managing Director Myanmar Investments International Ltd [phone] [phone] [e-mail]	Michael Dean Finance Director Myanmar Investments International Ltd [phone] [phone] [e-mail]
Nominated Adviser Philip Secrett / Jamie Barklem/ Carolyn Sansom Grant Thornton UK LLP [phone]	Broker Andrew Pinder / David Herring Alistair Roberts (Hong Kong) Investec Bank plc [phone]
Public Relations Julian Bosdet / Dylan Mark / Alejandra Campuzano Abchurch Communications [phone]

Notes to Editors:

Myanmar Investments International Limited (AIM: MIL) was the first Myanmar-focused investment company to be admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.  MIL was established in 2013 with the intention of building long term shareholder value by proactively investing in a diversified portfolio of Myanmar businesses that will benefit from the country's re-emergence and ongoing economic development. The Company is led by an experienced and entrepreneurial team who between them have considerable industrial, corporate and financial management experience.

MIL aims to identify investments with strong growth which if necessary can be "de-risked" through the introduction of experienced senior line-management, mentors and / or strategic partners sourced by MIL's management board.  The Company's main focus is on opportunities that are experiencing acute supply and demand imbalances, such as within the consumer and capacity-constrained sectors.

With its strong proprietary investment pipeline of deals, MIL provides investors with a highly disciplined and conservative investment process into one of the most promising growth opportunities of this era.

MIL's largest investment (US$21 million cost for a 9.3% shareholding) is in Apollo Towers, one of Myanmar's top telecom towers companies with 1,800 towers. Apollo operates in the high growth telecom sector with a strong management that is growing the number of co-locations (i.e. multiple tenancies) on its portfolio of towers. In June 2016, the US Government's Overseas Private Investment Corporation ("OPIC") provided a US$250 million debt facility to Apollo Towers.

MIL's first investment in August 2014 was into Myanmar Finance International Limited ("MFIL") which today is one of the top 10 microfinance companies in Myanmar. Since MIL invested, MFIL's business has expanded rapidly; its loan portfolio has a CAGR of 145% since investment. The business is profitable with zero NPLs and a sustainable expansion plan for long term growth. In November 2015, the Norwegian Government's Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries ("Norfund"), the Norwegian development finance institution, also became a 25% shareholder in MFIL.

In May 2017 MIL established a pharmacy, healthcare and personal care product franchise joint venture with Medicare, Vietnam's largest such chain. It is expected that the business will fill a vacuum in the present retail landscape and at the same time tap into the rapid growth of the middle and affluent classes in Myanmar. To date the Company has invested close to US$800,000 for a 47% stake. The Company expects to invest further capital in the business over the next few years as it continues to expand.

MIL's latest investment in October 2017 was into the tourism sector. Together with two leading Myanmar tourism entrepreneurs (the "Myanmar Partners") it has established Myanmar Voyages Group Company Limited ("Myanmar Voyages") to invest into tourism-related assets in Myanmar. Myanmar Voyages is acquiring a 60% stake of the Myanmar Partners' existing travel agency business, Myanmar Voyage International Tourism Company Limited ("MVI"), which focuses on inbound tourism, serving tourists from markets such as Spain, Scandinavia and Japan, as well as providing land excursion tour packages for cruise liners calling at ports in Myanmar. It is intended that Myanmar Voyages will build on the platform that MVI provides and establish or acquire additional assets in the tourism sector including hotels, specialised tourist attractions and restaurants. It will therefore also be acquiring a management contract for a hotel at Inle Lake and a 30% stake in the "Mingalabar Balloon" company. Initially MIL has acquired a 97% interest in Myanmar Voyages for an outlay of approximately US$800,000, though this will be adjusted based on the performance of the MVI business over the next two years.  The Company expects to invest further capital in the business over the next few years as it continues to expand.

Myanmar, a country of approximately 51.4 million people and roughly the size of France, has been isolated for much of the last 50 years.  Once it was one of the more prosperous countries in Southeast Asia as it has an abundance of natural resources (oil, natural gas, arable land, tourist attractions and a long coastline), it is now one of the least developed countries in the world.

The country has undergone an unprecedented and peaceful transformational reform process, initiated by U Thein Sein's Administration in 2011. This is now continuing under the elected civilian administration led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi which came to power in April 2016 as a result of the first democratic elections in 50 years.  While the process is still evolving, the new government has broad support and significant progress has been made to the economic prospects of the country.

For more information about MIL, please visit www.myanmarinvestments.com

 

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