Notice of EGM & Proposed Change of Name

RNS Number : 7468C

FastForward Innovations Limited

22 June 2021

 

FastForward Innovations Ltd  / AIM: FFWD / Sector: Closed End Investments

22 June 2021

FastForward Innovations Ltd

("FastForward", "FFWD" or the "Company")

Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting

Proposed Company Name Change

FastForward Innovations Ltd, the AIM quoted company focusing on making investments in fast growing and industry leading businesses,  announces that an Extraordinary General Meeting ("EGM") will be held at 11 New Street, St Peter Port, Guernsey on Friday, 9 July 2021 at 3pm (BST) to consider and, if thought fit, to pass the certain resolutions including a proposed renaming of the Company as Seed Innovations Limited.

Notice of the EGM and proxy forms have been posted to Shareholders and a copy of the Notice of the EGM is available for download from the Company's website www.fstfwd.co .

FastForward Non-executive Chairman, Ian Burns, said, "As we have reported over recent months, we have been developing our portfolio ensuring a mix of liquid, pre-liquidity and longer-term investments as well as maintaining a good cash position to make further investments, which taken together greatly reduces the risk of our portfolio whilst giving much clearer visibility on potential returns.

"Investor interest in the cannabinoid sector is escalating with several new companies nearing listing or recently listed on a UK exchange and we have been active in investing in these companies. We believe this is a sector which will only gain an increased investor momentum as companies' profiles grow and investment in the sector becomes more mainstream. 

"Ongoing clinical research into cannabis/cannabinoids is beginning to show efficacy in helping certain conditions and having been involved in the sector for several years, having made 8 investments operating within the space and indeed seeing 4 successful exits, we are ideally positioned to benefit from this growth and cement our position as a leading investor in the sector.  At present we remain the only AIM quoted company investing in the sector.

"Whilst we remain focussed on having a balanced portfolio of disruptive technologies, the proposed rebrand to Seed Innovations Limited is reflective of our significant focus on investing within the medical cannabis, health and wellness space. With the cannabis sector forecasted to reach a value of £16.5bn in the next decade and the health and wellness space predicted to near $4.24bn by 2026, I believe our shift in positioning will result in momentous growth in the years to come.

"We recently appointed Alfredo Pascual as Vice President of Investment Analysis. Alfredo's focus is on sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities in the burgeoning European medical cannabis industry as well as supporting the growth of our portfolio companies in the sector. Having worked in the cannabis space since the end of 2016, Alfredo is a well-known name in the sector across global markets. We are excited about the opportunities he is already presenting us and we look forward to the continued growth of the Company with Alfredo on board.

"I firmly believe Seed Innovations Limited will continue to have a very bright future with our existing portfolio and pipeline of progressive companies within the health, wellness, and medical cannabis space to both aggressively expand as well as balance out the liquidity of our portfolio and attract new long-term institutional and retail shareholders.

"To approve this change, Resolution 1 as set out in the Notice is proposed as a special resolution to approve the change of the Company's name from 'FastForward Innovations Limited' to 'Seed Innovations Limited'."

Along with the proposed name change, the Company is proposing to update its Memorandum and Articles of Incorporation (M&A's) to bring them up to date with the Guernsey Companies Act and ensure that it has the flexibility to issue further ordinary shares, as detailed below.  

Ian Burns continued, "We are positioning the Company, which was originally incorporated in 2006, for the next exciting phase in its development, by bringing its constituent documents up to date to reflect changes in company law and into line with current market expectations, readying it for future investment, including from institutional investors should NAV and market cap develop as hoped."

The Resolutions are set out below with further details available on the Company's website www.fstfwd.co :

· Resolution 1 (a special resolution) proposes the change of the Company's name to 'Seed Innovations Limited'.

· Resolution 2 (a special resolution) proposes that a new set of Memorandum and Articles of Incorporation of the Company be adopted (New M&As).

· Resolution 3 (an ordinary resolution) is a market standard authority to authorise the Company to make market purchases of ordinary shares.

· Resolution 4 provides authority for the Company to issue new shares representing 100 per cent. of the Company's issued ordinary shares as at today's date, while Resolution 5 (a special resolution) provides that equity securities issued in accordance with Resolution 4 may be issued free from the rights of pre-emption contained within the New M&As (if adopted).

Should Resolution 1 be approved, the Company's TIDM would change to SEED and its website to www.seedinnovations.co

Covid-19 considerations

Arrangements for the EGM in light of Covid-19 is being closely monitoring by the Company. The Covid-19 situation, including guidance from the States of Guernsey, is continually developing, and will continue to do so in the lead up to the EGM.

In light of the current guidance from the States of Guernsey on reducing the transmission of Covid-19, travel to Guernsey is presently restricted from certain countries, and requires a period of quarantine on arrival.

Shareholders should carefully consider whether or not it is appropriate to attend the EGM in person this year if the guidance continues to be the same or even more restrictive at the time of the EGM. Any Shareholders wishing to travel to Guernsey to attend the EGM may also find themselves prevented from doing so.

As such, the Board encourages all shareholders to appoint the chair of the EGM as proxy as early as possible in order to vote on the matters being considered at the meeting.

The situation is developing rapidly, and shareholders should note that further changes may need to be put in place at short notice in relation to the EGM this year.

Updates on the status of the EGM and any changes to the proceedings of the meeting will be published on the Company's website and announced to the stock market.

Recommendation

The Board consider that the proposals set out in the letter and the Resolutions to be proposed at the EGM are in the best interests of the Company and shareholders as a whole.

The Board unanimously recommends to Shareholders to vote in favour of each of the Resolutions at the EGM as the Board intend to do in respect of their own beneficial and non-beneficial holdings of shares (amounting in aggregate to 1,774,024 shares, representing approximately 0.83 per cent. of the issued share capital of the Company as at the date of the document).

ENDS

For further information on the Company please visit  www.fstfwd.co       or contact:

Ed McDermott / Lance de Jersey	FastForward Innovations Ltd	Email:  [e-mail]
James Biddle / Roland Cornish	Beaumont Cornish Limited, Nomad	Tel: [phone]
Isabella Pierre / Damon Heath	Shard Capital Partners LLP	T: [phone]
Catherine Leftley / Charlotte Hollinshead	St Brides Partners Ltd, Financial PR	Email: [e-mail]

Notes

FastForward Innovations is an AIM quoted investment company focused primarily on disruptive high growth life sciences and technology businesses particularly within the medical cannabis arena. The Company's strategy is to identify early-stage opportunities that have an upcoming investment catalyst and grow its portfolio in terms of value whilst limiting the number of investee companies to a level where relevant time can be devoted to each.

 

END

 

 

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