Placing to raise £2.1 million

RNS Number : 3694N

FastForward Innovations Limited

29 January 2021

 

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF REGULATION 2014/596/EU. IN ADDITION, MARKET SOUNDINGS WERE TAKEN IN RESPECT OF THE MATTERS CONTAINED IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, WITH THE RESULT THAT CERTAIN PERSONS BECAME AWARE OF SUCH INSIDE INFORMATION. UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND SUCH PERSONS SHALL THEREFORE CEASE TO BE IN POSSESSION OF INSIDE INFORMATION.

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

29 January 2021

FastForward Innovations Ltd  ("FastForward" or, "FFWD")  

Placing to raise £2.1 million

Issue of Equity

FastForward Innovations Ltd, the AIM quoted company focusing on making investments in fast growing and industry leading businesses, is pleased to announce that it has placed 24,705,879 new Ordinary Shares of 1p each (the 'Placing Shares') at a price of 8.5p per Placing Share (the "Placing Price") with new and existing shareholders raising gross proceeds of approximately £2.1 million (together the 'Placing').  In addition, it has issued 2,941,177 Ordinary Shares from the Company's treasury shares to Mr Lorne Abony, a former director, at the Placing Price in settlement of accrued directors fees payable in relation to calendar year 2019 and payment of which was deferred on 15 May 2020 for a period of up to 12 months.

The Placing Price represents a discount of approximately 9.86% to the Company's most recently published Net Asset Value ('NAV') per share of 9.43p and a 1.19% premium to the closing price of the Company's ordinary shares on 28 January 2021, being the last business day prior to completion of the Placing.

As part of the Placing the Company has issued one warrant for every two Placing Shares (the "Placing Warrants") exercisable at 12.75p, a 50% premium to the Placing Price. 

Shard Capital are sole brokers to the Placing.

Reasons for the Placing

FastForward has to date experienced largely positive developments in this financial year (to 31 March 2021) as the Company focuses on delivering its core objective of providing investors with exposure to disruptive growth opportunities, in particular medical cannabis, that have near-term re-rating potential and would otherwise be inaccessible. The proceeds from the Placing will be used to fund a number of opportunities in line with this investment strategy.

The Placing Warrants

Each Placing Warrant will entitle the holder to subscribe for one further ordinary share of £0.01 in the capital of the Company upon payment of 12.75 pence per share on or before that date which is 24 months from the Settlement Date. The Warrants will also be subject to an accelerator provision, such as if at any time during the 24 month duration of the Warrants the 5 day volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of FastForward ordinary shares exceeds 17p per share, the Company may give warrant holders notice to exercise their Warrants within 10 business days following the Company's notice and to pay the exercise price in full within 20 business days following the Company's notice, failing which the Warrants will automatically expire.

The Warrants are fully transferable, will not be traded on any exchange and will otherwise be issued subject to the terms and conditions set out in a warrant instrument to be executed by the Company.

Ed McDermott, CEO of FastForward, commented:  "The support that we have received from new and existing shareholders in completing this placing is extremely encouraging and is an endorsement of our streamlined strategy to focus our investments into the areas where we have significant expertise, namely, health, wellness and medical cannabis.

"We have had a strong start to 2021, particularly with respect to our investments in the wellness and medical cannabis space. Notably, earlier this week the merger between Yooma and Globalive moved towards completion following its approval by Shareholders marking a significant milestone for FastForward. We hope to maintain this momentum across our other portfolio companies and as we consider potential new investment opportunities in the space."

Admission and Total Voting Rights

The Placing Shares will rank pari passu with the existing ordinary shares of the Company and application for the admission to trading on AIM of 24,705,879 has been made. Admission to trading on AIM of the Placing Shares is anticipated to occur on 12 February 2021.

The issued ordinary share capital of the company will consist of 215,219,841 ordinary shares of 1 pence each with voting rights (including 2,472,446 held in treasury).  Accordingly, 212,747,395 Ordinary Shares may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations which will determine whether they are required to notify their interest in the company, or any change to that interest, under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

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	Tel: [phone]
Isabel De Salis / Beth Melluish	St Brides Partners Ltd, Financial PR	Tel: [phone]

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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