Inaugural IM transaction executed

RNS Number : 0714Z

Supply @ME Capital PLC

12 September 2022

 

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF REGULATION 2014/596/EU, WHICH IS PART OF UNITED KINGDOM DOMESTIC LAW PURSUANT TO THE MARKET ABUSE (AMENDMENT) (EU EXIT) REGULATIONS (SI 2019/310) ("UK MAR"). UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION (AS DEFINED IN UK MAR) IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

12 September 2022

Supply@ME Capital plc

(the "Company" or "SYME")

Inaugural Inventory Monetisation© transaction executed

SYME, the fintech business which provides an innovative fintech platform (the "Platform") for use by manufacturing and trading companies to access Inventory Monetisation© ("IM") solutions enabling their businesses to generate cashflow, is pleased to announce the execution of its first IM transaction.

This announcement follows recent Company updates, including the RNS of 28 June 2022, when SYME disclosed the strategic alliance (the "Agreement") entered into with VeChain Foundation[1] ("VeChain"), which is aimed at launching the Web3[2] stream with the intention of funding up to USD $10m of IM transactions, leveraging the minting of dedicated Non-Fungible Tokens ("NFT") to be directly subscribed for by VeChain.

The counterparty to SYME's inaugural IM transaction is a well-established business with significant market presence in Europe (mainly in Italy), Africa and the United States (the "Client Company").  The Client Company is involved in the design and manufacture of industrial and specialised vehicles as well as electronic systems, electrical wiring, and other components[3].

The IM transaction has been structured as follows:

· the Stock (trading) Company ("StockCo"), an overview of which was given in the SYME Business Model Canvas in the Company's Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2021, entered into the commercial contractual package, with a duration of three years, with the Client Company to execute the IM transaction. The total value of the initial warehoused goods to be monetised is approximately €1.6m;

· with reference to the fully owned SYME subsidiaries:

o  Supply@ME S.r.l. ("Supply@ME Italy"), acting as originator and servicer, signed an operating agreement with StockCo which includes an annual inventory servicing fee and, additionally, will charge the Client Company an up-front origination fee; and

o  Supply@ME Technologies S.r.l., owner of the IM intellectual property rights and acting as Platform provider, has signed a license agreement with the StockCo and will charge an annual Platform fee. The Platform will be used by the Client Company to upload inventory to be monetised (and, accordingly, minting the NFTs), integrate and transfer the Enterprise-Resource-Planning data to allow the necessary monitoring and inspection activities by the StockCo, supported by Supply@ME Italy;

· StockCo, in turn, mints NFTs to be subscribed by VeChain under the Agreement. Each NFT represents a basket of rights over the inventory, including the opportunity to achieve monthly returns generated by the inventory trading activities performed by the StockCo and the right of the NFT holder, as ultimate owner of the goods, to take possession of the physical goods if certain conditions are met.

The total expected average annual fees to be invoiced by the Company's fully owned subsidiaries, as detailed above, over the duration of this specific transaction, equates to approximately 3% of the gross value of the inventory to be monetised by the StockCo.  This is the upper range the Company expected could be achievable for the "Captive" Platform servicing fees as set out in the revenue model previously disclosed by the Company.

In parallel, the Company is working on multiple further inventory funding streams in order to arrange and deploy new IM transactions, leveraging the traditional funding routes. Further updates will be made in due course regarding SYME's white label proposition.

Alessandro Zamboni, CEO of SYME, said: "We are delighted to have completed our inaugural IM transaction, supporting our Client Company in this new phase of just-in-case inventory management strategies. The technical innovation at the heart of our service is truly unique within the market. "

"We are well aware that, given the complexity of our model, it has taken more time than expected for the first IM transaction to be executed, but this will now help traditional Inventory Funders to understand, in detail, the features of the model and fully recognise its feasibility and viability. Thanks to the successful completion of this first IM transaction, we further expect the opportunity to co-design new self-funding and white-label solutions, together with the financial services industry. "

"The involvement of VeChain, an organisation that is renowned in the sustainability and supply chain sector, will  boost the confidence of traditional Inventory Funders in using blockchain solutions on real business cases. It will also build the foundations for Decentralised Finance protocols combined with our IM service to support the real economy and the global supply chains. "

For the purposes of UK MAR, the person responsible for arranging release of this announcement on behalf of SYME is Alessandro Zamboni, CEO.

Enquiries

Investors & Analysts:

Alessandro Zamboni, CEO, Supply@ME Capital plc, [e-mail]

Paul Vann, Walbrook PR Limited, [phone];  [e-mail]

Media:

Nicole Louis, MHP,  [e-mail]

Notes

SYME and its operating subsidiaries provide its Platform for use by manufacturing and trading companies to access inventory trade solutions enabling their businesses to generate cashflow, via a non-credit approach and without incurring debt.  This is achieved by their existing eligible inventory being added to the Platform and then monetised via purchase by third party Inventory Funders.  The inventory to be monetised can include warehouse goods waiting to be sold to end-customers or goods/commodities that are part of a typical import/export transaction. SYME announced in August 2021 the launch of a global Inventory Monetisation programme which will be focused on both inventory in transit monetisation and warehoused goods monetisation. This programme will be focused on creditworthy companies and not those in distress or otherwise seeking to monetise illiquid inventories.  

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[1] https://www.vechain.org/.

[2] According to the Messari report "Crypto theses 2022", "crypto, or the recently en vogue "Web3", is an unstoppable force in the long-term". "Web3 is a good and all-encompassing term that captures cryptocurrencies (digital gold & stablecoins), smart contract computing (Layer 1-2 platforms), decentralized hardware infrastructure (video, storage, sensors, etc), Non-Fungible Tokens (digital ID & property rights), DeFi (financial services to swap and collateralize web3 assets), the Metaverse (the digital commons built in game-like environments), and community governance (DAOs, or decentralized autonomous organizations)".

[3] SYME will not be disclosing the names of client companies unless these entities have given express permission to do so.

 

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