Placing and Board Changes

Canisp PLC 15 June 2006 15 June 2006 Canisp plc Proposed Placing Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting and Board Changes Canisp plc announces that it has conditionally placed 60,000,000 ordinary shares of one penny each at par ('Placing Shares') to raise £600,000 before expenses (' Placing'). The Placing is conditional upon the Company in extraordinary general meeting ('EGM') granting the directors authority to allot and issue the Placing Shares otherwise than pro-rata to existing shareholders. Background In the chairman's statement accompanying the Company's interim results which were announced on 20 December 2005, we said that we would continue to work hard to grow our customer base but that we were also investigating alternative approaches to recover shareholder value. We are continuing this twin strategy. To date we have spoken to a number of parties interested in acquiring all or part of our business. It has been the board's view that such persons have significantly underestimated the value of the Company's assets such that none of these approaches have been worthy of detailed consideration. In the meantime we continue to work to grow the Company's existing customer base and to assist in this the directors have decided to proceed with the Placing. The Placing The Company has received firm commitments from placees, including from director Mike Hirschfield, to subscribe for all of the Placing Shares. Such commitments are conditional only upon shareholders approving the special resolution to be proposed at the EGM by no later than 30 July 2006. The net proceeds of the Placing are estimated to be £585,000, a proportion of which will be used to repay, in part, existing borrowing from Bank of Scotland. Capitalisation of debt Contemporaneously with completion of the Placing and subject to the passing of the special resolution at the EGM, the Company will capitalise £257,500 of the debt owed to Corvus Capital Inc (Corvus) by the allotment and issue of 25,750,000 ordinary shares at par (Capitalisation). Following the Placing and Capitalisation Corvus will hold 27.87 per cent of the entire issued share capital of the Company. In addition to the Capitalisation, the Company has agreed with Corvus that Corvus may capitalise the balance of its debt amounting to £527,500, in whole or part, at any time in the 24 months following the date of the EGM at a price per share of whichever is the lower of 1 1/2p and the average closing bid price for an ordinary share of the Company on the AIM market for the three trading days preceding Corvus' demand to capitalise debt, subject always to the capitalisation price per share being no lower than par value (Corvus Capitalisation Agreement). The Corvus Capitalisation Agreement is conditional upon approval of the special resolution to be proposed at the EGM. Rule 9 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers normally requires any person or group of persons acting in concert that acquire shares which, taken together with shares already held, carry 30 per cent. or more of the voting rights of a Company to offer to acquire the balance of the equity share capital in cash at the highest price paid by that person or any person acting in concert with him in the previous 12 months. Corvus has told your board that currently its intention is not to increase its shareholding in the Company beyond its current level (in which case Corvus would only exercise its rights under the Corvus Capitalisation Agreement if it had sold all or some of its shares in the Company or if its holding had been diluted by the issue of further shares in the Company). Your directors believe that the Corvus Capitalisation Agreement is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders as a whole because it incentivises Corvus to capitalise its debt rather than calling for the repayment of its debt. Related party Corvus is a related party of the Company under the AIM rules because it is a substantial shareholder in the Company and because Ian Tickler sits on the boards of both companies. In addition, I used to be a director of Corvus. The directors have consulted with the Company's nominated adviser, Canaccord Adams Limited, and consider that the terms of the Placing, and Corvus Capitalisation Agreement are fair and reasonable insofar as the Company's shareholders are concerned. Board changes Subject to completion of the Placing and the passing of resolutions 1, 2 and 3 at the EGM, Mark Shrosbree will join the board as the Company's managing director, Tim Moss will join as part time finance director and Sam Glover will join the board as a non-executive director. At the same time I will resign from the board, Mike Hirschfield will take over as executive chairman and John Maundrell's role will change from executive to non-executive. Mark Shrosbree, age 47, has over 20 years' experience in the UK telecoms market. From 1986 to 1992 he was sales director for a telecom dealership in both hardware and network services. From 1993 to 1998 he worked for Alcatel and was promoted to national sales manager. In 1999 he helped establish, as sales director, a national switch-less reseller business which was sold in 2005. He is currently sales director of The Airtime Group Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. Timothy Moss, age 43,qualified as a chartered accountant with Pannell Kerr Forster in 1990.He has held senior financial positions with a number of companies in the utilities, communications and telecoms sectors, and is currently a director of The Airtime Group Limited and CVS Management Limited. He is based in Geneva, Switzerland. Tim holds options over 125,000 ordinary shares in the capital of the Company exercisable at a price of 31p per ordinary share. Sam Glover, aged 32, has over ten years of IT development experience. This ranges from the development of equity and derivative market analysis and charting tools to the project management of the IT relocation for Lloyds of London underwriters on behalf of Facilities Solutions Limited. Sam has also acted as a consultant on the technical infrastructure and computerisation for Xchanging and Ins-Sure pre and post merger. Sam is currently a director of XL Services Limited. There are no other disclosures to be made regarding Mark, Tim or Sam under rule 17 or paragraph (g) of schedule 2 of the AIM Rules. Action to be taken A circular being posted to shareholders today includes a notice of the EGM to be held at 10:30 a.m. on Monday 10 July 2006 at 25 North Row, London W1K 6DJ. The meeting is being convened to consider and, if thought fit, approve the appointments of Mark Shrosbree, Tim Moss and Sam Glover as directors and a special resolution authorising the directors to issue and allot the Placing Shares and shares arising from the Capitalisation and the Corvus Capitalisation Agreement. Recommendation Your directors believe that the Placing and Corvus' continued financial support are critical to the Company's ability to continue trading. Accordingly, the directors recommend shareholders to vote in favour of the resolutions to be proposed at the EGM as they will be doing so in respect of their own shareholdings amounting in aggregate to 5.94 per cent of the Company's entire issued share capital. John Leat Chairman 15 June 2006 Notice of EGM Notice is given that an extraordinary general meeting of the members of Canisp PLC (Company) will be held at 25 North Row, London W1K 6DJ on Monday 10 July 2006 at 10:30a.m. to consider and, if thought fit, pass the following: Ordinary resolutions 1. Conditional upon the passing of resolution 4 below, to appoint Mark Shrosbree as a director of the Company. 2. Conditional upon the passing of resolution 4 below, to appoint Tim Moss as a director of the Company. 3. Conditional upon the passing of resolution 4 below, to appoint Sam Glover as a director of the Company. Special resolution 4. That pursuant to section 95(1) CA 1985, the directors are authorised to allot equity securities, as defined in section 94(2) CA 1985, under the authority conferred by resolution 4 passed at the Company's annual general meeting held on 2 November 2005, as if section 89(1) CA 1985 did not apply to the allotment, for the period commencing on the date of this resolution and expiring at the conclusion of the next annual general meeting of the Company except that the directors may allot relevant securities following an offer or agreement made before the expiry of the authority and provided that the authority is limited to: 4.1 the allotment of equity securities at par in connection with a placing of ordinary shares in the Company up to an aggregate nominal amount of £600,000 (six hundred thousand pounds); 4.2 the allotment of equity securities at par in connection with the capitalisation of £257,500 (two hundred and fifty seven thousand five hundred pounds) owed to Corvus Capital Inc; 4.3 the allotment of equity securities, in the 24 months following the date of the meeting, to capitalise up to £527,500 owed to Corvus Capital Inc at a price per share of whichever is the lower of 1 1/2p and the closing bid price for an ordinary share of the company on the AIM market for the three trading days preceding Corvus Capital Inc's demand to capitalise its debt, subject always to the capitalisation price per share being no lower than par value; and 4.4 the allotment of equity securities, otherwise than in accordance with paragraphs 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 up to an aggregate nominal amount of £100,000 (one hundred thousand pounds). By order of the board Kitwell Consultants Limited Secretary Registered office: Kitwell House, The Warren, Radlett, Hertfordshire WD7 7DU ends This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
UK 100

Latest directors dealings