Loan Facility

RNS Number : 8044D

Trident Royalties PLC.

01 July 2021

 

1 July 2021

Trident Royalties Plc

("Trident" or the "Company")

$10 million Loan Facility

Trident Royalties Plc (AIM:TRR, FSX:5KV), the growth-focused mining royalty and streaming company, is pleased to announce that it has finalised all documentation and, together with its subsidiary companies, entered into a $10 million secured loan facility agreement with a syndicate managed by Tribeca Investment Partners ("Tribeca"), including the CNL Sprott Strategic Asset Fund and Paul Smith, the Company's Chairman (the "Facility").

The Facility will support the Company's already strong balance sheet by providing additional capital to promote continued growth and diversification of the Company's royalty portfolio following completion of the Thacker Pass lithium royalty transaction in March. The Facility is in line with the strategy highlighted within the Company's AIM Admission Document (dated 27 May 2020) to utilise a conservative level of gearing now that the Company has reached an appropriate size and scale.

Adam Davidson, Chief Executive Officer of Trident commented:

"The finalisation of this $10 million loan facility comes at an important time for Trident, supporting our already healthy balance sheet in a period where we have grown through the acquisition of royalties, as well as having seen positive asset-level progress, and are currently reviewing a number of royalty and streaming opportunities under 12 active NDAs.

"Following on from our most recent, and significant, acquisition of 60% of the Thacker Pass lithium royalty in Nevada, and against a widely reported global macro backdrop supportive of critical minerals, we are confident of using the increased resources now available to us for further growth and diversification across the portfolio." 

Key Terms

The Facility is available to Trident for a period of 6 weeks from signing and is repayable within 12 months from drawdown with a 12-month extension available, subject to certain conditions including payment of an extension fee. Trident will pay a coupon of 10%, with interest payable quarterly. If the Facility is not drawn within the 6-week period, a 2% break fee is payable. 

In addition, on drawdown the Company will grant options to subscribe for 3,500,000 shares in Trident to the lenders ("Options") exercisable at £0.5166 per share, a price representing a 30% premium to the 30-day volume weighted average price prior to the date of the Facility. The Options are exercisable immediately on issue and will expire 24-months from the date of issue.

Related Party Transaction

Among the parties to whom Tribeca has syndicated the Facility is Paul Smith, the Company's Chairman, who has agreed to make available US$500,000 on the same terms as the other syndicate members, including the granting of 175,000 options on the terms outlined above. By virtue of the quantum of his contribution, Mr Smith's participation in the Facility falls to be treated as a related party transaction under Rule 13 of the AIM Rules for Companies.

The independent directors of Trident, being the directors other than Mr Smith consider, having consulted with the Company's nominated adviser, Grant Thornton UK LLP, that the terms of Mr Smith's participation in the Facility are fair and reasonable insofar as Trident's shareholders are concerned.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

** Ends **

Contact details:

Trident Royalties Plc Adam Davidson	www.tridentroyalties.com [phone]
Grant Thornton (Nominated Adviser) Colin Aaronson / Samantha Harrison / Lukas Girzadas	www.grantthornton.co.uk [phone]
Tamesis Partners LLP (Financial Adviser and Joint Broker) Richard Greenfield	www.tamesispartners.com [phone]
Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Broker) Erik Woolgar / Isabella Pierre	www.shardcapital.com [phone]
St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR & IR) Susie Geliher / Catherine Leftley / Charlotte Hollinshead	www.stbridespartners.co.uk [phone]

About Trident

Trident is a growth-focused diversified mining royalty and streaming company, providing investors with exposure to a mix of base and precious metals, bulk materials (excluding thermal coal) and battery metals.

Key highlights of Trident's strategy include:

· Expanding on a royalty and streaming portfolio which broadly mirrors the commodity exposure of the global mining sector (excluding thermal coal) with a bias towards production or near-production assets, differentiating Trident from the majority of peers which are exclusively, or heavily weighted, to precious metals;

· Acquiring royalties and streams in resource-friendly jurisdictions worldwide, while most competitors have portfolios focused on North and South America;

· Targeting attractive small-to-mid size transactions which are often ignored in a sector dominated by large players;

· Active deal-sourcing which, in addition to writing new royalties and streams, will focus on the acquisition of assets held by natural sellers such as: closed-end funds, prospect generators, junior and mid-tier miners holding royalties as non-core assets, and counterparties seeking to monetise packages of royalties and streams which are otherwise undervalued by the market;  

· Maintaining a low-overhead model which is capable of supporting a larger scale business without a commensurate increase in operating costs; and

· Leveraging the experience of management, the board of directors, and Trident's adviser team, all of whom have deep industry connections and strong transactional experience across multiple commodities and jurisdictions.

The acquisition and aggregation of individual royalties and streams is expected to deliver strong returns for shareholders as assets are acquired on terms reflective of single asset risk compared with the lower risk profile of a diversified, larger scale portfolio. Further value is expected to be delivered by the introduction of conservative levels of leverage through debt. Once scale has been achieved, strong cash generation is expected to support an attractive dividend policy, providing investors with a desirable mix of inflation protection, growth and income.

 

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