Issue of equity and placing of shares

RNS Number : 9420I

Braveheart Investment Group plc

23 June 2011

 



23 June 2011

Braveheart Investment Group plc

Issue of Equity and Placing of Shares

Braveheart Investment Group (AIM: BRH) ('Braveheart' or the 'Group'), the AIM-listed specialist in growth capital investments for business angels, high net worth individuals and family offices, is pleased to announce that it has raised approximately £950,000 (before expenses), through a placing ('the New Placing') of 4,132,574 new ordinary shares ('the New Placing Shares') at a placing price of 23 pence per share. 

The New Placing Shares will represent approximately 21.9 per cent of the issued share capital of the Group as enlarged by the New Placing.  The proceeds of the New Placing will be used for working capital purposes and to support further investment in the Group's portfolio of high-growth businesses.

The New Placing is conditional upon admission of the New Placing Shares to trading on AIM and admission is expected to become effective and dealings are expected to commence on 24 June 2011.

The number of Ordinary Shares in issue following the New Placing will be 18,882,013, which is the number which may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the FSA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

In addition to the New Placing, the Group has placed the whole of the existing shareholdings of Kenmore Private Equity Ltd and Uberior Investments plc and 15% of Geoffrey Thomson's shareholding, with new investors.  Mr Thomson agreed to dispose of part of his holding in order to facilitate the realisation of the investments of the two aforementioned institutional shareholders.  All existing shares were placed at 15p per share.    

Geoffrey Thomson, Chief Executive said: "Since our IPO in 2007 we have been doing two things. Firstly, we have been building our directly held investment portfolio both by acquisition and by direct investment and as at the end of March this year we had holdings or financial interests in 39 companies.  Secondly, and more latterly, we have been developing our fee generating business and we have acquired two investment management companies.  We now operate investment business networks in six locations and we are doing this by a mix of outright ownership, public sector contracted support and franchise activity.  This Placing we have announced today gives us new capital to continue our business development and it resolves the issue of liquidity by bringing in new investors to replace those who have been seeking to exit as part of a portfolio realisation plan.  The new shareholders are, by and large, family office investors who have invested for strategic reasons.

Notifiable shareholdings prior to and following the New Placing and the sale of existing shareholdings are as follows:

	Prior to transaction			Following transaction
Shareholder	Number	Percentage of issued		Number	Percentage of issued
Zeban Nominees 1	-	-		5,626,840	29.80%
G C B Thomson	2,750,890	18.65%		2,350,890	12.45%
Kenmore Private Equity Ltd	2,500,000	16.95%		-	-
Uberior Investments plc 2	1,338,410	9.07%		-	-
D C Thomson Ltd	-	-		1,319,300	6.99%
W Rehman	-	-		1,055,440	5.59%
A T G Burton	613,818	4.16%		613,818	3.25%
Securities Services Nominees Ltd 3	503,411	3.41%		503,411	2.67%
E B Cunningham	493,275	3.34%		493,275	2.61%
K J Campbell	454,500	3.08%		454,500	2.41%
1 Beneficial owner being A Norris
2 A subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group plc
3 Beneficial owner being A M Threipland

For further information please visit:

www.braveheartinvestmentgroup.co.uk

Or contact:

Braveheart Investment Group plc	Seymour Pierce
Geoffrey Thomson, Chief Executive Tel: [phone] [e-mail]	John Cowie (Nominated Adviser) Paul Jewell, Marianne Woods (Corporate Broking) Tel: [phone]
	Media inquiries
	Allerton Communications (for Braveheart) Peter Curtain Tel: [phone] [e-mail]

Notes to editors

Braveheart Investment Group makes and manages investments in young, emerging British companies, specialising in building tax-efficient portfolios for business angels, high net worth individuals and family offices. Braveheart was founded in 1997 by a small group of investors to encourage and syndicate investments in privately held companies that offered opportunities for significant growth. Fourteen years on, Braveheart is a public company with a demonstrable track record in early-stage technology investing, an established client base, and offices in Perth, London and Yorkshire.

Investments are made in unlisted companies where there is potential for significant growth through successful commercialisation of IP. Through close relationships with leading universities and innovation centres, Braveheart has access to a wide variety of emerging commercial opportunities at early stages. There are currently some 39 companies in Braveheart's diverse portfolio (includes all companies where the Group has a financial interest) and it has completed more than 100 deals.

Following the 2010 acquisition of Envestors Ltd, the London based specialist corporate finance advisory business, Braveheart has greater geographical reach and offers a unique and comprehensive suite of tax-efficient products to high-net-worth investors.  

 

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