Loan Facility up to ?5 million to fund expansion

RNS Number : 7071Q

Minoan Group PLC

17 October 2013

 



17 October 2013

Minoan Group Plc

(the "Group" or "Minoan")

New Loan Facility of up to £5 million to fund expansion

Business Update

Key Points

Loan Facility

·     Provides funding to significantly accelerate the next phase of the successful buy-and-build strategy of the Travel and Leisure business ("T&L") plus working capital.

      Crete

·     Crete Strategic Environment Assessment now in final stages of preparation and will be ready for submission very shortly.

T&L

·     A further acquisition has been completed and both organic expansion and the buy-and-build strategy are driving further expansion;

·     T&L has had a very good year to date and will comfortably show double digit growth.

Loan Facility ("Facility")

The Group has arranged a three year Loan Facility with Hillside International Holdings Limited ("Hillside"), a Jersey-based investment fund. 

The main purpose of the Facility is to significantly accelerate the acquisition programme of the Group's T&L business.

The key terms of the Facility are as follows:

1.   Total of £5 million, with  £2.5 million committed and a further £2.5 million to be made available with the agreement of the Lender;

2.   Interest payable at 8% per annum; and

3.   Warrants to subscribe for 10 Ordinary Shares in Minoan at 8 pence per share, to be granted for every £1 drawn down under the  Facility, exercisable at any time up to the 4^th anniversary of the date of issue. 

Business Update

Crete Project

The Strategic Environmental Assessment ("SEA") is now in the final stages of preparation and will be ready for submission very shortly. As previously reported, this is a substantial document, which includes a number of studies that are required to be as current as possible.

The approval of the SEA is equivalent to the granting of outline planning consent in the UK and, as such, constitutes the key value crystallisation event.

Travel and Leisure ("T&L")

The Group's T&L business has acquired the brand "As You Like It Holidays ("AYLI"), which specialises in arranging holidays and short breaks focusing on music festivals all over the world. The managing director of AYLI, Eddie Robb, is joining Stewart Travel Limited in order to spearhead the growth of AYLI, which will benefit from the additional resources and reach the Group can provide.

The consideration for AYLI is based purely on results for the next 2 years and will be a maximum of £200,000.

The consolidation of the T&L business in its Glasgow office has now been successfully completed. The new office is fully equipped to handle gross annual sales in excess of £150 million.

The double digit growth achieved in the year to date will be reflected in the final figures for the current financial year.

Christopher Egleton, Chairman of Minoan commented:

I am delighted that the Group has arranged this Facility, which allows us to continue to expand the T&L business and also move the Crete project forward to fruition. The Facility is divided into two equal tranches and it is unlikely that the second tranche will be drawn down prior to crystallisation of the value of the Project.

The Group's increasingly successful T&L business continues to expand and following the securing of the relevant funding, I hope to be in a position, in the near future, to announce further acquisitions.

I am aware of the considerable interest in our Crete project from shareholders. By its very nature, the preparation of the SEA has taken a great deal of time and expertise on the part of the Group and its advisors. I am pleased that the process is now almost complete and, together with my fellow directors, I remain convinced of a successful outcome, which will create substantial value for shareholders.

As I mentioned at the time of the publication of our Interim Results, your Board believes that we are at a pivotal and transformational point for the Group. With the ability to establish a firm  timetable relating to crystallising the value of our Crete Project and further  potential acquisitions in the T&L business, we are increasingly confident in the Group's prospects and that these will become increasingly clearer and more compelling in the near term.

For further information visit www.minoangroup.com or contact:

Minoan Group Plc
Christopher Egleton	[e-mail]
Duncan Wilson	0141 226 2930
Bill Cole	020 8253 4305
WH Ireland Limited	020 7220 1666
Adrian Hadden/Nick Field
Throgmorton Street Capital	020 7071 0808
Forbes Cutler
Morgan Rossiter	020 3195 3240
Richard Morgan Evans/James Rossiter

 

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