Versarien PLC Chief Executive Officer Neill Ricketts caught up with DirectorsTalk for two exclusive interviews to discuss the announcement of the fundraising through PrimaryBid and the successful results of that fundraise
Interview 1 – Announcement of Fundraising of approximately £1 million
Q1: Now Neill, I see that you’ve just announced a fundraising, can you provide us an overview of what’s been said?
A1: Certainly. We’ve been talking to our institutional shareholders over the last few weeks about the direction of the business and progress of the business following our interim period and we all agreed that now is the time to accelerate progress. So, we’ve just announced that we want to raise circa £1 million of additional funding to fund the business moving forward.
Q2: You’ve mentioned, that as part of the fundraising, you are allowing private investors to participate on the same terms as institutions through PrimaryBid, can you give us a bit more information on this and where potentially interested investors should go to find out more?
A2: So, as part of Versarien’s AGM we were challenged by our private shareholders to how they could partake in a fundraising like this and the usual system is to go through an open offer but that’s too long, it’s time-consuming and also very costly. So, we looked for an alternative and came across the guys at PrimaryBid and as a result thought that suited our needs perfectly so we’ve decided to try this innovative type of placing where we’ve got the institutions on board, and they’ve already agreed their terms, and private investors will be able to come along and invest at exactly the same terms as the institutions. Now, they can find out more about this on the PrimaryBid website and there’s quite a few videos and tutorials to get them through that process but it seems to us that it fits the business perfectly in our shareholder list.
Q3: So, how long do private investors have to subscribe through PrimaryBid?
A3: The offer opens at 5:00pm on Friday 3rd March and then they’ll have all weekend to be able to get onto the system, have a look at what we’ve been doing, do their own research and then finally closes on Sunday 5th March at 5:00pm as well. The process itself is very easy, I’ve done it myself and there’s no big laborious KYC checks or anything like that, it’s a relatively straightforward process. You just go on to the website or onto the app and it gives you all the information you need to progress.
Q4: You’ve explained some of the mechanics of the fundraising, can you give us some more detail on what Versarien PLC will be using the proceeds for?
A4: Yes, I think it’s fair to say that since we launched our product, Nanene and its own website, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in enquiries and the volume of those enquiries. What I’m worried about is that the business doesn’t get left behind and that not only can we invest in sales and marketing resources for all the new territories that are coming on board but also in terms of capital equipment for both the Nanene process, which emanates from the University of Manchester, but also to scale up the Cambridge process. There was a very very good announcement by the University of Cambridge the other day about high speed graphene printing and the proceeds of this fundraise will go towards capital equipment to set up a base at Cambridge.
Interview 2 – Successful Fundraising of £1.5 million
Q1: Neill, you’ve announced the successful close of your fundraise this morning, can you outline for us what you’ve done and who has supported Versarien’s fundraise?
A1: Absolutely, it’s a very very exciting weekend. As you know, Versarien put out an announcement 4:30pm on Friday to say that we wanted to raise circa £1 million, we’ve had exceptional support from our institutions. More importantly, we put out a PrimaryBid on Friday at 4:30pm and I’m pleased to be able to report that we hit that initial target almost instantly and the company had to take the decision as to whether the increase the placing and bring in some of the really really good support from private investors. Huge amounts of the sentiment over the weekend from the privates that have been allowed to take part in this placing and as a result of that we were able to announce this morning that the company elected to stop the auction at £1.5 million, roughly, which was sort of 50% over subscribed, a fantastic result, not only for our brokers but also for PrimaryBid.
Q2: Now, I know you’ve raised more than anticipated as you’ve said, what will the proceeds be used for and what can we expect from Versarien PLC in the coming months?
A2: Well, we have a very cautious approach to placings, it’s a very difficult balance between dilution and giving the company everything it needs. Currently, with the progress that we’re seeing in the graphene businesses, our acceleration will be linked to how much cash is available and so the company has decided, the Board of Directors has decided, that taking on more cash will allow us to accelerate that. We’ve got some fantastic opportunities to expand our production capabilities through larger kit that’s already been tested so this is not risky at all in any way and that will be going on at Cheltenham and we’ve also got the opportunity to set up a base and to start to really motor ahead with the Cambridge developments that have been announced in the last couple of weeks. So, both of those coupled with increased sales and marketing activity should result in great return on investment for our institutions, and also our private investors, and we’re hoping that that capability allows us to come back into the market over the next few months with some really really good news.
