Advanced Oncotherapy PLC Debt facility secured (5877Y)

TIDMAVO

RNS Number : 5877Y

Advanced Oncotherapy PLC

10 May 2019

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain

10 May 2019

ADVANCED ONCOTHERAPY PLC

("Advanced Oncotherapy" or the "Company")

GBP10m debt facility and GBP2.345m direct subscription secured

Funding to support continued integration of final LIGHT system modules

Advanced Oncotherapy (AIM: AVO), the developer of a next generation proton therapy system for cancer treatment, announces that it has secured additional financing for a total amount of GBP12.345 million (the "New Funds") in the form of a two-year secured debt facility with Credit Suisse AG ("Credit Suisse") for GBP10 million (the "Loan") and a direct subscription raising a total of GBP2.345 million (the "Subscription") from predominately Swiss institutional investors.

The New Funds will support the continued manufacturing and testing of the Company's first LIGHT system to be installed at Harley Street (London, UK) ahead of verification and validation activities that will be carried out at the Company's testing and assembly site at the UK Government's Science and Technology Facilities Council ("STFC") at Daresbury.

The Loan

The Loan has been fully drawn down immediately. The interest rate payable on the Loan is 2 per cent. above LIBOR per annum and the Loan is repayable in full in cash at the end of the 24-month period. The Loan is otherwise subject to Credit Suisse's standard terms and conditions.

The Loan is secured against an aggregated amount of GBP10.5 million, Nerano Pharma Ltd[1] ("Nerano Pharma") acting as Third Party Pledgor having placed GBP10 million in a pledged account, with the remaining GBP0.5 million placed in a pledged account by the Company.

As part of the agreement, Nerano Pharma has been issued with warrants to subscribe for 3,500,000 new ordinary shares in Advanced Oncotherapy with an exercise price of 100p, exercisable up until 23 April 2024 as well as a legal charge over the lease agreement between the Company and Howard de Walden Estates Ltd for the 141/143 Harley Street site.

The Subscription

Pursuant to the Subscription, the Company will issue 5,862,500 new ordinary shares of 25 pence each ("Ordinary Shares") in the capital of the Company at a price of 40 pence per share ("Subscription Shares") being the price at which the equity fundraise completed in January 2019 was conducted. The Subscription Shares have been subscribed for by predominately Swiss institutional investors. Completion of the Subscription is expected to occur by 14 May 2019, with a long stop date of 20 May 2019. Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the Subscription Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM on or around 14 May 2019 ("Admission").

The Subscription Shares will, once issued, represent 2.9% of the enlarged issued share capital of the Company and are being issued utilising the Company's existing share authorities.

Total voting rights

Following Admission, the Company's enlarged issued share capital will comprise 200,428,592 Ordinary Shares, with voting rights. The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury. Therefore, the total number of Ordinary Shares in the Company with voting rights will be 200,428,592. This figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

[1]Nerano Pharma Ltd is a company owned and controlled by Seamus Mulligan, a significant shareholder in the Company

Nicolas Serandour, CEO of Advanced Oncotherapy, said:

"The strengthening of our balance sheet during 2018 and early 2019 has placed us in a stronger position to secure additional non-dilutive funding at attractive financial terms.

"We are very grateful for the support provided by equity and debt investors, all of which points to the huge opportunity our investors see for the introduction of our next-generation technology to the market. We are also grateful for the Loan provided by Credit Suisse.

"We are moving forward well with our plans to install the first working LIGHT system at the STFC facility at Daresbury, with the integration of additional accelerating modules to allow high energy testing and ultimately regulatory approval."

For further information, please contact:

 
  Advanced Oncotherapy Plc                                                    www.avoplc.com 
  Dr. Michael Sinclair, Executive                                   Tel: [phone] 
   Chairman 
  Nicolas Serandour, CEO 
 
  Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser                        Tel: [phone] 
   & Joint Broker) 
  Nick Athanas / Liz Kirchner / Nicholas Chambers 
 
  Stifel Nicolaus Europe (Joint Broker)                                Tel: [phone] 
  Jonathan Senior 
 
  Walbrook PR (Financial PR & IR)             Tel: [phone] or [e-mail] 
  Paul McManus / Anna Dunphy                             Mob: [phone] / Mob: +44 
                                                                             (0)7876 741 001 
 
 

About Advanced Oncotherapy Plc www.avoplc.com

Advanced Oncotherapy is a provider of particle therapy in the treatment of cancer, which harnesses the very best in modern technology. Advanced Oncotherapy's R&D team, ADAM, in Geneva, focuses on the development of a proprietary proton accelerator - LIGHT (Linac Image Guided Hadron Technology). LIGHT accelerates protons to the energy levels achieved in legacy machines but in a compact and truly modular unit, offering significant cost advantages. LIGHT also delivers proton beams in a way that facilitates greater precision and electronic control, which are not achievable with currently available alternative technologies.

Advanced Oncotherapy will offer healthcare providers affordable systems that will enable them to treat cancer with an innovative technology, offering better health outcomes and lower treatment related side effects.

Advanced Oncotherapy continually monitors the market for any emerging improvements in delivering proton or particle therapy and actively seeks working relationships with providers of these innovative technologies. Through these relationships, the Company will remain the prime provider of cutting edge, cost-effective systems for particle therapy.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact [e-mail] or visit www.rns.com.

END

UPDUKUKRKUAVRAR

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 10, 2019 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)