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SOM Somero Enterprise Inc.

342.50
7.50 (2.24%)
16 Jul 2024 - Closed
Delayed by 15 minutes
Share Name Share Symbol Market Type Share ISIN Share Description
Somero Enterprise Inc. LSE:SOM London Ordinary Share COM STK USD0.001 (DI)
  Price Change % Change Share Price Bid Price Offer Price High Price Low Price Open Price Shares Traded Last Trade
  7.50 2.24% 342.50 335.00 350.00 342.50 335.00 335.00 68,256 16:03:45
Industry Sector Turnover Profit EPS - Basic PE Ratio Market Cap
0 0 N/A 0

Placing announcement

24/06/2009 7:00am

UK Regulatory



 

TIDMSOM 
 
RNS Number : 4044U 
Somero Enterprises Inc. 
24 June 2009 
 
+----------------------------------------------------+------------------------+ 
| THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR PUBLICATION,  | 
| RELEASE OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO CANADA,         | 
| AUSTRALIA, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA OR JAPAN                            | 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
| PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT                                                          | 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                       | 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
| 24 June 2009                                       |                        | 
|                                                    |                        | 
+----------------------------------------------------+------------------------+ 
| Somero Enterprises, Inc                                                     | 
| ("Somero" or the "Company")                                                 | 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
| Placing raising net proceeds of approximately $5 million and agreement of   | 
| new debt facilities                                                         | 
+----------------------------------------------------+------------------------+ 
 
 
+--------------------------------+--------------------------------------------+ 
| Placing                                                                     | 
| The Board of Somero is pleased to announce that it has today completed a    | 
| placing, arranged by Collins Stewart Europe Limited ("Collins Stewart"), to | 
| raise approximately $5.5 million before expenses ("the Placing"). A total   | 
| of 20,606,730 shares of common stock of $0.001 par value each ("New         | 
| Shares") have been placed with institutional investors at a price of 15     | 
| pence per New Share, representing a discount of approximately 14.3% to the  | 
| closing middle market price (derived from the Daily Official List) on 23    | 
| June 2009. In addition, the senior management team of Somero has subscribed | 
| for 1,536,900 New Shares at a price of 15 pence per New Share, representing | 
| an investment of approximately $0.4 million. Somero anticipates that the    | 
| net proceeds available to the Company will be approximately $5 million.     | 
| Upon completion the New Shares will represent approximately 39% of the      | 
| enlarged issued share capital of the Company. The Company currently has     | 
| 34,281,968 shares of common stock issued. After the Placing, the Company    | 
| will have 56,425,598 shares of common stock issued.                         | 
| The Placing is conditional on admission of the New Shares to trading on the | 
| AIM market of the London Stock Exchange ("Admission"). Application has been | 
| made for the New Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and it is expected | 
| that Admission will occur on 26 June 2009.                                  | 
| The Board has confirmed its intention to consider using a portion of future | 
| surplus free cash generated by the Company to return capital to             | 
| shareholders, either through dividend payments or a share buy-back          | 
| programme.                                                                  | 
| The Board has also confirmed its intention in the near term to adopt a new  | 
| employee share option scheme for the purposes of retaining key staff ("the  | 
| New Option Plan"). The Board expects the existing option plan to be         | 
| cancelled in conjunction with any option awards under the New Option Plan   | 
| and any vesting under the New Option Plan will require performance          | 
| conditions to be met. It is currently expected that an aggregate of         | 
| approximately 3.4 million shares of common stock will be available for      | 
| awards under the New Option Plan.                                           | 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
|                                                                             | 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
| Banking                                                                     | 
| The net proceeds of the Placing will be used to repay a portion of the $10  | 
| million term debt facility currently in place with RBS Citizens. In         | 
| connection with the repayment, the Company has renegotiated the terms of    | 
| its banking covenants in 2009 and 2010. The new covenants are expected to   | 
| result in increased flexibility and to position the Company to take         | 
| advantage of improving economic conditions as and when they develop.        | 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
|                                                                             | 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
| Current trading                                                             | 
| The Board confirms that trading is in line with the update given at the     | 
| time of the Company's preliminary results announcement on 6 May 2009.       | 
| North America                                                               | 
| Overall sales are progressing in line with plan although Large line sales   | 
| are running slightly below plan given the slow startup of construction      | 
| projects although the new SXP-D with Somero Total Care Program is on plan.  | 
| Small line sales are in line with Board expectations. Sales of the new Mini | 
| Screed Commercial are above plan, as a result of its value proposition and  | 
| strong acceptance by customers. 3-D software system sales are strong and    | 
| refurbished sales are ahead of plan.                                        | 
| EMEA                                                                        | 
| Sales are below plan but appear to be gaining momentum. Whilst both Large   | 
| and Small line sales were slow due to the slow startup of construction      | 
| projects to date, acceptance of the new SXP-D and Somero Total Care Program | 
| is encouraging, and an improvement in both Large line and Small line        | 
| trading was seen in May 2009. Sales of the new Mini Screed Commercial were  | 
| below plan, given the limited demonstration opportunities to date, but      | 
| recent acceptance levels are encouraging and sales appear to be improving.  | 
| Other sales are on plan.                                                    | 
| Rest of the World ("RoW")                                                   | 
| Sales in RoW are above plan and look to remain strong. Large line sales are | 
| strong, with particular interest from Latin and South America for the SXP-D | 
| and Somero Total Care Program. Although trading in China and Australia      | 
| remains slow for Large line, Small line sales are showing improvement in    | 
| these regions with total Small line sales ahead of plan on an overall       | 
| basis. Sales for the new Mini Screed Commercial are on plan, with           | 
| encouraging acceptance from Latin and South America. Other South American   | 
| sales remain strong.                                                        | 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
|                                                                             | 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
| Cost Reduction Program                                                      | 
| The Company has continued to implement its cost reduction programme, and    | 
| operating costs (excluding depreciation and amortisation) in 2009 and 2010  | 
| are expected to be around $11 million and $10 million respectively, down    | 
| from a level of $24 million in 2008. Headcount reduction has been the key   | 
| driver for this decrease in costs. The Company has also eliminated raises,  | 
| bonuses and reduced employee salaries by 10%, generating annualised savings | 
| of approximately $1.7 million.                                              | 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
|                                                                             | 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
| Related Party Transactions                                                  | 
| The following Substantial Shareholders (as defined by the AIM Rules for     | 
| Companies) and directors have subscribed for New Shares issued as part of   | 
| the Placing. They are therefore related parties for the purposes of AIM     | 
| Rule 13.                                                                    | 
| Substantial Shareholders                                                    | 
| -    Polar Capital Partners - 3,000,000 New Shares                          | 
| -    Toscafund Asset Management - 2,933,300 New Shares                      | 
| Directors                                                                   | 
| -    Jack Cooney - 1,412,468 New Shares                                     | 
| -    Mike Niemela - 60,827 New Shares                                       | 
| The independent, non-executive directors of Somero, having consulted with   | 
| the Company's nominated adviser, Hawkpoint Partners Limited, consider the   | 
| terms of the transaction to be fair and reasonable insofar as its           | 
| shareholders are concerned.                                                 | 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
|                                                                             | 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
| Jack Cooney, CEO of Somero commented:                                       | 
| "I am delighted that Somero shareholders have demonstrated such confidence  | 
| in the Company's future prospects through this placing. The Board believes  | 
| that Somero now has a stable financial footing in place and I look forward  | 
| to delivering value for shareholders through its next phase of growth."     | 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
|                                                                             | 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
| Enquiries                      |                                            | 
+--------------------------------+--------------------------------------------+ 
|                                |                                            | 
+--------------------------------+--------------------------------------------+ 
| Hawkpoint                      | +44 (0)20 7665 4500                        | 
+--------------------------------+--------------------------------------------+ 
| Christopher Kemball / Chris    |                                            | 
| Robinson                       |                                            | 
+--------------------------------+--------------------------------------------+ 
|                                |                                            | 
+--------------------------------+--------------------------------------------+ 
| Collins Stewart                | +44 (0)20 7523 8000                        | 
+--------------------------------+--------------------------------------------+ 
| Piers Coombs / Jon Drage       |                                            | 
+--------------------------------+--------------------------------------------+ 
|                                                                             | 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 
| Important Notice                                                            | 
| This announcement has been issued by, and is the sole responsibility of,    | 
| the Company. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will  | 
| be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or  | 
| will be accepted by, Collins Stewart or Hawkpoint Partners Limited or by    | 
| any of their respective affiliates or agents as to or in relation to, the   | 
| accuracy or completeness of this announcement, or any other written or oral | 
| information made available to or publicly available to any prospective      | 
| investor or its advisers, and any liability therefore is hereby expressly   | 
| disclaimed.                                                                 | 
| Hawkpoint Partners Limited, which is authorised and regulated in the United | 
| Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority, is acting as nominated adviser | 
| to Somero Enterprises, Inc. and is acting for no-one else in connection     | 
| with the Placing and will not be responsible to anyone other than Somero    | 
| Enterprises, Inc. for providing the protections afforded to clients of      | 
| Hawkpoint Partners Limited nor for providing advice in connection with the  | 
| Placing or any other matter referred to herein.                             | 
| Collins Stewart Europe Limited, which is authorised and regulated in the    | 
| United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority, is acting as broker to  | 
| Somero Enterprises, Inc. and is acting for no-one else in connection with   | 
| the Placing and will not be responsible to anyone other than Somero         | 
| Enterprises, Inc. for providing the protections afforded to clients of      | 
| Collins Stewart Europe Limited nor for providing advice in connection with  | 
| the Placing or any other matter referred to herein.                         | 
| The shares in the Company have not been registered under the United States  | 
| Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act"), and may not   | 
| be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or        | 
| benefit of, US Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the US Securities  | 
| Act) absent registration under the U.S. Securities Act or pursuant to an    | 
| exemption from the registration requirements under the US Securities Act.   | 
| The New Shares issued in the Placing are being offered and sold in a        | 
| private placement exclusively to a limited number of "accredited investors" | 
| pursuant to Rule 506 of Regulation D under the US Securities Act.           | 
| Neither this announcement nor any part of it constitutes an offer to sell   | 
| or issue or the solicitation of an offer to buy, subscribe or acquire any   | 
| shares in the Company in any jurisdiction in which any such offer or        | 
| solicitation would be unlawful and the information contained herein is not  | 
| for publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into Canada, | 
| Australia, the Republic of South Africa or Japan or any jurisdiction in     | 
| which such publication or distribution would be unlawful. No public         | 
| offering of securities of the Company is being made in the United Kingdom,  | 
| the United States or elsewhere.                                             | 
| Members of the general public are not eligible to take part in the Placing. | 
| Invitations to participate in the Placing have been limited to certain      | 
| qualified persons.                                                          | 
+--------------------------------+--------------------------------------------+ 
 
 
 
This information is provided by RNS 
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange 
   END 
 
 ROIPUUBAQUPBUAC 
 

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