Helium One Global (AIM: HE1), the primary helium explorer in Tanzania, is pleased to announce that, following the announcement on 6 September 2023 (the “Launch Announcement”) regarding the launch of a proposed placing (the “Placing”) and a direct subscription (the “Subscription”) (together, the “Fundraise”).
The Company has raised gross proceeds of £6.3 million (approximately US$7.9 million) through the issue of an aggregate of 105,000,000 new ordinary shares of no par value in the capital of the Company (“Ordinary Shares”) at a price of 6.0 pence per Ordinary Share (the “Issue Price”). The Fundraise was oversubscribed.
The Placing was conducted through an accelerated bookbuild process (the “Bookbuild”) undertaken by Liberum Capital Limited and Peterhouse Capital Limited acting as joint bookrunners (“Joint Bookrunners”).
The Fundraise comprised of a Placing of 104,383,335 new Ordinary Shares (“Placing Shares”) to raise approximately £6.26 million (approximately US$7.86 million) and a Subscription of 616,665 new Ordinary Shares (“Subscription Shares”) to raise approximately £0.04 million (approximately US$0.05 million) (together and in aggregate the “Fundraise Shares”).
In addition to the Fundraise, the Company is also pleased to announce that gross proceeds of £0.5 million (approximately US$0.6 million) have been raised by the Retail Offer via PrimaryBid through the issue of 8,333,333 new Ordinary Shares at the Issue Price (the “Retail Offer Shares”).
In aggregate the Fundraise and the Retail Offer have raised gross proceeds of £6.8 million (approximately US$8.5 million).
The Issue Price represents a discount of approximately 10.4 per cent. to the closing price of 6.7 pence per Ordinary Share on 5 September 2023, being the last business day prior to the announcement of the Fundraise.
In addition to the Fundraise Shares and the Retail Offer Shares the Company will also issue 750,000 Ordinary Shares at the Issue Price in in lieu of certain advisory fees (the “Fee Shares”).
Lorna Blaisse, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“”We are delighted with the response that we have received during our oversubscribed Placing and Retail Offer and are pleased to have been able to include our existing investors. The funds raised now enable us to drill a further prospect immediately after the planned drill at Tai-C. Itumbula has always ranked highly in our portfolio and to be able to drill it this side of the wet season, offers an excellent opportunity to utilise personnel and equipment and make a significant cost saving in the long term.
“The next few months promise to be an incredibly exciting time for the Company as we commence spud this month and complete these two wells. We look forward to providing further updates as appropriate as we deliver our Phase II drilling campaign.
“This has been a tremendous effort from the team at an already busy period leading up to Operations and I’d like to thank everybody involved.”
Admission and Total Voting Rights
Application has been made for the Fundraise Shares, the Retail Offer Shares and the Fee Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM (“Admission”). It is anticipated that trading in the new shares will commence on AIM at or around 8.00 a.m. on 15 September 2023. The Fundraise Shares, the Retail Offer Shares and the Fee Shares will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares in issue.
Following Admission, the Company’s issued and fully paid share capital will consist of 941,456,430 Ordinary Shares, all of which carry one voting right per share. The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury. Following Admission, the figure of 941,456,430 Ordinary Shares may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculation 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 Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
The Fundraise Shares and the Retail Offer Shares will represent approximately 11.2 per cent. and 0.9 per cent. respectively of the Company’s enlarged issued share capital on Admission (assuming no other issuance of Ordinary Shares prior to Admission).
Director Participation in the Subscription
The Directors of the Company have subscribed for a total of 483,332 Subscription Shares in aggregate. The beneficial holdings of the Directors before and after Admission of the new shares are set out below:
|
Director |
Subscription Shares |
Total Ordinary Shares held on Admission |
% of Issued Share Capital on Admission |
|
Lorna Blaisse |
133,333 |
173,333 |
0.02% |
|
James Smith |
83,333 |
223,333 |
0.02% |
|
Sarah Cope |
83,333 |
295,857 |
0.03% |
|
Russel Swarts |
100,000 |
200,000 |
0.02% |
|
Nigel Friend |
83,333 |
183,333 |
0.02% |
Capitalised terms not defined in this announcement have the meaning given to them in the Launch Announcement.
