Samarkand Group plc (SMK)
Samarkand Group plc : Admission to Trading and First Day of Dealings
22-March-2021 / 07:00 GMT/BST
Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement, transmitted by EQS Group.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA,
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THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT AN OFFER OF SECURITIES FOR SALE IN THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION. INVESTORS
SHOULD NOT SUBSCRIBE FOR OR PURCHASE ANY SECURITIES REFERRED TO IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT EXCEPT ON THE BASIS OF INFORMATION
IN THE GROWTH PROSPECTUS PUBLISHED BY SAMARKAND GROUP PLC IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROPOSED ADMISSION OF ITS ORDINARY
SHARES TO TRADING ON THE AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE.
DATE: 22 March 2021
Samarkand Group plc
("Samarkand", the "Company" or together with its subsidiaries the "Group")
Admission to Trading and First Day of Dealings
Samarkand Group plc, the cross-border eCommerce technology and retail group, is pleased to announce that admission of
its ordinary shares of GBP0.01 ("Ordinary Shares") to trading on the APEX segment of the Aquis Stock Exchange Growth
Market ("AQSE") ("Admission") will take place and dealings will commence at 8.00 a.m. today, under the ticker SMK and
ISIN number GB00BLH1QT30.
The significantly oversubscribed fundraising, which was scaled up from the original GBP10.0 million target to accommodate
demand from institutional investors and Qualified Investors, raised GBP17.0 million (before expenses) at an issue price
of 115 pence per share. The net proceeds will principally be used by the Company to further develop the Nomad
Platform's functionality and services, expanding the Group's business development activities and to make further
strategic acquisitions.
On Admission, the Company will have 51,618,966 Ordinary Shares in issue.
VSA Capital Limited is acting as the Aquis Stock Exchange Corporate Adviser and Broker to the Company.
Samarkand Highlights
? Samarkand is headquartered in London and enables the Group's own brands and other third-party consumer brands to
access Chinese consumers through cross-border eCommerce.
? The Executive Management of Samarkand comprises a team who worked successfully together in a previous company until
it was sold, achieving a significant uplift for shareholders and investors.
? The Board of Directors on Admission will comprise a team that is highly experienced in retail and eCommerce,
including; Tanith Dodge former group HR Director of Marks & Spencer Group Plc and Value Retail (Bicester Village
Collection) who is also a member of the advisory council of PwC and serves on the Board of Robert Walters Plc and;
Keith Higgins who served as eCommerce Director at P&G for 10 years before heading up Unilever's global eCommerce
strategy for a further 10 years leading to his current role as Chief Customer Development Officer at Unilever plc.
? The incumbent model for Western brands to enter this market has been through wholesale distribution relationships
which can lead to lack of control and margin sacrifice for brands.
? The Group has developed a proprietary software platform - the Nomad platform - which is integrated with Chinese
eCommerce and social media platforms, as well as payment, logistics and customs systems to provide a
Direct-to-Consumer alternative.
? The Group's Nomad platform offers five main technology and service solutions designed for Clients of varying size
who wish to sell their products to end consumers in China; Nomad Checkout, Nomad Storefront, Nomad Commerce, Nomad
Analytics and Nomad Distribution.
? The Group acquired consumer health brand Probio7 in December 2017, which it has launched into the Chinese CBEC
market through the same channels and technology that it provides to Clients.
? The Directors believe that market insights combined with the sales channels it has developed in China provide the
Group with a competitive advantage and an opportunity to buy brands in Europe that have great potential in China
but without the means to access the market.
? Since 2014, the CBEC market in China has grown from approximately GBP14 billion to a forecast GBP138 billion in 2021.
During this period, 105 CBEC Zones ("CBEC Zone") have been established across China alongside further policies to
encourage and promote the growth of CBEC.
? The CBEC market in China has grown from approximately GBP14 billion in 2014 and is forecast to reach GBP138 billion in
2021.
? For the year ended 31 March 2020, the Group's revenue was GBP6.8 million (2019: GBP4.5 million), its operating loss was
GBP1.1 million (2019: GBP1.2 million) and its EBITDA loss was GBP0.8 million (2019: GBP1.0 million).
? For the eight-month period ended 30 November 2020, the Group's revenue was GBP16.0 million (2019: GBP3.8 million), its
operating profit was GBP2.0 million (2019: loss GBP1.0 million) and its EBITDA profit was GBP2.4 million (2019: loss GBP0.8
million).
? The Group has been funded to the net amount of GBP3.3 million since its formation and has generated over GBP27.3
million of revenue from April 2018 to November 2020.
The Company's UK Growth Prospectus is available to view on its website www.samarkand.global
For more information, please contact:
Samarkand Group plc Via Alma PR
David Hampstead, Chief Executive Officer
http://samarkand.global/
Eva Hang, Chief Financial Officer
VSA Capital - AQSE Corporate Adviser and Broker +44(0)20 3005 5000
Andrew Raca, James Deathe, Pascal Wiese (Corporate Finance)
IPO@vsacapital.com
Andrew Monk (Corporate Broking)
Alma PR +44(0)20 3405 0213
Josh Royston
Robyn Fisher
samarkand@almapr.co.uk
Caroline Forde
Joe Pederzolli
Notes to Editors
Samarkand is a cross-border eCommerce technology and retail group focusing on connecting Western Brands with China, the world's largest eCommerce market. The Group has developed a proprietary software platform, the Nomad platform, which is integrated across all necessary touch-points required for eCommerce in China including eCommerce platforms, payments, logistics, social media and customs. The Nomad platform is the foundation on which the Group's Nomad technology and service solutions are built. The core products include Nomad Checkout, Nomad Storefront, Nomad Commerce, Nomad Distribution and Nomad Analytics.
The Company's current customer base comprises leading European brands such as 111SKIN, Shay & Blue, Omorovicza, ICONIC London, Philip Kingsley, Temple Spa, Zita West Products and Planet Organic. Samarkand has also successfully grown its own brand, Probio7, acquired in December 2017.
Founded in 2016, Samarkand is headquartered in London, UK with an office in Shanghai employing over 90 staff.
For further information please visit https://www.samarkand.global/
Samarkand's main technology and service solutions are:
Nomad Checkout, a Software as a Service based solution that integrates with popular eCommerce software providers, such as Shopify, and enables Clients to introduce their products through their own eCommerce website to Chinese consumers, with the sale finalised on the Nomad platform in China. Nomad Checkout allows Chinese consumers to use payment methods popular in China, such as Alipay and WeChat Pay, and benefit from improved delivery methods and product authenticity. An "Enterprise" version is already in use by one of Europe's largest eCommerce companies.
Nomad Storefront supports the operation of eCommerce stores on well-known Chinese platforms (such as Tmall, Xiaohongshu, amongst others) on behalf of Clients. Delivered as a managed service from the Group's office in Shanghai, the platform provides product management, order processing, stock management and analytics across multiple eCommerce platforms giving Clients a consolidated solution to the fragmented Chinese CBEC market.
Nomad Commerce offers customisable eCommerce solutions for Clients that want to establish their own eCommerce presence in China. Integrated with the dominant payment providers such as AliPay and WeChat Pay it also supports a content management system, recommendation engine and detailed analytics and event tracking. Hosted on AliCloud infrastructure in China to provide low-latency, high speed experience for consumers not impacted by Chinese internet restrictions which often effect sites hosted outside of China. Nomad Analytics gives comprehensive marketing and sales data for the Chinese market in a centralised place, in much the same way as would be available through their traditional sales channels in Western markets. Real-time data is available to Clients across a range of key metrics necessary for insightful management decision making. A consolidated view of eCommerce sales by channel, product and customer demographic, along with stock levels, logistics flows (including delivery times and exceptions) give Clients the visibility and transparency often lacking when operating through a traditional wholesale distribution arrangements for sales into China.
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