Not for publication, distribution, or release, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, within or into the
The Board of Directors of
Comment from
"Egis and Precise have collaborated since 2019 and jointly captured market share in a competitive market. Egis’ willingness to invest in Precise is evidence of our strong customer offering and our global excellence in biometric solutions. This will further strengthen our ability to deliver on our growth strategy. The deepened level of cooperation that the investment entails will further strengthen our existing product development and our opportunities to expand our business within Algo over time, also to new verticals. Furthermore, the investment will enable us to capitalize on the growing market for Digital Identity, including by allowing Egis to contribute to the development of our commercial and technical customer offering.
With a significantly strengthened financial position, I look forward to welcoming Egis as a new shareholder in Precise and I am at the same time very pleased that we enable our existing shareholders to be part of the next phase of the company's journey through the rights issue on the same terms as Egis."
Comment from
"We have enjoyed a strong business relationship with Precise since 2019, where we together have provided our customers with world-leading fingerprint recognition technology. We continue to see great potential in Precise's technology and product portfolio and believe that the next natural step in our partnership involves an even closer cooperation on technology and product development. It is my belief that this close cooperation will further accelerate the business of both companies, increase return on equity, and generate more value for both our shareholders.
In parallel, demand for digital services requiring user identification will continue to grow, making the market for digital identity solutions very interesting. We see that Precise has established a compelling offering around this and want to be a part of that journey. Egis can support Precise's continued growth, providing the necessary expertise in hardware, funding for continued investment, and by being a strong partner in
Summary of the share issues
- The directed issue comprises up to 3,959,639 ordinary shares, where the right to subscribe, with deviation from the shareholders’ preferential rights, shall belong to
Egis Technology (“Egis Technology ” or “Egis”) (the “Directed Issue”). The purpose of the deviation from the shareholders’ preferential rights is, among other things, to strengthen Precise Biometrics AB’s ("Precise Biometrics ", ”Precise” or the "Company") institutional investor base and to enable a deeper collaboration withEgis Technology , a commercial partner toPrecise Biometrics since 2019. - The Rights Issue comprises up to 6,599,399 ordinary shares (The “Rights Issue”). The purpose of the Rights Issue is to ensure the continued and successful implementation of the Company's growth strategy.
- Upon full subscription in the Directed Issue, the Rights Issue and the Over-allotment Option (as defined below), the Company will receive approximately
SEK 83.1 million before issue costs. - Any person who is registered as a shareholder of
Precise Biometrics on the record date as of8 September 2022 will, in the Rights Issue, receive one (1) subscription right for each share held inPrecise Biometrics . The subscription right entitles the holder to subscribe for new shares with preferential rights, whereby six (6) subscription rights entitle the holder to subscribe for one (1) new share. The participant in the Directed Issue will not receive the new shares before the record date and will therefore not receive subscription rights for participation in the Rights Issue. - The subscription period for the Rights Issue will run from
12 September 2022 until26 September 2022 . Egis Technology has undertaken to guarantee approximately a fourth of the Rights Issue without compensation and thus subscribe up to 1,649,849 ordinary shares in the Rights Issue. In addition, all shareholding members of the Board of Directors and Management inPrecise Biometrics have expressed an intent to enter into subscription undertakings representing up to their pro rata share of the Rights Issue, amounting to approximately 2.5 percent in total. Assuming such subscription undertakings are entered into, the Rights Issue will thereby be guaranteed to approximately 27.5 percent.- The Over-allotment Option comprises up to 2,339,787 ordinary shares and will be exercised, in whole or in part, in the event that the Rights Issue is subscribed to such an extent that
Egis Technology does not receive an allocation within the Rights Issue corresponding to an ownership of at least 12.0 percent of the shares in the Company after the Directed Issue and the Rights Issue (the “Over-allotment Option”). - The subscription price in the Directed Issue, the Rights Issue and the potential Over-allotment Option, is
SEK 6.44 . The Subscription Price corresponds to a discount of approximately 6.0 percent in relation to the closing price of the Company's share on Nasdaq Stockholm on9 August 2022 . Egis Technology has undertaken not to dispose of its shares in the Company for a period of 24 months after the resolution on the Directed Issue and the Rights Issue as well as to vote, at a future General Meeting of the Company, in favor of a possible directed issue, of a maximum of 20 percent of the share capital at the time of the General Meeting, in case this is proposed by the Board of Directors of the Company within 24 months from the resolution on the Directed Issue and the Rights Issue.- All shareholding members of the Board of Directors and Management in
Precise Biometrics have undertaken not to dispose of their shares in the Company for a period of 90 days after the end of the subscription period for the Rights Issue. - The completion of the Rights Issue is subject to approval by an Extraordinary General Meeting. Furthermore, the exercise of the Over-allotment Option requires the Board of Directors to obtain an issue authorization from the General Meeting. Notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting, scheduled for
5 September 2022 , will be announced by a separate press release.
Background and rationale
Digital Identity, The Company’s second business area, continues to grow in interest and the Software as a Service (SaaS) model ensures stable recurring revenues with high margins. Through the acquisition of EastCoast Solutions, which was finalized in
The Company’s growth strategy entails expanding geographically through local presence and partners, targeted marketing activities, adding SaaS solutions through company acquisitions, continue building sales channels, and commercialize the identification software.
The Company does not believe that its working capital will be sufficient to make the long-term investments required to continue to grow Algo as well as strengthen its product offering geographically and to make acquisitions in Digital Identity, in line with the Company's growth strategy.
Given this background, the Board of Directors of
The Directed Issue
The Board of Directors has, on the basis of the authorization from the Annual General Meeting held on
The subscription price in the Directed Issue of
As described under "Background and rationale" above, the reason for the deviation from the shareholders' preferential rights is that it is beneficial to the Company's continued development to strengthen the ownership structure with a long-term shareholder and to enable a deeper collaboration with
The subscription period for the Directed Issue will run from
The Rights Issue
The Board of Directors has resolved, subject to a subsequent approval by the Extraordinary General Meeting, to issue up to 6,599,399 ordinary shares with preferential rights for existing shareholders of the Company. The subscription price amounts to
The right to subscribe for shares in the Rights Issue shall belong to the Company's shareholders, whereby each existing share in the Company shall entitle to one (1) subscription right. Six (6) subscription rights shall entitle the holder to subscribe for one (1) new ordinary share. In the event that not all shares are subscribed for with subscription rights, the Board of Directors shall, within the maximum amount of the Rights Issue, decide on the allocation of shares subscribed for without subscription rights. In such case, shares shall be allocated firstly to those who have also subscribed for shares with subscription rights, whether or not they were shareholders on the record date, pro rata to the number of subscription rights each has exercised for subscription, secondly to others who have expressed an interest in subscribing for shares without subscription rights, pro rata to their expressed interest, and thirdly to those who have guaranteed the Rights Issue, pro rata to the issue guarantees provided. To the extent that the above allocation cannot be made pro rata, the allocation shall be made by drawing lots.
The record date for the right to participate in the Rights Issue is
All shareholding members of the Board of Directors and Management in
Over-allotment option
The Company and
The Over-allotment Option will be exercised, in whole or in part, in the event that the Rights Issue is subscribed to such an extent that
The Board of Directors' resolution to issue shares and
The right to subscribe for new shares under the Over-allotment Option, with deviation from
Dilution
Upon full subscription in the Rights Issue, the number of shares in the Company will increase by 6,599,399 ordinary shares, from 39,596,394 shares to 46,195,793 shares, resulting in a dilution effect of approximately 14.29 percent for those shareholders who refrain from subscribing shares in the Rights Issue. Shareholders are able to financially compensate for this dilution by selling their subscription rights.
In the event of full subscription in the Directed Issue, the number of shares in the Company will increase by 3,959,639 ordinary shares. Upon full exercise of the Over-allotment Option, the number of shares in the Company will increase by 2,339,787 ordinary shares.
In the event of full subscription in the Directed Issue and the Rights Issue and full exercise of the Over-allotment Option, the number of shares in the Company will thus increase by 12,898,825 shares, from 39,596,394 shares to 52,495,219 shares, and the share capital will increase by
Other conditions
The implementation of the Rights Issue is subject to approval by an Extraordinary General Meeting and the potential Over-allotment Option is subject to the Board of Directors obtaining an issue authorization from the General Meeting. Notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting, scheduled for
The full terms and conditions of the Rights Issue and other information about
Preliminary time plan for the Rights Issue
Extraordinary General Meeting | |
Publication of the prospectus | |
Last day of trading including the right to receive subscription rights | |
First day of trading excluding the right to receive subscription rights | |
Record date for participation in the Rights Issue with preferential rights, that is, shareholders who are registered in the share register kept by | |
Trading in subscription rights | |
Subscription period | |
Trading in BTA ("Paid Subscribed Share") on Nasdaq Stockholm | |
Publication of the outcome of the Rights Issue |
Advisors
About
As a leading provider of fingerprint biometrics,
Important information
The release, announcement or distribution of this press release may, in certain jurisdictions, be subject to restrictions. The recipients of this press release in jurisdictions where this press release has been published or distributed shall inform themselves of and follow such restrictions. This press release does not constitute an offer, or a solicitation of any offer, to buy or subscribe for any securities in the Company in any jurisdiction.
Any offer of securities in the Company mentioned in this press release will be made through a prospectus or with an applicable exemption in accordance with the Prospectus Regulation. This press release is not a prospectus according to Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 and Directive 2003/71 / EC (together with relevant implementations and delegated regulations "Prospectus Regulation").
No securities described herein have been, nor will they be, registered under the
In the
Within the European Economic Area (“EEA”), no public offering of securities is made in other countries than
The press release contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the Company’s current views or expectations with respect to future events and financial and operational performance. The words “intend”, “estimate”, “expect”, “may”, “plan”, “anticipate” or similar expressions regarding indications or forecasts of future developments or trends, which are not statements based on historical facts, constitute forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements inherently involve both known and unknown risks and uncertainties as they depend on future events and circumstances. Forward-looking statements do not guarantee future results or development and the actual outcome could differ materially from the forward-looking statements.
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