Issue of equity to Angolan Sovereign Wealth Fund to raise
Pensana Rare Earths Plc (LSE:PRE,ASX: PM8) (the Company) is pleased to announce that Fundo Soberano de Angola (“FSDEA"), the Angolan Sovereign Wealth Fund has today agreed to make a further equity investment in the Company of approximately US$8.6 million.
The investment will be used to advance the Longonjo project as the first major rare earth mine to be developed in over a decade and to provide general working capital.
The investment follows the FSDEA’s earlier investments in the Company in March and June this year and will increase the Fund’s equity holding in the Company from 17.7% to 23.1%. These shares will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares in issue.
The Fund has agreed to subscribe for a further 13,500,000 ordinary shares to be issued at £0.5021 pence per share (A$0.91 cents per share) conditional upon Admission of those shares to the Official List (Standard Segment) and to the LSE’s Main Market for listed securities. The subscription will raise gross proceeds of approximately US$8.6 million (A$12.23 million).
Accordingly, application has been made for the 13,500,00 New Ordinary Shares to be admitted to the Official List (Standard Segment) and to trading on the Main Market of the LSE (“Admission”) and Admission is expected to occur on or around 8am on Thursday 1 October 2020.
Application will also be made for the admission of these shares to the Australian Securities Exchange which is expected to occur on Friday 2 October 2020.
Following this issue, the Company’s issued share capital will consist of 203,095,822 Ordinary Shares. No shares are held in treasury. Therefore, the total number of voting rights of the Company will be 203,095,822.
The above figure may be used by shareholders 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 Company under the Financial Conduct Authority’s Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
Paul Atherley, Chairman of Pensana Rare Earths, commented: “We are delighted to receive this ongoing support from the Angolan Sovereign Wealth Fund which will ensure the continued rapid development of the Longonjo project as the first major rare earth mine to be brought online in over a decade at a time of burgeoning demand from electric vehicles and offshore wind turbines.”
Authorised by the Board of Pensana Rare Earths Plc
For further information:
Pensana Rare Earths Plc
Paul Atherley Chairman / Tim George, CEO
Website: www.pensana.co.uk
Buchanan (UK Financial PR)
Bobby Morse/ Augustine Chipungu /James Husband
+44 (0) 207 466 5000
About Pensana
Pensana Rare Earths Plc is a junior mining company listed on the main board of the London Stock Exchange and ASX. The Company has an experienced mine development team that is rapidly developing the large and high-grade rare earth mining project located at Longonjo near Huambo, Angola.
The Company has recently received Angolan Presidential approval and financial backing from the Angolan sovereign wealth fund to develop the Longonjo Project as the world's first major rare earth mine to be brought online in over a decade to help meet the rapidly growing demand for the magnet metals critical for electric vehicles and offshore wind turbines and a range of other applications important for the transition towards a green economy.
About FSDEA
FSDEA, the Angola Sovereign Wealth Fund currently manages a significant portfolio of investments, distributed across various industries and asset classes, including the mining sector.
