Unilife Medical Solutions Limited (Unilife or the Company) (ASX:
UNI) (PINKSHEETS: UNIFF) today announced that it has been
successful in obtaining commitments for a capital raising of A$32.1
million (the Placement).
Unilife intends to use the proceeds raised from this Placement
and a Share Purchase Plan (SPP) to accelerate the expansion of its
operational capabilities, production facilities and equipment
requirements in the United States, and complete the
industrialisation of the Unilife Ready-to-Fill Syringe which is
currently running 12 months ahead of its original schedule.
These proceeds will also be used to fast-track the
commercialisation of additional pipeline products which Unilife had
been developing more slowly in order to focus its available
financial and personnel resources on the development of its initial
key products. Unilife will now work to rapidly complete development
of these additional products with other interested major
pharmaceutical companies with whom the Company is currently in
discussions. Furthermore, these proceeds will help ensure the
Company has adequate cash reserves leading up to, and following,
its proposed redomiciliation in the United States and proposed
listing on NASDAQ.
Unilife has received significant interest in recent months from
US and Australian investors, as well as other industry
stakeholders, regarding its intention to redomicile the Unilife
Group in the United States, list on NASDAQ and complete the full
commercialization of an expanding portfolio of proprietary safety
syringe products targeted for use within pharmaceutical and
healthcare markets. The Board of Directors of Unilife has
determined it is in the best interests of shareholders to act upon
this strong interest prior to its anticipated NASDAQ listing to
ensure the Company has sufficient cash reserves to support and
accelerate significant business expansion activities which it
expects to undertake within the United States.
Existing eligible Unilife shareholders will have the right to
purchase up to A$15,000 of fully paid ordinary shares under a SPP
at the same price of A$0.85 at which accredited US investors and
Australian sophisticated and professional investors have committed
to the Company under the Placement. YBR Securities Pty Limited has
been appointed to place any shortfall that may occur under the SPP
up to A$10 million. This offered price of A$0.85 represents a 7.7%
discount from the Volume Weighted Average Price (VWAP) of Unilife
shares traded during the last 30 days.
Placement
Unilife has received commitments for a private placement of
37,749,209 ordinary shares (Placement Shares) at an issue price of
A$0.85 per share and 18,874,604 free attaching options (Placement
Options) to sophisticated and professional investors in Australia,
and accredited investors in the United States of America to raise
A$32.1 million.
The Placement Shares that have been subscribed for under the
Placement comprise:
-- 20,762,065 ordinary shares which are available to be issued under
Unilife's 15% placement capacity under ASX Listing Rule 7.1 (Firm Shares)
which will be issued on or around 8 October 2009; and
-- an additional 16,987,144 ordinary shares which are in excess of
Unilife's 15% placement capacity under ASX Listing Rule 7.1 and which will
be issued subject to shareholder approval (Additional Shares).
Under the terms of the Placement, each investor will receive two
unlisted Placement Options (a tranche 1 option and a tranche 2
option) for every four Placement Shares subscribed for under the
Placement. Each Placement Option will entitle the holder to acquire
one fully paid ordinary share in the Company and will be issued for
nil consideration. All of the Placement Options will be exercisable
from the date of grant until the third anniversary of the date of
grant and will have an exercise price of A$1.25 for the tranche 1
options and A$2.00 for the tranche 2 options.
In conjunction with the Placement, Unilife has also agreed to
issue up to 3 million unlisted options to certain advisers and
brokers as part of their fee arrangements with respect to the
Placement and Share Purchase Plan described below (Broker Options).
The options will each entitle the holder to acquire one fully paid
ordinary share in the Company, and will be exercisable from the
date of grant until the third anniversary of the date of grant and
will have an exercise price of A$0.85.
The issue of the Additional Shares, the Placement Options and
the Broker Options will be subject to shareholder approval, which
will be sought at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of Unilife
that is presently scheduled to take place on 13 November 2009.
Share Purchase Plan
Unilife is also pleased to announce the terms of an offer to
eligible shareholders of the Company under a Share Purchase Plan
(SPP) to raise A$10 million (or such greater amount as the
directors determine subject to the limits in the ASX Listing
Rules).
The SPP will provide eligible shareholders of Unilife with an
opportunity to purchase shares in the Company without incurring
brokerage or other transaction costs and at the same issue price as
the Placement.
Under the SPP, each Unilife shareholder with a registered
address in Australia and New Zealand who holds shares at the record
date of 9 October 2009 will be entitled to acquire up to A$15,000
worth of new fully paid ordinary shares in the Company (SPP Shares)
which will rank equally in all respects with the existing fully
paid ordinary shares. The SPP Shares will be offered at an issue
price of A$0.85 per share. ASIC regulations do not permit the
Company to issue unlisted options under a SPP.
If subscriptions under the SPP exceed A$10 million, the Company
may scale back the number of SPP Shares issued to each applicant.
If applications are scaled back, any excess application monies will
be refunded without interest. However, the Board retains the
discretion to issue additional SPP Shares to satisfy all or part of
such applications in excess of A$10 million, subject to a maximum
number of SPP Shares to be issued being equal to 30% of the issued
share capital of the Company at the date of issue (which is the
limit imposed by the ASX Listing Rules).
In the event that less than A$10 million is raised under the
SPP, YBR Securities Pty Limited has been appointed as placement
agent to place any shortfall in subscriptions from shareholders
under the SPP. Based on the level of support received from
professional and sophisticated investors for the offer to date, YBR
Securities Pty Limited has indicated to Unilife that it is
confident of being able to place the full amount of any shortfall
that may arise under the SPP, at the offer price of A$0.85 per
share.
Shareholder approval is not required for the issue of Shares to
shareholders under the SPP. However, shareholder approval will be
sought at the EGM, presently scheduled to take place on 13 November
2009, for the placement of any shortfall under the SPP as described
above.
The SPP documentation will be posted to eligible shareholders on
or around 14 October 2009 together with an Application Form.
Shareholders will need to complete and return the Application Form
by 30 October 2009 in order to take up shares under the SPP.
Shareholders should consider all of the SPP documentation,
including the SPP Terms and Conditions, before deciding whether to
participate in the offer.
Important Dates
Record date for determining entitlements under SPP 5.00pm (Sydney time)
on 9 October 2009
SPP documents despatched to eligible Unilife
shareholders 14 October 2009
SPP offer opens 14 October 2009
SPP offer closes 5.00pm (Sydney time)
on 30 October 2009
SPP Shares allotted 12 November 2009
Despatch of holding statements to shareholders 16 November 2009
The dates in the table above are indicative only and Unilife may
amend this timetable. Unilife may also withdraw the offer of new
shares under the SPP at any time before the allotment date in its
absolute discretion.
Comments from Unilife CEO Mr. Alan Shortall
"Recent Unilife announcements regarding the commercialisation of
our proprietary safety syringe products for pharmaceutical
customers and other healthcare industry leaders and our proposed
redomiciliation of our Company to the US and listing on NASDAQ has
generated significant levels of investor interest. The Board
considers it beneficial to raise additional capital at this time to
take advantage of the rising market and the strength of the
Australian dollar so that we are in a strong financial position
with adequate cash reserves to facilitate significant business
expansion activities that will consolidate and enhance our status
as a US-based industry leader of innovative safety medical
devices.
"At the commercial level, the Board believes that the
improvement of our capital position and available cash reserves
should make us a stronger candidate to secure institutional support
in the open market, particularly after the NASDAQ listing, and help
us withstand any future potential downturn that may occur in the
global economy. At the operational level, we intend to utilize our
stronger cash position to help complete the industrialisation,
production and supply of our Unilife Ready-to-Fill Syringe and
Unitract 1mL Syringes to pharmaceutical customers and other
healthcare industry leaders. Anticipated pharmaceutical demand for
the Unilife Ready-to-Fill Syringe will, in particular, require us
to finance a number of operational matters including the purchase
of additional manufacturing equipment and the development of a new
production facility within Pennsylvania.
"If we are to meet the accelerated target dates for delivery of
these products, we must make financial commitments and expend the
funds for the new equipment and plant facilities in the very near
future and therefore the Board considered it prudent to move the
capital raise forward to now, from the original concept of mid-2010
after the NASDAQ listing. In addition, we consider that having a
strong Balance Sheet with solid cash reserves will help Unilife
management negotiate new agreements with major pharmaceutical
companies from a position of strength.
"The capital raising should also help to fast-track the
commercialization of additional pipeline products that we are in
the process of developing but which have moved more slowly while we
focused our available financial and personnel resources on our
primary products. A number of these new products may have
significant commercial potential, and we will now be able to bring
them to market at a faster pace. We believe this capital raise will
be sufficient to finance our needs well into the foreseeable
future. By completing a significant capital raising at this time,
management will now be able to focus their efforts on building
Unilife's business rather than in a time consuming search for
capital.
"We are pleased with the strong level of interest that we have
received in recent months from sophisticated and professional
investors within the US and Australia. As such, we are in the
enviable position where we have been able to select investors to
participate in the private placement that we believe best share our
long-term interests. We appreciate the participation of YBR
Securities Pty Limited, Inteq Limited, CCZ Statton Equities Pty
Limited and their clients who participated in the Placement, and
YBR's willingness to place any shortfall under the SPP. We consider
that this is a positive sign that our Company is gaining
recognition for its success in growing our business, establishing
strong relationships with pharmaceutical leaders, and delivering
upon key business milestones.
"I am pleased to report that Unilife's Board Chairman, a number
of other eligible Directors and senior management and I will be
participating fully in the Shareholder Purchase Plan. I hope that
our eligible shareholders will also choose to participate with
us."
About the Unilife Group
Unilife Medical Solutions Ltd is an ISO 13485 certified company
that designs, develops and supplies innovative safety medical
devices. Listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: UNI)
since 2002, Unilife has FDA-registered manufacturing facilities in
the US State of Pennsylvania and a proprietary portfolio of
clinical and prefilled safety syringes designed for use within
healthcare and pharmaceutical markets.
For further information please contact: Australia Jeff Carter T
+61 2 8346 6500 F + 61 2 8346 6511 United States Stuart Fine T +1
908 469 1788
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