THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE
INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE
REGULATION (EU) 596/2014 AS IT FORMS PART OF UK DOMESTIC LAW BY
VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018 ("MAR"), AND IS
DISCLOSED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE COMPANY'S OBLIGATIONS UNDER
ARTICLE 17 OF MAR
16 July 2024
Chaarat
Gold Holdings Limited
("Chaarat" or the "Company")
Proposed Recapitalisation,
Delisting, Notice of GM & Board Changes
Chaarat (AIM:CGH), a mining explorer
and developer with projects in the Kyrgyz Republic, announces the
following proposed recapitalisation and associated cancellation
from trading on AIM, subject to shareholder approval. In this
regard, the Company today is posting a circular to shareholders
setting out further information, and containing the necessary
Notice of General Meeting.
A copy of the full circular is also
available on the Company's website: www.chaaratgold.com
The General Meeting will be held on
8 August 2024 at 11 am at the offices of Shakespeare Martineau LLP,
6th Floor, 60 Gracechurch Street, London, EC3V 0HR.
Gordon Wylie, Chairman commented:
"The Proposed Recapitalisation enables Chaarat to reduce its
existing liabilities by more than 50% to under US$20 million, with
revised maturity for its debt and a new working capital facility of
up to US$5 million both of which extend to December 2025, thereby
allowing the Company to focus on maximising the value of its Kyrgyz
Republic assets.
"The Board wishes to thank all stakeholders, including its
long-term shareholder Labro, its former executive chair Martin
Andersson and the Noteholders, for enabling the Company to identify
a solution that enables it to continue in operation while seeking a
suitable long-term outcome for the Company and its
projects."
Extracts from the circular are copied
out below. Shareholders are strongly encouraged to read the
circular in full.
1.
Introduction
Pursuant to the Company's
convertible loan note instrument (as amended and extended from time
to time, the "Instrument"),
the principal and accrued interest, together with restructuring
fees, on the Company's secured convertible loan notes (the
"Notes"), which totals
US$39,492,277 (as at 31 July 2024), is due on the final repayment
date of 31 July 2024 (with a grace period of 10 business days). A
further balance of US$2,300,000 (as at 31 July 2024) is due to be
repaid by the Company by 30 September 2024 pursuant to the working
capital facility entered into between the Company and Labro
Investments Limited ("Labro") (the "Labro Working Capital Facility"). No
further drawdowns on the Labro Working Capital Facility are
available to the Company as at the date of this
announcement.
Following discussions between the
directors of the Company (the "Directors") and representatives of the
majority of convertible loan note holders over recent weeks and
months (the "CLN
Representatives"), the Company has agreed the structure of a
proposed restructuring of the Notes, the capitalisation of sums
owing under the Labro Working Capital Facility and the
capitalisation of the US$550,000 deferred salary owed to Martin
Andersson ("MA") (the
"Deferred Salary"), the
provision of additional working capital to the Company and the
cancellation of the admission of the Company's ordinary shares
("Shares" or "Ordinary Shares") to trading on AIM
(the "Delisting"), as
detailed further at paragraphs 2 and 6 below (the "Recapitalisation"). The Directors
believe there to be no viable alternative funding option available
to the Company as at the date of the circular that would provide a
better outcome for creditors and Shareholders.
Accordingly, the Company is
requesting the support of Shareholders for the passing of the
resolutions set out in the notice of meeting appended to the
circular (the "Resolutions") with a view to effecting
the Recapitalisation. The Resolutions will be proposed at a general
meeting of the Company to be held on 8 August 2024 (the
"General
Meeting").
2.
Recapitalisation
The Recapitalisation involves or
will involve, amongst other things, the following transactions and
actions (together, the "Proposed Transactions"):
(a) certain
amendments to the Instrument including, in respect of the principal
amount of US$19,680,000 to be left outstanding on the Notes after
the conversion referred to at (c) below:
(i)
the extension of the maturity date from 31 July
2024 to 1 December 2025;
(ii) the upsize of the Instrument by up to US$5,000,000 and a total
commitment from a subset of certain existing Noteholders to
make:
(A)
US$250,000 available 5 Business Days following the
later of the date of execution of the Subscription Agreements
(defined below) or satisfaction of the conditions thereunder (the
"Initial Advance")
following issue of the circular to the Shareholders to approve the
Proposed Transactions at the General Meeting to be evidenced by the
issue of additional loan notes (the "Additional Notes") governed by the
terms of the Instrument (as amended and restated), provided that
for the period from the date that the Initial Advance is made until
such time as the Deed Poll (defined below) takes legal effect, the
Initial Advance shall be evidenced by the issue of Ordinary Notes
(defined below) governed by the terms of the Instrument and be
secured by the existing security arrangements, in each case, in
force at the date of this document (and such Ordinary Notes shall
be automatically redesignated into Additional Notes conditional
upon the Deed Poll being executed);
(B)
the US$4,750,000 balance to be capable of being
drawn down by the Company in tranches up to and including 1
December 2025 but subject to consent by the noteholder
representative (the "Noteholder
Representative") (which is proposed to be certain core
Noteholders acting collectively as the "Noteholder Representative"
for the purposes of the amended Instrument), such balance to be
made available by either:
1) nine initial Noteholder investors who have, subject to
paragraph (2) below, committed to underwrite and subscribe to the
full US$4,750,000 balance (provided that any drawdown by the
Company is subject to the consent of the Noteholder
Representative); or
2) certain prospective Shareholder investors and other
noteholders (which excludes Labro, MA and their respective
associates) who may in aggregate subscribe to up to US$1,000,000 of
the US$4,750,000 balance, provided that any such investor must
commit a minimum of US$100,000, must make an expression of interest
to participate
within seven business days of the
posting of the Shareholder circular and must execute a subscription
letter by no later than the date of the General Meeting,
in each case, subject to certain
conditions being satisfied prior to the relevant
drawdown;
(iii)
save as set out in the Instrument, the Additional
Notes shall rank pari
passu with the existing up to US$100,000,000 secured
convertible loan notes (the "Ordinary Notes", together with the
Additional Notes, the "Notes");
(iv)
the Additional Notes are intended to benefit from
the security arrangements under the Security Deed and the Company
shall provide a security confirmation to The Law Debenture Trust
Corporation p.l.c.(the "Security
Trustee") in that respect. A further shares security deed
supplemental to the Security Deed (the "Supplemental Security Deed") shall also
be entered into by the Company in favour of the Security Trustee
which shall expressly include the Additional Notes as part of the
"Secured Liabilities" thereunder. The Additional Notes shall be
further secured by a new debenture (the "Additional Notes Debenture") which
shall be held by the Security Trustee pursuant to the terms of the
Security Trust Deed (which shall be amended and restated to reflect
the constitution of the Additional Notes);
(v)
an amendment to the conversion rights, so as to
enable the Noteholders to elect to convert the Notes into Shares at
a conversion price that equates to 2 pence per Ordinary Share,
subject to adjustment for any sub-division or
consolidation;
(vi)
the reduction of the interest rate under Condition
1(a) of the Instrument from 20% per annum to 15% per annum, payable
annually in arrears;
(vii)
the provision for the interest accrued on the
Ordinary Notes in the period on or after 1 August 2024 to be paid
as payment-in-kind interest, by way of the issue of Ordinary Shares
in the Company at a price of 0.25 pence per Share (the
"PIK Shares"), pursuant to
the terms of the Instrument;
(viii) the addition of 15-month lock-up provisions in respect of the
Recapitalisation Conversion Shares (as defined below), PIK Shares
and any future conversion shares issued within the 15-month lock-up
period, which for the avoidance of doubt does not include any
Shares currently held by the Noteholders other than those
Noteholders who have entered into Lock-In Letters (defined
below);
(ix)
the provision of certain consent rights for the
Noteholders in respect of certain material matters in respect of
the Notes;
(x)
the provision of rights for the Noteholder
Representative to receive additional documents and information from
the Company;
(xi)
the provision of rights for the Noteholder
Representative to appoint a majority of the directors on the board
of the Company and any subsidiary of the Company; and
(xii)
the provision of revised voting rights attached to
the Notes, whereby the passing of majority resolutions shall only
be carried if holders of 50% of the votes attaching to the Notes
and also if holders of 50% of the votes attaching to the Additional
Notes vote in favour;
(b)
entry into subscription agreements between certain existing
Noteholders and the Company in respect of the Additional Notes (the
"Subscription
Agreements");
(c)
the conversion of all outstanding interest and
restructuring fees (save for the interest accrued on the Initial
Advance, which shall be settled in cash) owed on the Notes from 11
September 2018 to 31 July 2024 (inclusive), being US$19,812,277 on
31 July 2024 into Ordinary Shares, such conversion to be satisfied
by the allotment and issue of Ordinary Shares ("Recapitalisation Conversion Shares") to
each Noteholder, which are to be subject to the lock-up provisions
referred to above, on the basis of 390 Recapitalisation Conversion
Shares per US$1 owed (pro-rated if applicable), calculated on the
same basis so as to result in:
(i)
the Noteholders holding approximately 80.7%
(including Labro and MA);
(ii)
the Noteholders holding approximately 76.5%
(excluding Labro and MA);
(iii)
Labro holding approximately 16.9%;
(iv)
MA holding approximately 2.3%; and
(v)
the remaining shareholders holding approximately
4.3%,
of the Company's issued share
capital immediately following such conversion (and the conversion
of other debt owed by the Company to Labro and MA) (but excluding
any future conversion of any principal or interest on the Notes),
conditional upon the passing of the Resolutions at the General
Meeting;
(d)
certain amendments to the memorandum and articles of
association of the Company and the adoption of such new
constitutional documents including, among other things, the removal
of mandatory bid provisions, the reduction of voting thresholds for
members special resolutions to 50.01% (which must include certain
Noteholders who hold Recapitalisation Conversion Shares or other
Shares), the provision of drag along rights for the holder(s) of
50.01% of the voting rights of Shares, and a right of first refusal
to holders of Additional Notes to acquire Shares proposed to be
transferred by Shareholders (with certain exceptions such as
customary permitted transfers and share transfers in connection
with the matched bargain dealing facility referred to at paragraph
6 below) (the "Amended
Articles");
(e)
the repayment and cancellation of the Labro Working Capital
Facility through issuing shares to Labro, at the same conversion
price as for the Recapitalisation Conversion Shares outlined in
paragraph (c) above, and the release of the related security,
documented in a debt capitalisation deed dated 15 July 2024 (the
"Debt Capitalisation
Deed");
(f) the repayment of the Deferred Salary through issuing shares to
MA, at the same conversion price as for the Recapitalisation
Conversion Shares outlined in paragraph (c) above and as documented
in the Debt Capitalisation Deed;
(g)
the entry into irrevocable shareholder
undertakings dated 15 July 2024 by Labro, MA and certain
Noteholders (the "Irrevocable
Undertakings") to vote in favour of the Resolutions and the
Noteholder Resolutions (defined below);
(h)
the entry into lock-in letters dated 15 July 2024
with certain existing Noteholders in respect of the
Recapitalisation Conversion Shares and PIK Shares arising from the
Recapitalisation, any future conversion shares issued pursuant to
the terms of the Instrument within the 15-month lock up period and
any existing shares held, subject to customary exemptions (the
"Lock-In
Letters");
(i)
the issue of 6,000,000 Shares to certain members
of the Company's senior management team and 7,050,000 Shares to the
Company's restructuring adviser, Galiant Partners LLP;
and
(j)
the Delisting.
As part of the Recapitalisation, the
Directors have waived the provisions of Regulation 19 as it may
apply to the Proposed Transactions by way of board resolution, such
that Regulation 19 will not require the recipients of Shares issued
pursuant to the terms of the Recapitalisation to make a mandatory
offer to the other Shareholders. Shareholders should refer to
Resolution 5 set out in the Resolutions, which requests the
approval of the Shareholders to disapply the provisions of
Regulation 19 in the same manner.
The following documents have been or
will be required to be entered into or adopted by the Company as
appropriate to effect the Proposed Transactions:
(a)
the Subscription Agreements;
(b)
a deed poll, which reflects the amendments set out
in Paragraph 2(a)(i) to (xii) above and appends the form of the
amended and restated Instrument (the "Deed Poll");
(c)
the Additional Notes Debenture;
(d)
the Supplemental Security Deed;
(e)
an amendment and restatement deed appending an
amended and restated Security Trust Deed;
(f)
the Debt Capitalisation Deed;
(g)
the Amended Articles;
(h)
the Irrevocable Undertakings;
(i)
the Lock-In Letters; and
(j)
a written resolution of Noteholders requiring
approval by majority resolution of the Noteholders (the
"Noteholder
Resolutions").
(together, the "Recapitalisation
Documents").
Shareholders should note that the
issue of the Recapitalisation Conversion Shares and the issue of
further Shares as a result of the Debt Capitalisation Deed shall
lead to very substantial dilution of existing shareholdings.
Shareholders will have the opportunity to exit their investment in
the Company both prior to and following the Delisting, as detailed
further at paragraph 6 below.
The Deed Poll and the related
security documents described at (c) to (e) above are expected to be
signed shortly following the General Meeting on 8 August 2024 (so
as to take effect prior to expiry of the existing grace period
under the Notes).
3.
Board/Management Updates,
Funding Position and Future Strategy
On 2 July 2024, the Company
announced that, at the request of the Board of the Company, Martin
Andersson had agreed to step down from his role as Executive
Chairman with immediate effect, to avoid actual or potential
conflicts of interests in view of the proposed Recapitalisation as
well as his interests in Labro. Martin Andersson has now resigned
from his position as non-executive director of the Company with
immediate effect upon announcement of the Recapitalisation
today.
As you are aware, Labro is a
substantial shareholder of the Company and also holds a portion of
the Notes. Labro continues to have a right to appoint a director to
the board pursuant to its relationship agreement with the Company
for so long as it holds 20% of the Company's shares.
As further announced on 2 July 2024,
Gordon Wylie, previously Senior Independent Non-Executive Director
of the Company, has been appointed as the Independent Non-Executive
Chairman and David Mackenzie has been appointed as Acting Chief
Executive Officer.
The new composition of the Board
shall be determined following the Delisting noting that, as part of
the Recapitalisation, the Noteholders shall be granted the right to
appoint a majority of Directors on the Board, except that in
respect of the period between the date that the Initial Advance is
made to the Company and until such time that the Resolutions are
passed, the Noteholders will have a contractual right to appoint
one director and one observer to the Board of the Company (on the
proviso that the director appointment is subject to the approval of
the nominated adviser of the Company).
The receipt of the US$250,000 noted
in paragraph 2(a)(ii)(A) above is expected to provide the Company
with sufficient cash through to the end of August 2024. Further
drawdowns of the Additional Notes (which as noted above are subject
to certain conditions) up the maximum US$5 million, is expected to
provide the Company with sufficient cash into Q4 2025.
In terms of future strategy, the
Company, under a restructured board, with an improved balance
sheet, will continue to focus its activities on maximising the
value of its Kyrgyz Republic assets.
4.
Related party
transactions
The Company and MA's agreement to
the capitalisation of the Deferred Salary, and the Company and
Labro's agreement to amending the terms of the Notes held by Labro
and capitalisation of the sums owing under the Labro Working
Capital Facility will constitute related party transactions under
AIM Rule 13 of the AIM Rules for Companies.
The Directors consider, having
consulted with the Company's Nominated Adviser, that the terms of
the capitalisation of the Deferred Salary, the amendment to the
terms of the Notes held by Labro and the capitalisation of the sums
owing under the Labro Working Capital Facility are fair and
reasonable insofar as the Shareholders are concerned.
In reaching this fair and reasonable
conclusion, and noting that the outcome is a reduction in the
Company's free float to approximately 4.1%, particular
consideration has been given by the Directors to the fact that the
terms of the Recapitalisation require the capitalisation of amounts
owing under the Labro Working Capital Facility and the Deferred
Salary, and that any refusal of the Directors to accept these terms
(subject to Shareholder approval) would have forced the Company
into immediate insolvency proceedings. The conversion of both
amounts will additionally remove liabilities of approximately
US$2.85 million from the Company's balance sheet.
5.
Irrevocable
Undertakings
Labro, MA and certain other major
Shareholders and Noteholders have entered into irrevocable
undertakings covering 49.6 per cent. of the Shares pursuant to
which they irrevocably and unconditionally confirm, undertake and
warrant to the Company that, inter alia, they will vote in favour
of the Resolutions and Noteholder Resolutions. The Company
has already received approval of the Noteholder
Resolutions.
6.
Delisting and intended
implementation of Matched Bargain Dealing
Facility
The Delisting is an integral part of
the Recapitalisation agreed between the Company and the CLN
Representatives. If the Delisting becomes effective, Shareholders
should be aware of the implications and principal effects of the
Delisting, which include the following:
(a)
there will be no public market or trading facility
on any recognised investment exchange for the Shares and,
consequently, there can be no guarantee that a Shareholder will be
able to purchase or sell any Shares. Accordingly, whilst the
intention is to implement an off-market trading facility, the
opportunity for Shareholders to realise their investment in the
Company will be much more limited and there will be no public
market valuation of Shares held;
(b)
it is probable that the liquidity and the
marketability of the Shares may be significantly reduced by the
proposal for the Delisting and the value of such Shares whilst the
Company is still admitted to trading on AIM may be adversely
affected as a consequence;
(c)
the regulatory and financial reporting regime
applicable to companies whose shares are admitted to trading on AIM
will no longer apply;
(d)
Shareholders will no longer be afforded the
protections given by the AIM Rules, such as the requirement for the
Company to retain a nominated adviser and broker, to be notified of
certain events, including substantial transactions, financing
transactions, related party transactions and fundamental changes in
the Company's business, including certain acquisitions and
disposals;
(e)
as an unlisted company, the Company will be
subject to fewer operational restrictions then as a listed company.
In addition, as an unlisted company, the Company may be subject to
less stringent accounting and reporting requirements;
(f)
the Delisting may have either positive or negative
taxation consequences for Shareholders. Shareholders who are in any
doubt about their tax position should consult their own
professional independent adviser immediately; and
(g)
there will be reduced controls over the terms of
capital raises and issuances of new Shares to related parties (such
as substantial shareholders).
Shareholders should be aware that,
in the event the Delisting becomes effective, the liquidity and
marketability of the Shares may be significantly
reduced.
The Directors are aware that
Shareholders may be unable or unwilling to hold Shares in the event
that the Delisting become effective. Such Shareholders should
consider selling their interests in the market ahead of the
Delisting. However, the Company intends to put in place, following
the Delisting, a matched bargain dealing facility to enable off
market trading for a period of time (which is expected to be six
months) in order to provide minority Shareholders who do not exit
their investment ahead of the Delisting taking effect an
opportunity to trade out of their position (subject to buy-side
demand). Further details will be provided in due course on such
facility, should it be put in place of which there is no
guarantee.
7.
Amended Articles
The proposed Amended Articles
incorporate certain changes, including the following, which would
only take effect after the
Delisting:
(a)
the inclusion of a drag provision enabling holders
of 50.01% or more of the Shares (which must include certain
Noteholders who hold Recapitalisation Conversion Shares or other
Shares) who wish to transfer all of their interest in Shares to a
bona fide arm's length
proposed purchaser (the "Proposed
Purchaser"), to have the option to compel each other holder
of Shares to sell or transfer all their Shares to such Proposed
Purchaser on the same terms, as well as the option to compel each
other holder of Shares to take any action necessary to implement a
sale by the Company of all or substantial part of its undertaking
and assets to a bona fide third party;
(b)
the removal of the pre-existing mandatory bid
provisions whereby the Directors may require a mandatory bid to be
made in certain circumstances where a third party acquires a
controlling interest;
(c)
the lowering of the threshold to pass special
resolutions of members to 50.01% of the Shares (which must include
certain Noteholders who hold Recapitalisation Conversion Shares or
other Shares);
(d)
the inclusion of a weighted voting right for
directors appointed by the Noteholder Representative ("CLN Director") whereby if CLN Directors
do not comprise the majority of directors on the board of the
Company from time to time (including due to absence of any CLN
Director at a board meeting), then the vote of any unappointed or
absent CLN Director shall automatically be exercisable by the other
CLN Directors such that the CLN Directors present at a board
meeting shall always have at least the majority of votes to carry
any board resolution;
(e)
the inclusion of a right of first refusal regime
whereby any proposed transfer of Shares (excluding any shares to be
sold under the matched bargain dealing facility referred to at
paragraph 6 above and certain other customary carve-outs) shall be
offered to Additional Noteholders at the first instance on the same
terms as with the proposed buyer; and
(f)
the maximum number of shares of the Company, which
previously stood at 1,395,167,015 Shares of US$0.01 to be increased
to 12,728,056,182 Shares of US$0.01, to allow for the
Recapitalisation to occur.
8.
Recommendation
Should the Resolutions not be
approved at the General Meeting then, based on the liabilities of
the Company, in particular those due pursuant to the Notes, the
Company will be forced into insolvency proceedings, in which case
Shareholders will most likely realise zero value from their
investment into the Company. Shareholders should note that the
insolvency proceedings would also trigger an immediate suspension
from trading of the Company's Shares.
Accordingly, the Directors
unanimously recommend Shareholders to vote in favour of the
Resolutions.
EXPECTED TIMETABLE OF
PRINCIPAL EVENTS(1)(2)(3)
Posting of this circular and forms
of proxy/direction
|
16 July
2024
|
Latest time and date for receipt of
online proxy votes or completed forms of proxy/direction in respect
of the General Meeting
|
11am on 6
August 2024
|
General Meeting
|
11am on 8
August 2024
|
Signature of the Deed Poll (as
defined below) to amend and restate the Instrument (as defined
below) and related security documents described in this
document
|
Following
the General Meeting on 8 August 2024
|
Expected final day of trading on AIM
for the Ordinary Shares
|
15 August
2024
|
Expected time and date of
Delisting
|
7am on 16
August 2024
|
Issue of the Recapitalisation
Conversion Shares and further Shares to Labro and MA as a result of
the Debt Capitalisation Deed
|
on or
shortly following 16 August 2024
|
Matched bargain dealing facility for
Ordinary Shares expected to commence
|
on or
shortly following 16 August 2024
|
Notes:
|
|
|
|
|
| |
(1) All of the times referred to in this Announcement refer to
London time, unless otherwise stated.
(2) Each of the times and dates in the above timetable is subject
to change. If any of the above times and/or dates change, the
revised times and
dates will be notified to Shareholders by an announcement through a
Regulatory Information Service and/or the Company's
website.
(3) Defined terms are as per those defined in the Letter from the
Chairman. In the circular (and extracted in this
Announcement)
KEY
STATISTICS(1)
Number of existing Ordinary
Shares
|
728,056,182
|
Number of Recapitalisation
Conversion Shares to be issued to the Noteholders, excluding those
to Labro
|
7,332,991,254
|
Number of Recapitalisation
Conversion Shares to be issued to Labro
|
393,797,058
|
Number of Ordinary Shares to be
issued to MA pursuant to the Debt Recapitalisation Deed, in respect
of
settlement of the Deferred
Salary
|
214,500,000
|
Number of Ordinary Shares to be
issued to Labro pursuant to the Debt Recapitalisation Deed, in
respect
of settlement of the Labro Working
Capital Facility
|
897,000,000
|
Number of Ordinary Shares to be
issued to certain members of the senior management team
|
6,000,000
|
Number of Ordinary Shares to be
issued to Galiant Partners, the Company's restructuring
adviser
|
7,050,000
|
Expected enlarged number of Ordinary
Shares following the abovementioned issues of Ordinary
Shares
|
9,579,394,494
|
Issue price of abovementioned issues
of Ordinary Shares
|
0.2
pence
|
USD:GBP
|
0.78
|
Notes:
(1) Defined terms are as
per those defined in the Letter from the Chairman in the circular
(and extracted in this Announcement).
For
more information contact:
|
|
|
|
Chaarat Gold Holdings
Limited
|
+44 (0)20 7499 2612
|
David Mackenzie (Interim CEO)
|
IR@chaarat.com
|
|
|
Strand Hanson Limited
(NOMAD)
|
+44 (0)20 7409 3494
|
Ritchie Balmer
|
|
James Spinney
Robert Collins
|
|
|
|
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Joint
Broker)
|
+44 (0)20 7886 2500
|
Hugh Rich
|
|
|
|
Axis Capital Markets Limited (Joint
Broker)
|
+44 (0)20 3026 0449
|
Ben Tadd
Lewis Jones
|
|
|
|
St Brides Partners Limited
(Financial Public Relations)
|
+44 (0)20 7236 1177
|
Susie Geliher
Isabelle Morris
|
|