TUNG Tungsten Corporation Plc

TIDMTUNG

RNS Number : 5899W

Tungsten Corporation PLC

12 December 2019

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC

("Tungsten" or the "Company")

12 December 2019

New partnership agreement with Orbian and wind-down and closure of Tungsten Network Finance operations

Tungsten Corporation plc, the global business transaction network, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a new partnership agreement (the "Partnership Agreement") with Orbian Corporation, the global leading provider of supply chain finance for major companies and their entire supply chains around the world. Orbian has been in business for over 20 years, and its annual revenues from supply chain finance exceed $100 million.

The Partnership Agreement has been concluded following a review of the Tungsten Network Finance ("TNF") business, undertaken by the Tungsten Board as part of its Operating Review, and builds upon the existing memorandum of understanding which has been in place between Tungsten and Orbian since 2016.

Tungsten will be integrating the Tungsten Network with Orbian's technology and financing platform.

Orbian was chosen after a worldwide tender process of suitable partners, undertaken by our appointed specialist M&A advisers.

Under the Partnership Agreement, Tungsten and Orbian will work together on an exclusive basis to offer supply chain finance and other trade finance solutions to Tungsten customers and other agreed targets. The Partnership Agreement will run for an initial term of five years, with a revenue share payable to Tungsten in respect of trade finance advanced pursuant to the partnership.

Commenting on the Partnership Agreement, Andrew Lemonofides, Tungsten CEO said:

"The Board have great expectations that this new partnership with a market leading supply chain finance and trade finance operator will broaden our offering to our customers and generate significant revenues in years to come. The combination of Orbian's state-of-the-art supply chain finance technology platform and the innovative funding structures they offer will provide a compelling offering for our customers. This partnership leaves Tungsten to focus on growing and investing in its core activities."

Commenting on the Partnership Agreement, Tom Dunn, Chairman of Orbian said:

"After a very thorough and competitive selection process that properly reflected the strong franchise position of the Tungsten Network with many of the world's largest and most demanding companies, we are extremely pleased to have been selected as Tungsten's exclusive, worldwide supply chain finance provider. We see very substantial opportunities to deploy cutting edge capabilities that will build sustainable, low cost supply chain initiatives for all on the Tungsten Network."

The new partnership with Orbian will replace the Group's existing TNF operations, allowing Tungsten to focus on its core focus areas of electronic invoicing solutions for accounts payable and receivables and other associated services, while still leveraging the Tungsten Network to offer tailored supply chain finance and other trade finance products and solutions to its customers.

The Tungsten Board has therefore determined as part of the Operating Review that the existing TNF operations will now be wound down and closed. The wind-down is already under way, and will be conducted on a managed, orderly basis. The Tungsten Board and TNF is working with their existing finance providers who support the TNF business and customer base, to ensure that TNF customers currently receiving finance from TNF can migrate to alternative sources of funding. TNF is in the process of contacting affected customers.

The Tungsten Board expects the wind-down process to be completed by the end of June 2020 at the latest.

Enquiries

 
 Tungsten Corporation plc 
  Andrew Lemonofides, Chief Executive 
  Officer 
  David Williams, Chief Financial Officer       +44 20 7280 7713 
 
 Panmure Gordon UK Limited (Nominated 
  Advisor) 
  Dominic Morley                              +44 20 7886 2500 
 Canaccord Genuity Limited (Broker) 
  Simon Bridges/Andrew Potts                  +44 20 7523 8000 
 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

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END

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December 12, 2019 02:01 ET (07:01 GMT)

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