Aptamer Group announced on Monday that it has undergone a board reshuffle and raised £3.6 million ($4.6 million) through a discount share placing. As a result, the company has decided to cancel its formal sales process.
Effective immediately, Executive Chairman Ian Gilham, Interim Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer Rob Quinn, as well as non-executive Directors John Richards and Angela Hildreth, have resigned from their positions. The company has appointed Steve Hull as its new executive chairman.
Additionally, Dean Fielding and Adam Hargreaves have been appointed as non-executive directors. Moreover, Andrew Rapson, the Head of Finance, will take on the role of CFO in a non-board capacity.
Under the share placing, Aptamer has issued 360.0 million ordinary shares at an issue price of 1 pence per share. This represents a 79% discount to the company’s closing share price of 4.75 pence on Friday. The newly issued shares will constitute approximately 84.26% of the enlarged issued share capital.
The issuance of shares will occur in two tranches. The first tranche consisting of 10.3 million shares is expected to be admitted to trading on Friday. The second tranche, which is subject to shareholder approval, is anticipated to be admitted on August 21.
In the event that shareholder approval is not obtained, Aptamer has stated that it may not be able to continue operating as a going concern.
Previously, on July 26, Aptamer had announced that it was putting itself up for sale as part of a comprehensive review of funding options. The company had expressed its intention to engage with potential buyers during the process. However, Aptamer has now revealed that it is not currently engaged in any discussions regarding a sale and has not received any approaches from interested parties.
