Proposed cancellation of admission of Ordinary Shares to AIM, proposed change of name and resignation of Directors
7th December 2009
Intercytex Group plc (“Intercytex” or “the
Company”) today announces that it intends to apply to cancel
the trading of its ordinary shares on AIM, to re-register the
Company as a private company and to change the Company name to
Regenerative Medicine Assets Limited. It is anticipated that the
effective date of the Cancellation will be 8th January 2010.
Pursuant to the AIM Rules for Companies, the cancellation of
ordinary shares is conditional upon shareholder approval at a
General Meeting to be held on 23 December 2009. In addition, the
Company is seeking shareholder approval to change its name to
Regenerative Medicine Assets Limited.
Following the proposed cancellation of securities it is intended
that the Board of Directors will be reduced to four non-executive
directors, with Alan Suggett and Paul Kemp resigning as
directors.
A circular providing further details on the proposed
cancellation and general meeting has been posted to shareholders
today. The circular is also available on the Company’s
website www.intercytex.com (see
‘Circular' link on the left side of the home page).
Background to and reasons for the
Cancellation
On 1st July 2009, Intercytex announced it had failed to
find a buyer for the entire business but was in negotiations to
sell various business assets. The Directors have also explored the
possibility of raising further funds to continue development of
Intercytex’ remaining development programmes. However,
against the background of the current financial market, this has
not been feasible. At the same time the Company has continued to
conserve its cash resources by implementing measures to reduce
overhead expenditure and headcount levels.
As announced on 23rd November 2009, Intercytex has
completed the sale of certain of the business assets of its wholly
owned subsidiary, Axordia, to Pfizer Limited for total cash
consideration of US $750,000. These funds are being used to support
ongoing operational costs and working capital requirements of the
Company, but are insufficient to allow continued development of
Intercytex’ remaining products. The Directors therefore
believe that the best course of action is to sell all of the
remaining assets of the Group and return excess funds (if any) to
Shareholders. Pursuant to this goal, the Directors believe they are
close to securing the sale of the majority of Intercytex’
assets in three further transactions relating to the disposal of:
(i) the hair regeneration assets including ICX-TRC, (ii) certain
wound healing assets including ICX-SKN and Cyzact, and (iii) the
Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Intercytex Limited, which
includes the Vavelta assets.
Whilst there can be no guarantees as to the likelihood of
completion or of timing it is anticipated that the disposals can be
completed within the next three months. Even if all of the
disposals are completed and all anticipated sale proceeds received,
the Group will still have significant liabilities to be settled.
The Board therefore anticipates only a relatively small return to
Shareholders (if any) compared to the market capitalisation at the
time the Company’s shares were suspended on 2nd
September 2009.
The Directors believe that following the proposed cancellation,
the Company will be better placed as an unlisted company to both:
(i) complete the timely disposal of the Company’s remaining
assets, and (ii) minimise ongoing operational costs.
The Board is seeking shareholders’ approval for the
cancellation, the re-registration and the change of name.
The Directors have provided undertakings to vote in favour of
the Resolutions representing, in aggregate, 1.73 per cent. of the
issued share capital of the Company.
INVESCO Asset Management Limited, acting for and on behalf of
its discretionary managed clients (“IAML”), the
Company’s largest shareholder, has confirmed to the Company
that, as at the date of this document, it is IAML’s current
intention to vote in favour of the Resolutions. IAML currently
holds approximately 21 per cent. of the Company’s issued
share capital.
The Cancellation and the Re-Registration
The Company announced on 2nd September 2009 that the
Company’s Ordinary Shares had been suspended from AIM whilst
the Directors of the Company took steps to divest certain business
assets. The Directors believe that it is in the best interests of
the Company to cancel trading of the Company’s ordinary
shares on AIM now in order to reduce the Company’s operating
costs and to facilitate a swifter completion of the disposals and
crystallisation of any remaining value.
Following cancellation it is the intention of the Directors to
effect the re-registration of the Company as a private company. The
Directors consider the re-registration to be appropriate in
connection with the cancellation and desirable to help facilitate
future distributions, if any, made by the Company to shareholders.
Re-registration is subject to the approval of shareholders at the
General Meeting.
Proposed winding up of the Company
Following completion of the Disposals and receipt by the Company of
all payments to be made to it under the terms of the Disposals it
is proposed that the Company be wound up. The winding-up process
may require further Shareholder approvals which will be sought, as
necessary, at later dates. The Board will endeavour to minimise the
costs associated with these subsequent actions.
The Board
In order to reduce costs, the Company has closed its offices in
Cambridge, UK and Woburn, MA and has undertaken a redundancy
programme so that, at the date of this document, the only employees
of the Group are the three Executive Directors. The Company has
given each of the Executive Directors notice of termination in
respect of their employment and, in the case of Nicolas Higgins and
Max Herrmann, it is anticipated that their employment with the
Company will terminate on 31st December 2009. It is
proposed that Paul Kemp’s employment with the Company will be
transferred, by operation of law, to Intercytex Limited on
completion of the Sale of Hair Assets and the Sale of Skin
Assets.
It is proposed that Nicolas Higgins and Max Herrmann will remain
as non-executive directors of the Company following the cessation
of their employment with the Company for a period of up to six
months, terminable by one month’s notice. Nicolas Higgins and
Max Herrmann will not be paid by the Company for these appointments
but will receive reimbursement of any out-of-pocket expenses. Max
Herrmann will also provide services to the Company, on a
consultancy basis, from time to time to assist with the winding
down of the Company’s operations and will remain the Company
Secretary. John Aston and I have both agreed to stay on as
non-executive directors without pay but will receive reimbursement
of any out-of-pocket expenses.
Alan Suggett and Paul Kemp will be resigning as directors. The
Board thanks both Alan and Paul for their contributions to the
Company.
Effecting transactions in Ordinary Shares following
Cancellation
Following Cancellation, although the Ordinary Shares will remain
transferable they will no longer be tradable on AIM and no other
trading facility will be available to enable the trading of the
Ordinary Shares. Consequently, there can be no guarantee that a
Shareholder will be able to purchase or sell any Ordinary Shares.
Further details regarding off-market transfer of shares in
certificated form are provided in the circular to shareholders.
Enquiries
For more information, contact:
| Intercytex Group plc |
|
| Nick Higgins, Chief Executive Officer |
Tel: 0161 904 4500 |
| Max Herrmann, Chief Financial Officer |
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| Financial Dynamics |
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| Jonathan Birt |
Tel: 0207 269 7205 |
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| Piper Jaffray Ltd |
|
| Neil Mackison |
Tel: 0203 142 8700 |
| Graeme Smethurst |
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Intercytex' shares are listed on the Alternative Investment
Market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol
ICX.L.
Additional information on the Company can be found at
www.intercytex.com
Statements contained within this press release may contain
forward-looking information or statements with respect to the
financial condition, results of operations and business
achievements/performance of Intercytex and certain of the plans and
objectives of management of Intercytex with respect thereto. By
their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual results to vary from those
contained in the forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can
identify such forward-looking statements by terminology such as
'may', 'will', 'could', 'forecasts', 'expects', 'plans',
'anticipates', 'believes', 'estimates', 'predicts', 'potential',
'continue' or similar expressions. A number of factors, including
the satisfactory progress of research and development, could cause
Intercytex' actual financial condition, results of operations and
business achievements/performance to differ materially from the
estimates made or implied in such forward-looking statements and,
accordingly, reliance should not be placed on such statements.
Forward projections reflect management's best estimates based on
information available at the time of issue and are not a guarantee
of future performance. Other than as required by applicable law,
Intercytex does not undertake any obligation to update or revise
any forward-looking information or statements to reflect events or
circumstances after the date of this release.
The term "Intercytex" refers to Intercytex Group plc and its
subsidiary undertakings.
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