
08 May Notice of GM and Proposed Transaction
S-Ventures plc (AQSE: SVEN), the health and wellness-focused company, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a sale and purchase agreement in relation to the disposal of substantially all of its operating subsidiary companies (the “Disposal Entities”) and the transfer of substantially all of its liabilities (together, the “Business”) to RiverFort Global Opportunities plc (“RGO”), an AIM-quoted investing company (the “Proposed Transaction”). Conditional on completion of the Proposed Transaction (“Completion”), RGO as enlarged will trade under the new name “Tooru plc” (AIM: TOO) (“Tooru” or the “Enlarged Group”).
The Proposed Transaction represents a fundamental change in the Company’s business and is subject to Rule 3.7 (Disposals) of the AQSE Growth Market Rules (the “Aquis Rules”). Under the Aquis Rules, Completion is conditional upon, inter alia, approval at a general meeting of the Company’s shareholders (the “General Meeting”; “SVEN Shareholders”) and an associated general meeting of RGO’s shareholders. The Company will issue an explanatory circular (the “SVEN Circular”) to SVEN Shareholders which is expected to be published on the Company’s website (https://s-venturesplc.com/investor-information/) later today. The General Meeting will be held at 9.00 a.m. (London time) on 27 May 2025 at the Company’s offices at 121 Sloane Street, London SW1X 9BW.
Under the terms of the Proposed Transaction, upon Completion the Company will: (i) receive 466,666,666 new ordinary shares in the capital of RGO (the “Consideration Shares”) being equivalent to £3.5 million at a transaction share price of 0.75 pence per Consideration Share (the “Transaction Share Price”); (ii) novate to RGO obligations due to third parties totalling approximately £2.7 million; (iii) issue to RGO one new ordinary share in the capital of the Company in respect of the capitalisation of SVEN’s approximate £1.5 million debt to RGO; (iv) capitalise amounts owing to the Company by the Disposal Entities; and (v) be owed approximately £0.8 million in cash from RGO to allow the Company to settle current creditors, of which approximately £0.4 million is to be paid to the Company on Completion with the balance to be paid not later than 30 June 2026.
In connection with the Proposed Transaction RGO has announced that, subject to approval of the Proposed Transaction by its shareholders, in addition to the Consideration Shares, it will also issue: (i) 356,335,200 new RGO ordinary shares in respect of the conversion of novated SVEN obligations (the “Loan Conversion Shares”); (ii) 13,274,213 new RGO ordinary shares (the “Fee Shares”) to be subscribed by Fortified Securities in respect of part of its fees due; and (iii) up to 133,333,333 new RGO ordinary shares in relation to a Placing of up to £1 million of new ordinary shares at the Transaction Share Price (the “Placing Shares”).
The principal effect of the issuance of Loan Conversion Shares and Placing Shares will be to reduce the financial indebtedness of RGO resulting from the novation of obligations by the Company. The issuance of the Consideration Shares, the Loan Conversion Shares, the Fee Shares and the maximum number of Placing Shares by RGO would increase RGO’s total issued and outstanding share capital by 969,609,413 ordinary shares to a total of 1,745,013,600 ordinary shares, of which the Consideration Shares payable to the Company would represent approximately 26.7%. For more information the RGO admission document will be published on their website (https://riverfortglobalopportunities.com/).
Upon Completion, the Company will no longer have a trading activity and will become a cash shell which, under the Aquis Rules will be an enterprise company. The Company’s unaudited Balance Sheet on completion is estimated to be as follows:
S-Ventures plc |
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Statement of Financial Position on Completion |
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£ |
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ASSETS |
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Non-current |
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Property, Plant & Equipment |
14,250 |
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Investments |
3,530,238 |
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Current assets |
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Trade and other receivables |
480,403 |
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Cash and cash equivalents |
380,277 |
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TOTAL ASSETS |
4,405,168 |
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LIABILITIES |
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Current liabilities |
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Trade and other payables |
824,961 |
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TOTAL LIABILITIES |
824,961 |
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NET ASSETS |
3,580,207 |
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EQUITY |
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SHAREHOLDERS’ Equity |
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Called up Share Capital |
132,216 |
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Reserves |
3,447,991 |
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TOTAL EQUITY |
3,580,207 |
The Company, RGO, RGO’s nominated adviser and Scott Livingston have entered into a relationship agreement as well as a lock-in and orderly market deed with respect to the Consideration Shares which, subject to Completion, shall restrict the Company from selling the Consideration Shares in certain respects but will not preclude a potential distribution or dividend in specie of the Consideration Shares to SVEN Shareholders. The Company intends to consult with SVEN Shareholders to explore the optimal method of realising value from its investment in RGO which may include a distribution of some or all of the Consideration Shares.
More information on the Proposed Transaction, including the recommendation of the independent director of the Company, will be set out in the SVEN Circular.
Related Party transaction
By virtue of their proposed directorships of Tooru, Scott Livingston, Stephen Argent and Alex Phillips are regarded as related parties under the Aquis Rules. Having exercised reasonable care, skill and diligence, Bhanu Choudhrie, as the Independent Director, believes that the related party transaction is fair and reasonable as far as the SVEN Shareholders are concerned. He therefore recommends that SVEN Shareholders vote in favour of the resolutions at the General Meeting (“Resolutions”).
Notwithstanding the above, the directors of SVEN intend to vote in favour of each of the Resolutions in respect of their direct and indirect shareholdings which in aggregate amount to 53,654,772 Ordinary Shares representing 40.58% of the Company’s issued share capital.
Board changes
Following Completion, the Company will no longer have a trading operation. As a result, the Board intends to reduce its size to reflect the Company’s simplified structure. Stephen Argent and Alex Phillips will step down from the Board of the Company, and
Scott Livingston will become Non-Executive Chairman and Bhanu Choudhrie will remain as Non- Executive Director of the Company.
Trading update
Since the publication of S-Ventures unaudited Interim Financial Statements to 30 June 2024, in which a positive EBITDA of £0.8 million on £7.2 million of net sales was reported, the Disposal Entities have achieved sales broadly in line with those achieved in the first half of 2024. This continues to be the case for the current financial year commencing 1 January 2025.
Scott Livingston, CEO of SVEN, said:
“The team at SVEN have been able to build a great portfolio of wellness brands with distribution through highly credible retailers and other channels (including Ocado and Holland & Barrett) alongside an innovative technology company to complement this portfolio and generate third-party revenue in its own right. We firmly believe that the portfolio has significant potential for growth which will be enhanced and accelerated by the combination with RGO.
RGO has both the capital to deploy into the Enlarged Group as well as a highly credible shareholder base of leading institutions within the small-cap London listed market.
RGO is to be re-branded as Tooru following the conclusion of the Proposed Transaction. I believe that the quotation of the Enlarged Group on AIM will provide the Business with enhanced access to capital to fully execute its vision and drive profitability.
The SVEN portfolio comprises strong brands delivering healthy group operating cashflow that have been constrained by an over-levered balance sheet. This transaction significantly reduces that leverage and frees the potential of the portfolio under the Tooru banner to achieve real long-term value for shareholders. The management team will hold circa 10% of the issued share capital of the Enlarged Group following completion of the Proposed Transaction and, as such, we are confident that we are fully aligned with the shareholders of the Enlarged Group.”
For the purposes of UK MAR, the person responsible for arranging release of this announcement on behalf of the Company is Scott Livingston, CEO.
Enquiries:
S-Ventures plc Scott Livingston, Chairman & CEO Stephen Argent, CFO |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3475 0230 |
AQSE Corporate Adviser and Broker VSA Capital Andrew Raca/Dylan Sadie (Corporate Finance) Andrew Monk (Corporate Broking)
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Tel: +44 (0) 20 3005 5000 |