Salt Lake Potash #SO4 announces a A$13.0m Placement to Institutional & Sophisticated Investors to Fund Project Development

Salt Lake Potash Limited (the Company or Salt Lake) is pleased to announce that it has received strong commitments from both existing and new institutional and sophisticated investors in Australia and overseas to subscribe for 31.0 million new ordinary shares of the Company (Ordinary Shares), to raise gross proceeds of $13,000,000 (Placement). There was very strong demand for the Placement, an endorsement of the recent appointment of Tony Swiericzuk as CEO and also of the Company’s world class Sulphate of Potash project.

Proceeds from the Placement will be used to fund construction of the Williamson Ponds and dewatering of the Williamson Pit, as well as ongoing development of on-lake infrastructure, exploration and feasibility studies, and general working capital.

The cornerstone investor for the Placement is a significant international investment fund. Directors and senior management intend to subscribe for a total of 2.4 million shares in the Placement, including 952,381 shares by the CEO, Mr Tony Swiericzuk, and 750,000 shares by the Company’s Chairman, Mr Ian Middlemas, which will be issued subject to shareholder approval.

Commenting on the Placement, SO4’s CEO, Tony Swiericzuk, said: “We are very pleased to have received such strong support from new and existing shareholders to fund the construction of the initial on-lake infrastructure at Lake Way. These activities are on the critical path to enabling SO4 to become the first Australian commercial producer of SOP in a global sector with outstanding potential. This strong support from investors endorses our view that the Goldfields Salt Lakes Project has enormous potential for value creation and we now look forward to rapidly delivering on this potential for all shareholders and stakeholders.”

Argonaut Securities Pty Limited and Canaccord Genuity (Australia) Limited acted as Joint Lead Manager to the Placement.

The issue price of A$0.42 represents a 13.4% discount to the last closing price of $0.485 on ASX.

The Placement will be completed in two tranches as follows:

(a)      29,250,000 shares will be issued on 16 November 2018 under Listing Rule 7.1 (11,745,041 shares) and Listing Rule 7.1A (17,504,959 shares).  Following the issue of these shares the Company will have 7,612,398 remaining issue capacity under Listing Rule 7.1 and no remaining issue capacity under Listing Rule 7.1A.

(b)      1,702,381 shares intended to be subscribed for by Directors will be issued on or about Thursday 20 December 2018 subject to shareholder approval. A notice of general meeting will be sent to shareholders shortly.

Related Party transaction

The proposed participation in the Placement by Tony Swiericzuk, and Ian Middlemas constitutes a related party transaction under Rule 13 of the AIM Rules for Companies. The independent directors, having consulted the Company’s nominated adviser, Grant Thornton UK LLP, consider that the terms of the transaction are fair and reasonable insofar as the Company’s shareholders are concerned.

Settlement and dealings

Application will be made to the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange (“AIM”) for 29,250,000 Ordinary Shares, pursuant to the Placement, which rank pari passu with the Company’s existing issued Ordinary Shares, to be admitted to trading. Dealings on AIM are expected to commence at 8:00am on or around 16 November 2018 (“Admission”).

Total Voting Rights

For the purposes of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules (“DTRs”), following Admission, Salt Lake will have 204,299,596 Ordinary Shares in issue with voting rights attached. Salt Lake holds no shares in treasury. This figure of 204,299,596 may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in the Company, under the ASX Listing Rules or the DTRs.

Information required under ASX Listing Rule 3.10.5A:

(a)      Dilution to existing shareholders as a result of the issue under Listing Rule 7.1A is 9.1%, dilution to existing shareholders as a result of the issue under Listing Rule 7.1 is 6.3% and the total dilution to existing shareholders is 14.3%. Details regarding the participation of existing and new shareholders is not able to be determined yet and will be provided at completion;

(b)      The Company will issue 17,504,959 shares under Listing Rule 7.1A because the Placement was considered to be a more efficient mechanism for raising funds. The Placement did not expose the Company to additional costs, a protracted process and market volatility that may have been experienced with a pro-rata issue or other type of issue in which existing ordinary shareholders would have been eligible to participate;

(c)      No underwriting arrangements are in place for the Placement under rule 7.1A; and

(d)      A fee of up to 6% may be paid to the Brokers/Advisors in connection with the Placement under rule 7.1A.

The voluntary halt of trading of the Company’s shares on ASX was lifted prior to the opening of trade on 9 November 2018, following an announcement to the market regarding the above. 

For further information please visit www.saltlakepotash.com.au or contact:

Forward Looking Statements

This announcement may include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Salt Lake Potash Limited’s expectations and beliefs concerning future events. Forward looking statements are necessarily subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of Salt Lake Potash Limited, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. Salt Lake Potash Limited makes no undertaking to subsequently update or revise the forward-looking statements made in this announcement, to reflect the circumstances or events after the date of that announcement. 

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