First Dealings
13 Dezember 2007 - 9:08AM
UK Regulatory
RNS Number:8188J
Bluewater Bio International
13 December 2007
Not for release, publication or distribution in whole or in part in or into the
United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, the Republic of South Africa or any
other jurisdiction where it is unlawful to do so
Bluewater Bio International
("Bluewater" or "the Company")
Admission to AIM - First Dealings
Bluewater Bio International today announces the admission ("Admission") of its
ordinary shares to trading on the London Stock Exchange's AIM Market ("AIM")
under the ticker: BWB. The Company has raised �2.775 million in a placing of
22,200,000 ordinary shares of 0.5 pence ("Ordinary Shares") at a placing price
of 12.5 pence per ordinary share ("Placing Price"). The market capitalisation of
the Company at the Placing Price is approximately �26.91 million.
Bluewater Bio International is the holding company of a group of companies
involved in the design and marketing of an advanced biological solution to the
treatment of wastewater, called HYBACS. The Directors believe that HYBACS will
be proven to be commercially superior to the majority of existing treatment
processes worldwide, across a wide range of treatment requirements.
The Company has acquired the entire issued share capital of Bluewater Bio
Limited, Global Water Institute Korea Limited, Global Water Institute Limited
and Javel Limited, (together "the Group") for an aggregate consideration of
�18.55 million. The Group owns certain intellectual property rights in HYBACS
and employs a team that possesses many years of technical expertise in
wastewater treatment technologies.
The Directors are confident that HYBACS is able to treat efficiently a wide
range of organic industrial wastewaters, including highly concentrated livestock
wastewater and the effluent from, among others, breweries, food processors,
textile manufacturers, hospitals, factories and residential developments.
The Company has issued 22,200,000 new Ordinary Shares ("Placing Shares") at the
Placing Price to raise approximately �2.78 million before expenses
(approximately �2.31 million net of expenses). The net proceeds of the Placing
will be applied to the repayment of loans and the balance will be applied
towards providing the Group with additional funding for its ongoing working
capital requirements, in particular to enable the Group to continue its research
and development of HYBACS to bring an enhanced version to production readiness.
The placing statistics can be found at the end of this announcement. Strand
Partners Limited is nominated adviser to the Company and Keith, Bayley, Rogers &
Co. Limited is broker. The admission document can be found at the Company's
website: www.bluewaterbio.com
Commenting, Daniel Ishag, CEO of the Group, said:
"Bluewater can provide customers with cost effective HYBACS-based treatment and
solutions which provide both the immediate treatment and capital cost benefits
and also the lifetime operational expenditure benefits of the HYBACS system."
Enquiries:
Daniel Ishag, CEO
Bluewater Bio International Tel: +44(0)20 7751 4401
James Harris
Angela Peace, Strand Partners Tel: +44(0)20 7409 3494
John Bick, Hansard Group Tel: +44(0)20 7245 1100
Not for release, publication or distribution in whole or in part in or into the
United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, the Republic of South Africa or any
other jurisdiction where it is unlawful to do so
Bluewater Bio International
("Bluewater" or "the Company")
Admission to AIM
Overview of the HYBACS system
Worldwide there are numerous approaches to wastewater treatment, and many
variations within those approaches. Biological wastewater treatment processes
take advantage of the natural propensity of bacteria to consume organic matter
in wastewater effluent under the right conditions.
HYBACS (and its precursor RABC) deploys a different biological approach to any
internationally established wastewater treatment process. Through its design and
operation, HYBACS biologically selects a particular group of bacteria, Bacillus,
with unusual natural properties which if correctly stimulated exhibit higher
biological reaction rates than other known naturally occurring bacteria. This
forms the foundation of the HYBACS system's ability to deliver a wastewater
treatment process with superior performance over competing technologies in a
number of key areas.
The original use of Bacillus in such plants was marketed as the B3 process. In
the 1990s, this process was materially further developed and improved in South
Korea by the addition of a rotating activated Bacillus contactor, or RABC. The
South Korean technical team responsible for the development of the B3 process
and RABC is now employed by the Group which has re-branded RABC as HYBACS for
international markets. The technical team was responsible for the design and
commissioning of the current 20 installations of the existing technology in
South Korea.
The South Korean plants address wastewater treatment requirements associated
with:
* human sewage wastewater, often referred to as municipal wastewater
such as is produced from domestic sewage;
* food processing wastewater, for example effluent from an abattoir; and
* leacheate wastewater, which is the fluid which accumulates in landfill
sites.
Although installations for other types of application have not yet been
commissioned, the Directors are confident that HYBACS is also able to treat
efficiently a much wider range of organic industrial wastewaters, including
highly concentrated livestock wastewater and the effluent from, among others,
breweries, food processors, textile manufacturers, hospitals, factories and
residential developments.
Key benefits of the HYBACS system include:
* HYBACS produces high quality treated wastewater, treating the biological
waste in municipal wastewater down to 10 mg/L BOD (Biological Oxygen
Demand), and up to 99 per cent. treatment of the biological waste in
concentrated wastewaters;
* HYBACS requires between five and 15 per cent. less capital expenditure
than most widely installed comparable technologies to achieve these
performance qualities on a like-for-like basis;
* HYBACS requires between 22 and 30 per cent. less ongoing operating
expenditure based on an overall lower energy consumption requirement on a
like-for-like basis. Lifetime plant energy cost savings of up to 50 per
cent. are, in the opinion of the Directors, potentially achievable;
* HYBACS is highly suited to plant retrofitting which makes HYBACS more
suitable for various types of plant upgrading as compared to many other
advanced modern wastewater treatment processes. This suitability for
upgrading is based on a combination of factors including the relatively
straightforward adaptation of existing tanks and the simpler operating
procedures which are a feature of the HYBACS system;
* In applications where odour levels emanating from the plant may be an
issue, the HYBACS process removes offensive odour without the requirement
for additional deodorisation facilities which involve additional capital and
operating expenditures; and
* HYBACS removes approximately twice the concentration of E. coli bacteria,
compared to conventional technology which may result in moderately reduced
operating expenditure at sites where disinfection of the effluent is
required.
Intellectual Property
One of the key technological advantages that the Group believes it has is its
employment of the technical team that was instrumental in developing RABC in
South Korea. The Directors believe that the know how of the technical team gives
the Group a significant lead in the ability to design and set up HYBACS based
plants. The main barrier to entry for competitors is a full understanding of how
the biology works in the HYBACS system and how the system is designed and
operated to enable it to work. Accordingly important fine points of the system's
operation will be concealed by the deployment of high degrees of automation run
by computer programs which control a plant's operation. Such high levels of
automation are a well established feature of water treatment plants in developed
countries for operating cost reasons but such automated controls will be
deployed by the Group in all territories with these factors in mind.
The Group intends to enhance the HYBACS technology further and, where possible
and appropriate, to seek patent protection for such enhancements.
Strategy
The Group intends to generate revenues from:
* direct sales of HYBACS based technology;
* sales made through agents or licensees, whether third parties or joint
ventures between a Group company and local partners; and
* in both cases, design fees and ongoing support and maintenance fees.
The initial sales strategy of the Group will be to sell HYBACS technology to
industrial consumers and polluters of water, rather than into the municipal
treatment sector. This strategy aims to present customers with cost effective
HYBACS-based treatment and to offer solutions which provide both the immediate
treatment and capital cost benefits and also the lifetime operational
expenditure benefits of the HYBACS system.
The Group intends to concentrate its sales activity in, but not limited to,
India and Pakistan, the UK, France and Italy in the short to medium term where
it has active sales leads. Although the biological approach deployed in the
HYBACS process is different to any widely available wastewater treatment
technology in use today, it is arranged in the activated sludge process, a
design well recognized in the industry. The Group will seek to differentiate
HYBACS on the basis of its performance characteristics, whilst at the same time
educating prospective customers as to its similarity to the established and well
known activated sludge process.
Placing Statistics
Placing Price 12.5p
Number of Placing Shares 22,200,000
Number of Acquisition Shares 148,400,000
Number of Ordinary Shares in issue on Admission 215,283,438
Percentage of Enlarged Issued Share Capital represented by the Placing Shares on
Admission 10.31 per cent.
Percentage of Enlarged Issued Share Capital held by the Directors on Admission 29.29 per cent.
Gross proceeds of the Placing �2,775,000
Estimated proceeds of Placing receivable by Company (net of expenses) �2,310,500
Market Capitalisation of the Company on Admission at the Placing Price �26,910,430
Strand Partners, which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the
Financial Services Authority, is acting as nominated adviser to the Company in
connection with the admission of its share capital to trading on AIM. Its
responsibilities as the Company's nominated adviser under the AIM Rules are owed
solely to the London Stock Exchange and are not owed to the Company or to any
Director or to any other person in respect of his decision to acquire Ordinary
Shares in reliance on any part of this document. KBR, which is authorised and
regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority and is a
member of the London Stock Exchange, is acting as broker to the Company in
connection with the Placing and admission of its share capital to trading on
AIM. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is made by either Strand
Partners or KBR as to the contents of this announcement, without limiting the
statutory rights of any person to whom this announcement is issued. Neither
Strand Partners nor KBR will be offering advice, nor will they otherwise be
responsible for providing customer protections to recipients of this
announcement other than their clients, or for advising them on the contents of
this announcement or any other matter. The information contained in this
document is not intended to inform or be relied upon by any subsequent
purchasers of Ordinary Shares (whether on or off exchange) and accordingly no
duty of care is accepted in relation to them.
Strand Partners Limited has approved the contents of this announcement solely
for the purpose of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
The principal place of business of Strand Partners Limited is 26 Mount Row,
London W1K 3SQ.
The Directors of Bluewater Bio International accept responsibility, individually
and collectively, for the information contained in this announcement and for
compliance with the AIM Rules. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the
Directors, who have taken all reasonable care to ensure that such is the case,
the information contained in this announcement is in accordance with the facts
and does not omit anything likely to affect the import of such information.
This announcement does not constitute, or form part of, an offer or an
invitation to purchase any securities.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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