TIDMTGR
RNS Number : 7094V
Tirupati Graphite PLC
16 April 2021
This announcement and the information contained in it is not for
release, publication, or distribution, in whole or in part,
directly or indirectly, in or into the United States of America,
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jurisdiction where to do so might constitute a violation or breach
of any applicable law or regulation.
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by
the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) no. 596/2014 as imported into the
laws of England and Wales by virtue of the European Union
(Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended) and certain other enacting
measures ('UK MAR'). With the publication of this announcement via
a Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside information
is now considered to be in the public domain.
16 April 2021
Tirupati Graphite plc ('Tirupati' or the 'Company')
Oversubscribed Placing to Raise GBP10 million to Fast Track
Development Plan
Optiva Securities Limited is Acting as Sole Broker to the
Placing
Tirupati Graphite plc, the fully integrated, revenue generative,
specialist graphite producer and graphene developer with operations
in Madagascar and India, is pleased to announce a placing with
institutional and other investors (the 'Placing') of 11,111,111
ordinary shares of GBP0.025 each in the Company (the 'Placing
Shares') at a price of GBP0.90 per Placing Share (the 'Placing
Price') to raise an aggregate gross amount of GBP10 million. The
Placing Price represents a discount of 8.6% to the closing price of
GBP0.985 on 15 April 2021 (being the latest practicable time prior
to the announcement of the Placing).
Certain directors of the Company are subscribing for shares
pursuant to the Placing. Christian Dennis is subscribing for
111,111 Placing Shares at the Placing Price and Lincoln Moore and
Rajesh Kedia are each subscribing for 11,111 Placing Shares at the
Placing Price.
The Placing is conditional only on admission of the Placing
Shares to the Standard Segment of the Official List of the
Financial Conduct Authority ('FCA') and to trading on the Main
Market of the London Stock Exchange, with such admission and
trading expected to become effective at 8.00 a.m. on 20 April 2021
('Admission').
The net proceeds of the Placing will primarily be used to
expedite the Company's modular medium-term development plan
('MTDP') to take advantage of the strong market demand for its
products and to:
Yen Accelerate development of the next 18,000 tpa module at the
Sahamamy primary flake graphite project in Madagascar ('Sahamamy')
which has all requisite approvals in place. Total capacity across
both Madagascan projects is anticipated to be 30,000 tpa by Q1
2022, a ten-fold increase since the Company's admission to the
Official List in December 2020.
Yen Redevelop hydro power facilities at Sahamamy to meet the
power requirements of current operations through renewable energy
and carry out a feasibility study for c.900-kilowatt of additional
hydro power facilities to meet most of the power requirements for
the anticipated 30,000 tpa capacity.
Yen Increase capacity of the Company's downstream specialty
graphite projects from 1,200 tpa to 16,200 tpa by H1 2022 with the
setup of an integrated, multi-product 15,000 tpa Speciality
Graphite Project with throughput and product capabilities
consisting of:
o 3,000 tpa expandable/intercalated graphite products;
o 3,000 tpa spherical graphite for Lithium batteries;
o 3,000 tpa micronized graphite for high-tech specialty
applications including lubrication, polymers, and composites;
and
o 6,000 tpa high purity flake graphite for graphene and other
high purity graphite applications.
Yen Enable fast-track installation of industrial scale graphene
manufacturing capabilities at the Graphene & Technology Centre
to capitalise on near-term commercialisation opportunities, and for
general working capital purposes.
Shishir Poddar, CEO of Tirupati Graphite, said, " We are
delighted to have received such strong support in completing this
oversubscribed placing, which further strengthens our confidence in
our strategy and enables us to fast track our development plans to
fulfil the increased demand for our graphite products.
"Having developed a suite of graphite products spanning a
variety of applications, utilising our unique sustainable processes
and technologies, we are ideally positioned to competitively
support the fast-emerging green graphite supply chain. The
potential green economy applications for our graphite products
provides us with the opportunity to play an important role in the
global efforts to reduce carbon emissions and the impacts of
climate change.
"With increasing global adoption of electric mobility we are
confident that the timing is opportune for us to expedite our
developments. T he World Bank Group has stated that the supply of
graphite will need to increase by nearly 500% by 2050 to support
the clean energy transition, while UBS increased its EV penetration
estimate from 4% currently to 20% of the market by 2025, and 50% by
2030. This translates to a 22x increase in battery requirements
over the decade which will see natural flake graphite demand
growing by 700% to roughly 5.9Mtpa, according to the Swiss
investment bank.
"We believe the commercialisation of graphene applications is on
the cusp of rapid growth as well, with the market size forecast to
breach the billion-dollar mark over the next two to three years.
Moreover, the promulgation of the first international ISO standards
for graphene is testimony to the forthcoming opportunities which we
believe should boost adoption by end users . The progress we have
made within our graphene division is particularly exciting and we
are poised to deliver ISO standard graphene on a commercial scale
to buyers in the aerospace, defence, battery storage, electronics
and other key sectors working on graphene-based applications.
Furthermore, there are several other diverse industries and
applications sectors such as flame retardants, thermal management
and composite materials which provide multiple growth streams for
the Company.
"This is an exciting period for Tirupati and, with this in mind,
I look forward to providing further updates on our progress and
growth as we look to maintain our positive momentum."
FURTHER INFORMATION
Background to the Placing
Since being admitted to listing on the Standard Segment of the
Official List of the FCA and to trading on the Main Market of the
London Stock Exchange in December 2020, the Company has made
significant progress across its three key business operations
including primary mining and processing in Madagascar, speciality
graphite processing in India, and the development of a
state-of-the-art graphene and mineral processing R&D centre,
also in India. Notably, the Company places a special emphasis on
'green' applications, including flame retardant and thermal
management, energy storage and composites, and is also committed to
making its operations sustainable.
At the time of its listing in December 2020, the Company had
established a modular medium-term development plan ('MTDP') looking
ahead to 2024 for the development of its three business units. As
demand for its products has risen across each of its three
divisions and as a result of the increased demand for flake
graphite on the back of EV and flame retardant applications, the
Company is expediting the development of its next modules as
follows.
Primary mining & processing in Madagascar
The Company operates two projects in Madagascar, Sahamamy and
Vatomina. At the time of the Company's listing, Sahamamy had
capacity to produce 3,000 tpa of high-quality flake graphite
concentrate with up to 96% purity, which is sold to customers
globally. The Company commenced development of a 6,000 tpa module
at Vatomina as planned and has since taken the decision to increase
the capacity to 9,000 tpa, a 50% increase with c.30% additional
CAPEX resulting in the Company aiming to deliver 12,000 tpa across
both projects in Madagascar by Q2 2021. The Company is now
accelerating development of the next 18,000 tpa module at Sahamamy,
for which all approvals are in place, with a view to delivering a
total capacity of 30,000 tpa across its two Madagascan projects by
Q1 2022; this would be a ten-fold increase since listing in
December 2020. Under the MTDP, the Company also aims to deliver
84,000 tpa across both projects by 2024 by installing three
additional modules each of 18,000 tpa capacity.
Notably, the Company remains commited to minimising the carbon
footprint of its projects. First, Tirupati is currently
redeveloping a hydro power facility at Sahamamy to meet most of the
power requirements of current operations. Second, the Company is
conducting final stage studies with a view to installing a 900
kilowatt hydro power station across the two Madagascan projects
which is expected to meet most of the power requirements for the
planned 30,000 tpa capacity. The Company also aims to conduct
studies in respect of solar and wind power potential and advance a
strategy to maximise its renewable power capacity for its
Madagascar projects.
Tirupati Speciality Graphite Private Limited ('TSG')
TSG is developing an array of speciality graphite products used
in hi-tech applications. Such applications are the key demand
growth drivers for flake graphite. Currently c.90% of speciality
graphite is manufactured in China. For the purification of primary
graphite to high purity graphite, a precursor to speciality
graphite products, Chinese manufacturers use a hydro fluoric acid
treatment process. TSG has developed a non-hydro fluoric acid,
green processing technology to manufacture high purity graphite for
use in high-tech applications which include lithium-ion batteries,
flame retardants, thermal management, graphene manufacture and
composites. The Company's current operations include the 1,200 tpa
Patalganga Project which was commissioned in July 2019 and is
engaged in the manufacture and sales of CARBOFLAMEX.., a
trademarked flame-retardant expandable graphite product, which was
projected to be expanded to 4,800 tonne capacity adding high purity
and micronized graphite products. Further development of speciality
graphite products had been planned in two modules of 12,000 tpa
each under the Company's MTDP.
With the rapidly evolving adaptation of electric mobility
following policy and financial support from various governments
globally, forecasts for the growth of spherical graphite
consumption for lithium-ion batteries ('LiB') have been positive.
UBS upped its EV adoption rate from 17% to 20% by 2025 and from 40%
to 50% in 2030 going from just over 3 million vehicles in 2020 to
46 million which drives a 22-fold increase in battery manufacture
and translating to natural flake graphite demand growth of 700% to
roughly 5.9Mtpa, according to the Swiss investment bank.
The Company has achieved European Union REACH accreditation for
its expandable graphite products, providing access to the large
European expandable graphite markets. The UK has rolled out a GBP5
billion fund for improved fire retardants in construction,
providing opportunity for growth within these advanced markets. The
Company has taken the decision to pause its expansion plan for the
Patalganga Project and instead prioritise building the first module
of the speciality graphite project with an increased throughput of
15,000 tpa from 12,000 tpa. The specialty graphite project is
planned to have throughput and product capabilities consisting
of:
o 3,000 tpa expandable/intercalated graphite products;
o 3,000 tpa spherical graphite for Lithium batteries;
o 3,000 tpa micronized graphite for high-tech specialty
applications including lubrication, polymers, and composites;
and
o 6,000 tpa high purity flake graphite for graphene and other
specialty applications.
Tirupati Graphene and Mintech Research Centre ('TGMRC')
TGMRC is a state-of-the-art technology research and development
centre being built by the Company focussed on the commercial scale
manufacturing of graphene, developing its applications, and further
providing environmentally friendly technologies consultancy for
mineral processing. It is composed of GRACE, a graphite &
graphene centre of excellence; and MINTECH, a mineral processing
& extractive metallurgy centre of excellence.
On the back of improved graphene manufacturing technology and
increased product development opportunities, the Company is
fast-tracking the installation of industrial scale graphene
manufacturing capabilities to capitalise on near-term
commercialisation opportunities, merging stages 1 and 2 of its MTDP
for completion by 2022. This is expected to enable the first
commercial scale graphene manufacturing to commence Q3 2021
starting with 2 kgs per day capacity and progressively building to
10 kgs per day.
The Placing
The Placing is being conducted by way of a firm placing of
Placing Shares with institutional and other investors which has
been completed by Optiva Securities conditional only upon
Admission.
The Placing is being conducted under existing authorities to
allot shares and as such there is no requirement for shareholder
approval of the Placing at a general meeting.
Directors Shareholdings
Following the subscription of certain Directors in the Placing,
their resultant shareholdings are as follows:
Subscription Prior to On Admission % of enlarged
Admission issued share
capital
Executive
Chairman
Shishir Kumar & Managing
Poddar Director - 1,789,250 1,789,250 2.08
--------------- ------------- ----------- ------------- --------------
Hemant Kumar Non-Executive
Poddar Director - 1,027,857 1,027,857 1.20
--------------- ------------- ----------- ------------- --------------
Christian Gabriel Non-Executive
St. John-Dennis Director 111,111 1,248,099 1,359,210 1.58
--------------- ------------- ----------- ------------- --------------
Non-Executive
Rajesh Kedia Director 11,111 419,116 430,227 0.50
--------------- ------------- ----------- ------------- --------------
Non-Executive
Lincoln Moore Director 11,111 22,222 33,333 0.04
--------------- ------------- ----------- ------------- --------------
Tirupati Carbons Concert
& Chemicals party
Private Limited m
(1) member - 29,565,778 29,565,778 34.40
--------------- ------------- ----------- ------------- --------------
1. Beneficially owned by Shishir Kumar Poddar and Hemant Kumar Poddar
Admission and Total Voting Rights
The Placing Shares will rank pari passu with the existing
ordinary shares of GBP0.025 each of the Company ('Ordinary
Shares'). Application is being made for the admission of the
Placing Shares to the Standard Segment of the Official List of the
FCA and to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange.
Admission is anticipated to occur on 20 April 2021.
Following Admission, the Company will have 85,954,434 Ordinary
Shares in issue, each with voting rights. Accordingly, 85,954,434
Ordinary Shares may be used by shareholders as the denominator for
the calculations which will determine whether they are required to
notify their interest in the company, or any change to that
interest, under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and
Transparency Rules.
**S **
For further information, please visit
https://www.tirupatigraphite.co.uk/ or contact:
Tirupati Graphite Plc
Puruvi Poddar +44 (0) 20 3984 9894
Optiva Securities Limited (Broker) +44 (0) 20 3137 1902
Daniel Ingram daniel.ingram@optivasecurities.com
------------------------------------
St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR)
Isabel de Salis / Cosima Akerman / Charlie
Hollinshead +44 (0) 20 236 1177
------------------------------------
Notes
Tirupati Graphite Plc is a revenue-generating, multi-asset,
multi-jurisdictional, fully integrated producer and developer of
high-grade natural flake graphite, speciality graphite and
graphene, which captures the entire value chain. With a unique set
of properties, graphite has diverse applications with multiple
growth streams and graphene forms the new generation of 2D
materials. In support of this, the Company places a special
emphasis on 'green' applications, including renewable energy
generation, energy storage and composites, and is committed to
ensuring its operations are sustainable as well.
The Company's operations include primary mining and processing
in Madagascar, where the Company operates two key projects,
Sahamamy and Vatomina; 3,000 tpa of high-quality flake graphite
concentrate with up to 96% purity is currently being produced and
sold to customers globally, and this is planned to increase to
84,000 tpa by 2024 as per the Company's modular medium-term
development plan.
In India, through Tirupati Speciality Graphite Private Limited
('TSG'), for which the Company has entered into a binding
acquisition agreement subject to regulatory approvals, Tirupati
processes and produces speciality graphite for use in hi-tech
applications like lithium-ion batteries, fire retardants and
composites. Its specialty graphite processing operations include
the 1,200 tpa Patalganga Project, which was commissioned in July
2019 to manufacture and sell CARBOFLAMEX.., a trademarked
expandable graphite product used in flame-retardant, thermal
management and other applications. The Patalganga Project is
currently under further development to become a centre of
excellence for expandable graphite applications development and
customer support.
TSG has developed unique green processing technologies for
manufacturing speciality graphite products which are advanced
materials used in an array of high-tech applications including
lithium-ion batteries. Owing to market conditions and growing
demand for speciality graphite products, the Company preferred to
progress its first integrated speciality graphite module scaling it
up from 12,000 tpa to 15,000 tpa capacity rather than expanding the
Patalganga operations, thus bringing additional capacity online
early on. Further, the project shall be expanded in capacity based
on market conditions which suggest the Company may have the
opportunity to set up higher range capacities in the next module.
The plant will produce expandable, high purity, micronised and
spherical graphite.
Tirupati is also in the process of establishing the Tirupati
Graphene and Mintech Research Centre, a state-of-the-art graphene
manufacturing, application development and mineral processing
technology development R&D centre. The company has developed
various technologies and zero chemical graphene manufacturing
capabilities and is engaged in commercialisation of graphene use in
composite materials, coatings, anodes for aluminium smelters etc.
It is simultaneously providing technology and consultancy for
mineral processing leveraging the extensive expertise it
possesses.
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