Ascent Resources plc has signed a deal with Beryl International (Pty) Ltd to identify and potentially fund jointly “ESG [environment, social and governance] metals” opportunities in Latin America and Africa.
COLLABORATION
The strategic collaboration agreement will involve potential projects including Latam ESG metals already identified by Ascent and new African opportunities introduced by Beryl.
The deal also includes material equity investment by Beryl and the proposed appointment of a new Beryl nominated non-executive director.
Ascent said that a number of opportunities in Beryl’s inventory of natural resource investments in South Africa were “thematically consistent” with Ascent’s strategy to acquire energy and resource processing businesses.
“Ascent and Beryl will collaborate with a view to identifying and securing resource processing operations in Africa, which are typically expected to have relatively low geological risk and the opportunity of being near term cash generative with a route towards profitability within the first year of operations,” added the company.
TERMS
Beryl will subscribe for £1,000,000 in new equity via a direct subscription at 4 pence per new share, which is an 11% premium to the closing mid-market price of 3.6 pence on 22 February 2023.
The subscriber is Beryl’s new Mauritius-domiciled entity Beryl International Private Ltd, created by Beryl for the investment.
The subscription will be in two tranches of £300,000 on 21 March 2023 followed by £700,000 on or before 30 June 2023, in exchange for a total 25,000,000 new ordinary shares also issued in two tranches.
On completion of the second tranche, Beryl will be beneficially interested in 14% of the ordinary share capital of Ascent.
Following admission of the first tranche subscription shares, Ascent will have 159,918,015 ordinary shares in issue, with voting rights, none of which will be held in treasury.
USES
The company intends to use the proceeds to advance and finalise its existing business development activities and for a new transaction either in Latam or Africa.
PROPOSED APPOINTMENT
Beryl has nominated Beryl International’s current chief investment officer Mr Fungai Chitungo as a non-executive director of Ascent.
Mr Chitungo has corporate finance and transaction advisory experience in mining and other sectors as well as solid business development expertise in South Africa and wider African territories.