TIDMKDNC
RNS Number : 0513U
Cadence Minerals PLC
20 November 2019
Cadence Minerals Plc
("Cadence Minerals" or "Cadence")
European Metals (AIM: EMH) - Potential Strategic Partnership
with CEZ and Significant Investment into Cinovec Project.
Cadence Minerals (AIM/NEX: KDNC; OTC: KDNCY) is pleased to note
the update today from European Metals Holdings Limited ("European
Metals" "EMH" or "the Company") that it has today reached
conditional agreement with CEZ Group ("CEZ"), one of Central and
Eastern Europe's largest power utilities, regarding a potential
strategic partnership and significant investment into the Cinovec
Project ("Cinovec" or "the Project").
If concluded, the agreement will see, subject to the successful
completion of due diligence, shareholder, and other approvals, CEZ
become a 51% shareholder in Geomet s.r.o. ("Geomet"), the Company's
Czech subsidiary and holder of the rights over the Project, for
consideration of approximately EUR 34.06 million (approximately AUD
55.25 million) by subscribing for new shares in Geomet (the
"Proposed Subscription").
Cadence Minerals Holding in EMH
Cadence holds approximately 19.1 percent of the equity in
European Metals, which, through its wholly owned Subsidiary, Geomet
s.r.o. ("Geomet"), controls the mineral exploration licenses
awarded by the Czech State over Cinovec.
Background to the Proposed CEZ Subscription
In July this year, European Metals announced that CEZ was
conducting due diligence on the Company and the Cinovec Project,
and that the successful outcome of the due diligence process could
result in CEZ potentially becoming the Company's largest
shareholder and co-development partner for the Cinovec Project.
Since then, European Metals and CEZ have held detailed discussions
on the framework for CEZ's participation in the Cinovec Project and
today European Metals and CEZ entered into the Exclusivity and
Framework Agreement.
European Metals considers that CEZ Group is an ideal strategic
and financial partner for the Cinovec Project. In addition to CEZ's
financial strength, the Board believes that CEZ provides strong
strategic relationships within the Czech Republic, the European
Union and abroad. CEZ is a leader in power generation and
distribution in the region and has plans to become heavily involved
in the development of new energy systems. Through these battery
industry activities, CEZ is expected to assist greatly in the
securing of off take agreements for the Project
Headquartered in the Czech Republic, CEZ is an established,
integrated energy group with operations in a number of Central and
Southeastern European countries and Turkey. CEZ's core business is
the generation, distribution, trade in, and sales of electricity
and heat, trade in and sales of natural gas, and coal extraction.
CEZ Group has 33,000 employees and annual revenue of approximately
EUR 7.24 billion.
The largest shareholder of its parent company, CEZ a. s., is the
Czech Republic with a stake of approximately 70%. The shares of CEZ
a.s. are traded on the Prague and Warsaw stock exchanges and
included in the PX and WIG-CEE exchange indices. CEZ's market
capitalization is approximately EUR 10.08 billion.
As one of the leading Central European power companies, CEZ
intends to develop several projects in areas of energy storage and
battery manufacturing in the Czech Republic and in Central
Europe.
CEZ is also a market leader for E-mobility in the region and has
installed and operates a network of EV charging stations throughout
Czech Republic. The automotive industry in Czech is a significant
contributor to GDP and the number of EV's in the country is
expected to grow significantly in coming years.
AIM Rule 15
The Proposed Subscription would constitute a fundamental change
of business for European Metals under Rule 15 of the AIM Rules. The
Proposed Subscription is therefore conditional on, inter alia,
Shareholder approval which will be sought at a General Meeting of
the Company to be convened in due course. European Metals will,
however, remain an operating minerals company under the AIM Rules
given its remaining material interest and ongoing involvement in
the Cinovec Project after the Proposed Subscription has completed,
as described above.
The completion of the Proposed Subscription will not result in
any changes to the European Metals' board or management.
Further information
European Metals expects to publish shortly a circular to
shareholders setting out further details of the Proposed
Subscription, the Exclusivity and Framework Agreement and Geomet
Shareholders' Agreement, together with notice of the General
Meeting and a further announcement will be made in due course.
The full release, including the Exclusivity and Framework
Agreement can be found at:
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/EMH/14314905.html
European Metals Managing Director Keith Coughlan said; "We are
very pleased to have concluded another stage of negotiations with
CEZ regarding the future development of the Cinovec Project. CEZ is
one of the largest companies in the Czech Republic and one of the
leading companies in Central and Eastern Europe, having a strong
vision with regards to the construction of battery production
facilities, renewable energy and power storage.
If concluded, this agreement will result in Cinovec being fully
funded through to a construction decision and will assist greatly
in the integration of Cinovec into the European battery market. The
potential investment by CEZ further demonstrates EMH's commitment
to develop fully the Cinovec Project in conjunction with Czech
industry, for the benefit of the country's involvement in the
battery and EV industries. With their blend of technical foresight,
historic mining experience, strong balance sheet and involvement in
the rapidly growing European Battery Industry, CEZ is the ideal
partner for the Company."
Cadence Minerals CEO Kiran Morzaria commented: "The proposed
funding and development partnership between EMH and utility giant
CEZ further underscores the importance of Cinovec as a key future
battery grade lithium supplier to the European lithium market. As a
major shareholder in EMH, we fully support the board in this major
milestone step for the Company."
- Ends -
For further information:
Cadence Minerals plc +44 (0) 207 440 0647
Andrew Suckling
Kiran Morzaria
WH Ireland Limited (NOMAD & Broker) +44 (0) 207 220 1666
James Joyce
James Sinclair-Ford
Novum Securities Limited (Joint
Broker) +44 (0) 207 399 9400
Jon Belliss
Qualified Person
Kiran Morzaria B.Eng. (ACSM), MBA, has reviewed and approved the
information contained in this announcement. Kiran holds a Bachelor
of Engineering (Industrial Geology) from the Camborne School of
Mines and an MBA (Finance) from CASS Business School.
Forward-Looking Statements:
Certain statements in this announcement are or may be deemed to
be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are
identi ed by their use of terms and phrases such as "believe"
"could" "should" "envisage" "estimate" "intend" "may" "plan" "will"
or the negative of those variations or comparable expressions
including references to assumptions. These forward-looking
statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the
Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the
Cadence's future growth results of operations performance future
capital and other expenditures (including the amount. nature and
sources of funding thereof) competitive advantages business
prospects and opportunities. Such forward-looking statements re ect
the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on
information currently available to the Directors. Many factors
could cause actual results to differ materially from the results
discussed in the forward-looking statements including risks
associated with vulnerability to general economic and business
conditions competition environmental and other regulatory changes
actions by governmental authorities the availability of capital
markets reliance on key personnel uninsured and underinsured losses
and other factors many of which are beyond the control of the
Company. Although any forward-looking statements contained in this
announcement are based upon what the Directors believe to be
reasonable assumptions. The Company cannot assure investors that
actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking
statements.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
MSCLIFSALALIFIA
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