TIDMSND
RNS Number : 5670D
Sondrel (Holdings) plc
21 October 2022
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21 October 2022
Sondrel (Holdings) plc
("Sondrel", the "Company" and together with its subsidiaries the
"Group")
First Day of Dealings on AIM
Sondrel (Holdings) plc, the fabless semiconductor business
providing turnkey services in the design and delivery of
'application specific integrated circuits' ("ASICs") and 'system on
chips' ("SoCs") for leading global technology brands, is delighted
to announce the admission of its entire issued ordinary share
capital to trading on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock
Exchange plc ("Admission").
Admission will take place, and dealings in the Company's
ordinary shares of GBP0.001 each ("Ordinary Shares") will commence,
at 8.00 a.m. today under the ticker 'SND' .
In conjunction with Admission, gross proceeds of GBP20 million
have successfully been raised by way of a placing with
institutional investors of 36,363,636 new Ordinary Shares (the
"Placing ") at a price of 55 pence per Ordinary Share (the "Placing
Price").
Cenkos Securities plc ("Cenkos") is acting as Nominated Adviser,
sole broker and sole bookrunner to the Company.
Key Highlights:
-- The Placing received strong support from institutional
investors and raised gross proceeds of GBP20 million.
-- The market capitalisation of the Company will be
approximately GBP48.1 million on Admission. The Company has
87,461,772 Ordinary Shares in issue and a free float of
approximately 41.1 per cent.
-- Sondrel has grown over a period of 20 years and its previous
designs have been included in well-known products such as Apple
iPhone, Sony PlayStation, Meta's Oculus Quest virtual reality
headset, Samsung, Google and Sony smartphones, JVC prosumer
camcorders and Tesla and Mercedes-Benz cars.
-- The net proceeds of the Placing will enable the Company to:
o increase the number of engineers it employs;
o invest further in developing its Architecting the Future IP
platforms;
o accelerate sales in the USA and in other geographies; and
o strengthen the Group's balance sheet in, inter alia, the
delivery of project-based designs and customer supply management
contracts.
-- As at 31 July 2022, the Group's pipeline of revenue
opportunities stood at more than GBP300 million ([1]) (excluding
potentially material related production/supply revenues).
-- The Directors have ambitions to grow revenues to over GBP100 million in the medium term.
-- The Company's admission document is available for viewing at https://ir.sondrel.com/investors
-- The ISIN of the Ordinary Shares will be GB00BJN54579, the
SEDOL of the Ordinary Shares BJN5457 and the Company's LEI number
984500D6E7L2A9A54935.
Graham Curren, Chief Executive Officer of Sondrel, commented
:
"I am delighted with the strong institutional support we
received to enable us to successfully complete our IPO and welcome
our new investors. Sondrel is well positioned to benefit from a
number of industry and geopolitical megatrends and has a clear
strategy to grow revenues to over GBP100 million in the medium term
as demand for our highly complex ASIC chip solutions continues to
grow. The differentiated design capability we have developed,
designing down to 5nm, makes this a highly significant IPO for the
UK semiconductor industry. Our focus is now on increasing the
number of engineers we employ, investing further in developing our
Architecting the Future IP platforms, and accelerating growth in
the USA and other geographies.
"I look forward to providing updates on our progress in the
months ahead as we accelerate our growth and deliver value for our
shareholders."
Investor Presentation
Sondrel will be presenting via the Investor Meet Company
platform on Tuesday, 1 November 2022 at 15:00 UK Time. The meeting
will be hosted by Graham Curren (CEO) and Joe Lopez (CFO) who will
provide an introduction to Sondrel and there will be an opportunity
for Q&A at the end of the session. Questions can either be
submitted pre-event via the Investor Meet Company dashboard up
until 9.00 a.m. the day before the meeting or at any time during
the live presentation. To sign up for the Sondrel (Holdings) plc
presentation via Investor Meet Company please click the following
link:
https://www.investormeetcompany.com/sondrel-holdings-plc/register-investor
FOR FURTHER ENQUIRIES:
Sondrel (Holdings) plc Via Buchanan
Graham Curren, CEO Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466
5000
Joe Lopez, CFO
Cenkos Securities plc Tel: +44 (0)20 7397
8900
Ben Jeynes / Katy Birkin / George Lawson
- Corporate Finance
Alex Pollen / Michael Johnson - Sales
Buchanan Communications Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466
5000
Chris Lane sondrel@buchanan.uk.com
Stephanie Whitmore
Jack Devoy
Abby Gilchrist
To find out more, please visit:
https://ir.sondrel.com/investors
Overview of Sondrel
Sondrel is a UK founded and headquartered fabless semiconductor
business providing turnkey services in the design and delivery of
complex, high end ASICs and SoCs for leading global technology
brands. Sondrel's capabilities are provided to customers seeking
competitive advantage by including customised ASIC/SoC devices
enabling differentiation of their end products when addressing fast
growth technology megatrends.
Delivering designs down to 5 nanometre process nodes and now
working on 3 nanometres
-- This level of engineering capability is limited to Sondrel
and a small number of Asian competitors and positions Sondrel to
benefit from megatrends driving the increasing use of ASICs
globally and the production of products utilising increasingly
complex design geometries.
-- Positioned to benefit from the geopolitical and business
drive to shorten geographically stretched and complex supply
chains.
Geographic reach in fast-growth end markets
-- Sondrel provides leading edge ASIC/SoC designs to a global
customer base in advanced end markets with significant structural
growth drivers including high performance computing, automotive,
artificial intelligence, VR/AR, video analytics, image processing,
mobile networking and data centres.
Deeply rooted within the semiconductor industry
-- Established relationships with semiconductor IP and
electronic design automation ("EDA") providers, materials and
equipment companies and fabrication partners. Sondrel has a
long-standing partnership with and capability approval from Arm; is
one of only 22 global partners in TSMC's Design Centre Alliance;
and has comparable relationships with Samsung, and Global
Foundries.
-- Sondrel is able to provide customers with the ability to
de-risk the design of ASICs/SoCs through the use of Sondrel's
'Architecting the Future' IP platforms.
Full-service product for customers seeking a reliable route to
market
-- Sondrel's customers are able to differentiate their end
products with Sondrel's market leading design capabilities at the
forefront of technology whilst also leveraging Sondrel's expertise
and relationships throughout the semiconductor industry. In doing
so, Sondrel's customers are able to remove the requirements for
multiple counterparties in the ASIC/SoC supply chain and for supply
chain management.
-- With OEMs and OEM suppliers increasingly focused on
semiconductor supply chain resilience and efficiency, customers are
able to contract Sondrel as a single counterparty in the design,
supply chain management and production of ASIC/SoC devices.
Strong track record
-- Sondrel has grown over a period of more than 20 years and
delivers complex ASIC/SoC designs for a wide range of leading
multi-national corporate customers.
-- Sondrel has delivered revenue growth from inception to 31
December 2021 at a CAGR of 20 per cent. As at 31 July 2022, the
Group's pipeline of revenue opportunities stood at more than GBP300
million [1] (excluding potentially material related production and
supply revenues).
Clear growth strategy
-- The Directors have ambitions to grow revenues to over GBP100 million in the medium term.
-- Sondrel's organic growth strategy is focused on increasing
its engineering headcount and investing in IP to further enhance
its competitive position, accelerating its growth in key
geographies including the USA and Asia.
Highly skilled and experienced team
-- Sondrel has a team of 137 engineers that are located across 5
design centres globally; the UK, USA, China, India and Morocco.
This enables Sondrel to be one of only a handful of companies
worldwide with the scale, capability and strength of industry
relationships to deliver projects in leading technologies.
-- Sondrel has a proven and experienced founder-led management team.
CURRENT TRADING AND PROSPECTS
Since the year ended 31 December 2021, the Group has traded
strongly in receiving new customer orders with an aggregate value
of GBP19.4 million in the six months ended 30 June 2022 and in
securing and commencing work on a material turnkey design and
supply engagement in Q2 2022 for a multi-billion dollar European
customer. Unaudited Group revenues generated in the six month
period ended 30 June 2022 of GBP8.0 million were significantly
ahead of the prior period, with full year revenues generated in the
full year ended 31 December 2021 of GBP8.2 million.
Given the positive momentum following the Group's transition in
business model and the Directors' positive assessment of the
strength of the Group's growth strategy, the Directors have
confidence in the Group's prospects for the current and upcoming
financial years.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Executive Directors
Graham Curren - Chief Executive Officer
Graham founded Sondrel in 2002 after identifying a gap in the
market for an international company specialising in complex digital
IC design.
Prior to establishing Sondrel, Graham graduated in Electronic
Engineering from Leeds University and worked in both ASIC design
and manufacturing before joining electronic design automation
("EDA") company, Avant Corporation. There, he managed the technical
and marketing teams across EMEA, supporting products across the
whole range of IC design.
In 2010, Graham accompanied the UK prime minister at the time,
David Cameron, in his business delegation to China. He also acted
as a non-executive director for the China-Britain Business Council
between 2011 and 2017.
Jose ("Joe") Lopez - Chief Financial Officer
Joe joined Sondrel in April 2019. His career began as a Business
Services Manager for Grant Thornton LLP between 1993 and 1999 where
he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.
After leaving Grant Thornton, Joe worked in a variety of
directorship roles and has over 12 years' experience as a Chief
Financial Officer, ranging from start-ups to corporate multi
nationals. Prior to joining Sondrel, Joe was Finance Director of
ShopperTrak Limited, a provider of data analytics aimed at helping
retailers improve their in-store customer experience, between 2012
and 2017, before joining Airways Aviation Academy Limited as Chief
Financial Officer for two years.
Non-Executive Directors
Nigel Vaughan - Independent Non-Executive Chairman
Nigel joined the board of Sondrel in 2011. He has 30 years of
international Board level experience acting for businesses in both
an executive and non-executive capacity. He has held Board level
positions in businesses of varying sizes, including UK public
limited companies and US multinationals, and he also built an
early-stage business, Sifam Limited, that was sold for US$100
million after 7 years.
He most recently acted as non-executive director of Quantex-Arc
Limited between 2018 and 2021. In addition to founding and owning a
management consulting business, Vaughan Management Solutions
Limited, Nigel currently also acts as Chairman to the Global
Advisory Board of the Walsn Group.
Gordon Orr - Independent Non-Executive Director
Gordon currently acts as a Senior Advisor to management
consultancy firm, McKinsey & Company, having previously acted
as Chairman of its Asia division. Gordon also sits on the boards of
Chinese multinational technology company, Lenovo Group Limited, and
conglomerate, Swire Pacific Limited. In addition, he works with the
CEOs of a number of China's globalising companies, is an advisor to
Oxford University and Harvard Business School in Asia and is a
Board Member of the China Britain Business Council.
Gordon spent the majority of his career at McKinsey &
Company having joined in 1986. He opened McKinsey's Beijing office
in the early 1990s and led its Greater China practice for many
years and McKinsey Asia between 2009 and 2014. Gordon was on
McKinsey's global board of directors between 2003 and 2015 with
responsibilities for Asia, Governance and Risk, before retiring
from the firm.
Sherry Madera - Independent Non-Executive Director
Sherry is currently Mastercard's Senior Vice President of Global
Public Policy and Government Affairs. A Canadian and British
national, Sherry joined Mastercard from the London Stock Exchange
Group where she held the position of Chief Industry &
Government Affairs Officer. She has also worked for the City of
London Corporation where she was Economic Ambassador and Special
Advisor to Asia, and also acted as a Minister-Counsellor at the
British Embassy in Beijing, responsible for promoting trade and
investment between the UK and China.
Recognised as an expert on green and sustainable finance as well
as on data policy, Sherry continues to hold the role of Chair of
the Future of Sustainable Data Alliance, a global alliance
dedicated to working with the financial industry to use data to
build a sustainable future.
Adrian Carey - Independent Non-Executive Director
Adrian has more than 35 years of board experience across listed,
AIM, private equity, venture backed and private businesses,
primarily in the technology, legal and educational service sectors.
Adrian acted as CEO for three companies over a 17 year period,
prior to which he was a finance director, venture capitalist and
Chartered Accountant. He most recently acted as Executive Chairman
for AIM quoted Melorio plc before being appointed as a
non-executive director until it was bought by Pearson plc in June
2010.
Adrian has had significant additional non-executive experience,
including acting as a non-executive director for Impellam Group
and, more recently, Oxford Metrics plc, both quoted on AIM. He
currently acts as a non-executive director for Blacktrace Holdings
Limited.
[1] Based on Sondrel's internal sales forecasting system
reports
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