BORDEAUX, France, September 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
Europlasma, a world-known French manufacturer providing solutions for the production of renewable energy and the recovery of hazardous waste, today announced that its shares will resume trading on Alternext Paris (ISIN code: FR0000044810). The Group is ready to consolidate its business development and will soon launch a capital increase to bolster its financial capacity.
Having focused on its core business since end-2013, the Group has from January 2014 completed its restructuring, and under the leadership of the new Managing Director, Mr. Jean-Eric Petit, has implemented a transparent strategy based on commercial deployment of its proprietary technologies.
The CHO Morcenx renewable energy power plant has seen great technical progress, and last June the company announced its preliminary acceptance and the implementation of a technical programme, punctuated with testing milestones, aimed at ramping up the plant in preparation for the final acceptance date in early 2015. In this context, the performance tests completed in July with engines confirmed the increase of the electrical output (from 3 to 4MWe). This improvement needs to be validated by an endurance test this is the objective of the September campaign.
At the same time, technical changes to the operation of the asbestos treatment plant (Inertam) have led to significant improvements in its performance. Lastly, several orders were placed for plasma solution studies, reflecting both global interest in this technology and recognition of Europlasma's expertise.
Europlasma now masters particularly innovative patented technologies whose applications address current environmental challenges and whose markets are driven by favourable regulatory changes.
Europlasma is preparing a capital increase with preferential subscription rights (PSR) of around euros 22 million which it intends to launch in September. The aim of this capital increase, subject to a visa from the French Financial Authorities (AMF), is to:
i) improve the Group's current financial gearing by repaying and/or converting the bridge loans granted by its main financial partners since late 2012;
ii) fund the reinvestment into the CHO Morcenx plant required to improve its performance and to provide working capital during the ramp-up period;
ii) finalize the Group's recovery and enable it to capture the growth opportunities available within each of its business segments.
Within this context, everything is in place to resume the trading of Europlasma shares from Tuesday, 9 September 2014 at 9 a.m. under normal market conditions.
The final terms for the capital increase are currently being approved and should be disclosed shortly. Europlasma has decided to protect the interests of its shareholders by preserving their PSRs. Furthermore, Europlasma will issue upon closing of the capital increase redeemable share purchase warrants (BSAR warrants) allocated free of charge to all shareholders whose shares have been recorded at a date to be communicated upon launching the capital increase, whether or not they have subscribed for the capital increase. These BSAR warrants will be listed. They will enable bearers to participate fully in the future value creation of the Europlasma group.
The specific terms and timetable of the capital increase will be covered in a press release and set out in the prospectus.
About Europlasma
Europlasma is a French group specialised in clean technologies and the production of renewable energy. Founded in 1992 to apply its proprietary plasma torch technology to the destruction and recovery of hazardous waste, the Europlasma Group now comprises three divisions:
- Europlasma is a global player in the field of plasma torch systems and related applications;
- Inertam is the global expert in the disposal of asbestos waste and hazardous waste;
- CHO Power produces energy through the gasification of waste and biomass.
http://www.europlasma.com [Alternext - NYSE Euronext Paris - Ticker: ALEUP - ISIN: FR0000044810]
Contacts
EUROPLASMA
Anne Borderes - Shareholder & investor relations - +33(0)5-56-49-70-00 - contactbourse@europlasma.com
CAPVALUE
Samuel Beaupain - Press relations - +33(0)1-80-81-50-05 -sbeaupain@capvalue.fr
