IXONOS PLC’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS HAS DECIDED ON A RIGHTS

Helsinki, Finland, 2015-12-02 16:10 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ixonos Plc          Stock Exchange Release          02 December 2015 at 17:15  

Not to be published or distributed in or into the United States, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa or Japan.

IXONOS PLC’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS HAS DECIDED ON A RIGHTS ISSUE IN A MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF APPROXIMATELY EUR 8.2 MILLION

The Board of Directors of Ixonos Plc ("Ixonos" or the "Company") has decided on a rights issue in a maximum amount of approximately EUR 8.2 million (the "Rights Issue"), the main contents of the terms of which are:

•          The subscription price is EUR 0.06 per share

•                    Twenty (20) existing shares held at the record date of 4 December 2015 entitle the holder to subscribe for thirteen (13) new shares, subscription ratio (20:13)

•                    The ex-rights date is 3 December 2015 and the record date for the rights issue is 4 December 2015

•                    Subscription rights will be traded in NASDAQ Helsinki Ltd between 9 December and 16 December 2015

•          The subscription period will be between 9 December and 23 December 2015.

Pursuant to the authorisation granted by the Extraordinary General Meeting of Ixonos held on 2 December 2015, the Board of Directors of Ixonos has decided on a Rights Issue in a maximum amount of approximately EUR 8.2 million, in which up to 136,582,157 new shares (the "Shares") will be issued in accordance with the pre-emptive rights of the shareholders. The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Rights Issue to strengthen its equity and balance sheet. The Company plans to use the proceeds of the Rights Issue to repay existing debt and to improve its working capital.

Shareholders who are registered in the Company's shareholder list, maintained by Euroclear Finland, on the record date of the Rights Issue, on 4 December 2015, will automatically get one freely tradable subscription right per owned share. Twenty (20) Subscription Rights entitle their holder to subscribe for thirteen (13) Shares. The subscription price is EUR 0.06 per each Share, which contains an approximately 22 per cent reduction in comparison to the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd (“Helsinki Stock Exchange”) closing price of the trading day preceding the rights offering decision.

In order to ensure the equal treatment of option rights holders and shareholders, the Company’s Board of Directors revised, due to the Rights Offering, on 2 December 2015 the subscription ratio and subscription price of the 2011 Option rights and 2014 Option rights in accordance with the aforementioned terms and conditions concerning the option rights as follows:

• For option rights 2011 IV/A, the revised subscription ratio is 8.287 and the subscription price is EUR 0.2 per share. For option rights 2011 IV/C, the revised subscription ratio is 8.287 and the subscription price is EUR 0.1497 per share.

• As regards option rights 2014A, the revised subscription ratio is 1.65 and the subscription price is EUR 0.0903, and as regards option rights 2014B, the revised subscription ratio is 1.65 and the subscription price is EUR 0.06.

The Company’s largest shareholder Tremoko Oy Ab (“Tremoko”) (representing approx. 79.06 per cent of the Company’s shares and votes) has, in relation to the Rights Offering, given a subscription commitment (“Subscription Commitment”) to subscribe in full the new Shares that its holdings entitle it to subscribe for. In addition to the subscription commitment, Tremoko has given a commitment (“Underwriting Commitment”) to subscribe for Shares that are otherwise not subscribed for in the Rights Issue. In addition to the already paid 2.0 million advance payment, Tremoko is also entitled to pay the subscription prices of the share subscriptions made on the basis of the Subscription Commitment and the Underwriting Commitment by setting off, in full or in part, the receivables it has from the Company for the maximum amount of EUR 4.5 million. The realisation of the Subscription and Underwriting Commitment requires the fulfilment of certain other customary terms.

The Company has submitted a prospectus related to the Share Issue to the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority for approval. Provided that the prospectus is approved approximately on 3 December 2015, the prospectus will be available in Finnish as an electronic version as of 3 December 2015 at the latest on the Company’s website at the address http://www.ixonos.com/fi/investor/shares/share-issues. Upon request, a free hard copy of the prospectus can be provided at the Company’s premises at the address Ixonos Plc, Hitsaajankatu 24, Helsinki, or at the place of subscription at the address UB Securities Ltd, Aleksanterinkatu 21 A, 00100 Helsinki. The approval of the prospectus will be separately reported.

The preliminary result of the Rights Offering will be published approximately on 28 December 2015, and the final result is expected on 29 December 2015. The terms and conditions for the Share Issue are appended to this stock exchange release. UB Securities Ltd is the manager of the Rights Offering.

IXONOS PLC

Board of Directors

Further information:

Ixonos Plc

CEO Sami Paihonen, tel. 050 502 1111, sami.paihonen@ixonos.com

CFO Kristiina Simola, tel. 040 756 3132, kristiina.simola@ixonos.com

Distribution:

NASDAQ OMX Helsinki

Main media

DISCLAIMER

The information contained herein is not for publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa or Japan. These written materials do not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States, nor may the securities be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration as provided in the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder. The Company does not intend to register any portion of the offering in the United States or to conduct a public offering of securities in the United States.

The issue, exercise and/or sale of securities in the offering are subject to specific legal or regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions. The Company assumes no responsibility in the event there is a violation by any person of such restrictions.

The information contained herein shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities referred to herein in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. Investors must neither accept any offer for, nor acquire, any securities to which this document refers, unless they do so on the basis of the information contained in the applicable prospectus published or offering circular distributed by the Company.

The Company has not authorized any offer to the public of securities in any Member State of the European Economic Area other than Finland. With respect to each Member State of the European Economic Area other than Finland and which has implemented the Prospectus Directive (each, a “Relevant Member State”), no action has been undertaken or will be undertaken to make an offer to the public of securities requiring publication of a prospectus in any Relevant Member State. As a result, the securities may only be offered in Relevant Member States (a) to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in the Prospectus Directive; or (b) in any other circumstances falling within Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive. For the purposes of this paragraph, the expression an “offer of securities to the public” means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the securities to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to exercise, purchase or subscribe the securities, as the same may be varied in that Member State by any measure implementing the Prospectus Directive in that Member State and the expression “Prospectus Directive” means Directive 2003/71/EC (and amendments thereto, including the 2010 PD Amending Directive, to the extent implemented in the Relevant Member State), and includes any relevant implementing measure in the Relevant Member State and the expression “2010 PD Amending Directive” means Directive 2010/73/EU.

This communication is directed only at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the “Order”) and (iii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as “relevant persons”). Any investment activity to which this communication relates will only be available to and will only be engaged with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE RIGHTS OFFERING  

The Extra Shareholders' Meeting of Ixonos Plc (the “Company”) held on 2 December 2015 authorized the Company’s Board of Directors to decide on the issuance of shares against payment and option rights or other special rights entitling to shares referred to in Chapter 10 Section 1 of the Finnish Companies Act in any and all combinations thereof at one or several instances. The maximum number of new shares to be issued and own shares held by the Company to be conveyed may not in total exceed 210,000,000 shares, which corresponds to approximately 100 per cent of all the shares in the Company at the date hereof. The authorization will be valid until the end of the 2016 Annual General Meeting.

On 2 December 2015, the Board of Directors of the Company resolved, based on the above authorization of the Extra Shareholders' Meeting, to issue a maximum of 136 582 157 new shares (the “Shares”) through a share issue based on the pre-emptive subscription right of shareholders as set forth in these terms and conditions (the “Rights Offering”). The Shares to be issued in the Rights Offering represent approximately 65.0 per cent of the total shares and voting rights in the Company before the Rights Offering and approximately 39.4 per cent of the total shares and voting rights in the Company after the Rights Offering provided that the Rights Offering is subscribed in full.

UB Securities Ltd (the “Manager”) acts as the Manager and the place of subscription of the Share Issue. Nordea Bank Finland Plc acts as the issuer’s representative in the Rights Offering.

Subscription right

Primary Subscription Right

The Shares will be offered for subscription by the shareholders of the Company in proportion to their shareholding in the Company. A shareholder who is registered in the Company’s shareholders’ register maintained by Euroclear Finland Ltd on the record date of 4 December 2015 of the Rights Offering (“Record Date”) will automatically receive one (1) freely transferable subscription right (the “Subscription Right”) as a book-entry (ISIN FI4000188636) for every one (1) share owned on the Record Date (“Primary Subscription Right”). A shareholder, or a person or an entity to whom the Subscription Rights have been transferred, is entitled to subscribe for thirteen (13) Shares per twenty (20) Subscription Rights. No fractions of Shares will be allotted.

Secondary Subscription

In addition, a shareholder (or other investor) which has subscribed for Shares on the basis of the Primary Subscription Right has the right to subscribe for Shares which have not been subscribed for on the basis of the Primary Subscription Right (“Secondary Subscription”).

Subscription and underwriting commitment

The Company’s largest shareholder Tremoko Oy Ab (“Tremoko”) (representing approx. 79.06 per cent of the Company’s shares and votes) has, in relation to the Rights Offering, given a subscription commitment (“Subscription Commitment”) to subscribe in full the new Shares that its holdings entitle it to subscribe for.

In addition to the subscription commitment, Tremoko has given a commitment (“Underwriting Commitment”) to subscribe for Shares that are otherwise not subscribed for in the Rights Issue.

In addition to the already paid 2.0 million advance payment, Tremoko is also entitled to pay the subscription prices of the share subscriptions made on the basis of the Subscription Commitment and the Underwriting Commitment by setting off, in full or in part, the receivables it has from the Company for the maximum amount of EUR 4.5 million. The realisation of the Subscription and Underwriting Commitment requires the fulfilment of certain other customary terms.

Subscription Price The Shares may be subscribed for in the Rights Offering at the subscription price of EUR 0.06 per Share (the “Subscription Price”). The Subscription Price will be recorded in its entirety under the invested unrestricted equity fund. The Share Subscription Price has been set such that it includes a discount of approximately 22 per cent compared to the closing price of the Company’s share on the Nasdaq OMX Helsinki Ltd (“Helsinki Stock Exchange”) trading day preceding the decision on the Rights Offering. Subscription Period The subscription period will commence on 9 December 2015 at 9:30 a.m. (Finnish time) and expire on 23 December 2015 at 4:30 p.m. (Finnish time) (the “Subscription Period”). Account operators and custodians may impose a deadline for subscription that is earlier than the expiry of the Subscription Period.

Subscription for Shares under Primary Subscription Right and payments

The holder of subscription rights may participate in the Rights Offering by subscribing for shares using the subscription rights on its book-entry account and by paying the Subscription Price. Twenty (20) Subscription Rights entitle their holder to subscribe for thirteen (13) Shares. Fractional Shares cannot be subscribed. In order to participate in the Rights Offering, a holder of Subscription Rights must submit a subscription assignment in accordance with the instructions given by the Manager or the relevant account operator.

Subscription orders can be submitted in the following subscription places:

• at the office of UB Securities Ltd at the address 21 A, 00100 Helsinki during its business hours 9:00 a.m. –  5:00 p.m.; and
• with account operators who have an agreement with the Manager regarding receipt of subscriptions.

The Subscription Price of the Shares subscribed for in the Rights Offering shall be paid in full at the time of submitting the subscription assignment in accordance with the instructions given by the Manager or the relevant account operator. Shareholders and other investors participating in the Rights Offering whose shares or Subscription Rights are held through a nominee must submit their subscription assignments in accordance with the instructions given by their custodial nominee account holder.

Subscriptions made on the basis of Primary Subscription Rights are binding, and they can only be changed or cancelled in accordance with the section “Cancellation of Subscriptions under Certain Circumstances” of these terms and conditions.

Any Subscription Rights remaining unexercised at the end of the Subscription Period on 23 December 2015 will expire without any compensation.

Subscription for Shares in the Secondary Subscription and payments

A shareholder (or other investor) which has subscribed for Shares on the basis of the Primary Subscription Right has the right to subscribe for Shares which have not been subscribed for on the basis of the Primary Subscription Right (“Secondary Subscription”).

The subscription for shares on the basis of Secondary Subscription takes place by submitting a subscription order and simultaneously paying the subscription price in accordance with the instructions given by the place of subscription or the relevant asset manager or account operator or, in the case of an investor whose holdings are nominee-registered, by the manager of the nominee registration.

Insufficient or flawed subscription assignments can be dismissed. A subscription assignment can be dismissed if the subscription payment is not paid in accordance with these terms and conditions or the payment is not made in full. In such a case, paid subscription payments are returned to the subscriber.

Subscriptions made in the Secondary Subscription are binding, and they can only be changed or cancelled in accordance with the section “Cancellation of Subscriptions under Certain Circumstances” of these terms and conditions. Approximately on 22 December 2015, the account operators will confirm to the subscribers the approval or rejection of the subscription for Shares made in the Secondary Subscription.

Cancellation of Subscriptions under Certain Circumstances The Company will, without delay, publish a correction or an amendment to the prospectus relating to the Offering (the "Prospectus") if a mistake or inaccuracy is discovered in the Prospectus or if a significant new factor occurs after the approval of the Prospectus but before trading in the Shares commences in the Helsinki Stock Exchange and if the information is capable of having significant effect for an investor. An investor who has committed him/herself to subscribe for the Shares before the publication of the correction or amendment has the right to cancel his or her decision within a specified period which shall not be less than two banking days from the date of publication of the correction or amendment. A condition precedent for the cancellation right to emerge shall also be that the mistake, in accuracy or significant new factor has been discovered before the interim shares representing the Shares have been admitted to trading on the Helsinki Stock Exchange or, in case of Secondary Subscription, before the Shares have been admitted to trading on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. The withdrawal of a subscription applies to the subscription to be withdrawn as a whole. The right to withdraw and the procedure for such withdrawal right will be announced together with any such possible supplement to the Prospectus through a stock exchange release. If the holder of a Subscription Right has sold or otherwise transferred the Subscription Right, such sale or transfer cannot be cancelled.

Trading in Subscription Rights

Subscription Rights can be transferred freely and traded in the Helsinki Stock Exchange as of 9:30 a.m. on 9 December 2015. Trading in the Subscription Rights ends on 16 December 2015 at 6:30 p.m. The price of the Subscription Rights is determined by the prevailing market situation. Subscription Rights can be acquired or transferred by submitting a purchase or sale assignment to one’s own custodian, account operator or other securities intermediary. The success of the sale of Subscription Rights is not guaranteed.

The Subscription Rights’ ISIN code is FI4000188636 and the trading code is XNS1VU0115.

Approval of subscriptions and publication of the result of the Rights Offering

The Board of Directors of the Company will accept all subscriptions made on the basis of the Primary Subscription Right and in accordance with these terms and conditions as well as in accordance with the laws and provisions governing share subscription. The Board of Directors of the Company may reject a subscription in whole or in part if the subscription has not been made and paid in accordance with these terms and conditions, the detailed instructions given by the Manager or the relevant account operator, and the applicable laws and regulations.

If all of the Shares issued in the Rights Offering have not been subscribed for on the basis of Primary Subscription Right, the Company’s Board of Directors makes a decision on allocating the unsubscribed Shares amongst those who have made a Secondary Subscription. In the event that oversubscription occurs on the basis of Secondary Subscription, the allocation amongst the subscribers is determined in proportion to the number of Subscription Rights exercised by the subscribers on the basis of Primary Subscription Rights per each book-entry account and, if this is not possible, by drawing lots. If several subscription assignments are submitted in relation to a particular book-entry account, these assignments are combined into a single subscription assignment concerning the book-entry account. If the subscriber does not get all the Shares it has subscribed for on the basis of Secondary Subscription, the Subscription Price of the unreceived Shares is returned to the subscriber by 4 January 2016 at the latest. No interest will accrue on the returned funds.

If all Shares have not been subscribed for after the Secondary Subscription, the Company’s Board of Directors offers the unsubscribed Shares to the party that has given underwriting commitments as referred to in the terms and conditions of the Rights Offering up to the maximum amount and in accordance with other terms so that, in deviation from section “Subscription Period”, the said party’s subscription period ends on 28 December 2015 at 1:00 p.m.

The Board of Directors of the Company is estimated to decide on the approval of the subscriptions on 28 December 2015. The Company will publish the final outcome of the Rights Offering approximately on 29 December 2015.

Entry of new Shares in book-entry accounts and trading in Shares

The Shares subscribed in the Rights Offering will be issued as book-entry units in the book-entry securities system kept by Euroclear. After the registration of the subscription, Shares subscribed for in the Rights Offering on the basis of the Subscription Rights will be entered into the subscriber's book-entry account as temporary shares (ISIN code FI4000188644) which correspond to the new Shares. Trading in the temporary shares will commence approximately on the first trading day following the end of the Subscription Period, 28 December 2015. Temporary shares can be freely transferred.

The Shares issued in the Rights Offering will be entered into the Trade Register approximately on 30 December 2015, after which the temporary shares will be merged into the Company current share type (ISIN code FI0009008007) approximately on 30 December 2015. The shares will be admitted to trading on the Helsinki Stock Exchange as part of the Company’s current share type approximately on 4 January 2016.The Shares can be freely transferred.

Shareholder Rights The Shares will entitle their holders to full dividend and other distribution of funds declared by the Company, if any, and to other shareholder rights in the Company after the new Shares have been registered with the Trade Register and in the Company’s shareholder register, on or about 30 December 2015.

Payments and expenses

No transfer tax or separate expenses or fees will be collected for the subscription of the Shares. Custodians, account operators or other securities intermediaries which carry out assignments related to the Subscription Rights may charge a commission fee for these measures in accordance with their own price lists. Custodians and account operators also charge fees for the book-entry account’s maintenance, entries and keeping the shares in accordance with their own price lists.

Foreign shareholders

The Company has not taken any measures related to offer Shares outside of Finland, and Shares are not offered to persons whose participation in the Rights Offering would require a separate Prospectus or measures other than those required under Finnish law. The provisions in some countries may limit participation in the Rights Offering.

Optio n rights holders

2011 plan

On 30 November 2011, Ixonos’ Board of Directors decided on issuing option rights by virtue of the authorisation given by the Annual General Meeting 29 March 2011. The options were marked IV/A, IV/B and IV/C. Option rights IV/A and IV/C have been distributed to Ixonos group’s employees in order to engage and motivate them. Option rights IV/B have not been distributed. The option plan does not concern members of Ixonos’ Board of Directors or persons in the group's senior management (Ixonos Management Invest Oy’s shareholders).

Altogether 600 000 option rights have been issued. Ixonos’ Board of Directors has, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the stock options, been able to decide on the allocation of the stock options between different series and, if necessary, on the conversion of stock options that has not been allocated into another series of stock options.

According to the terms and conditions of the stock options resolved upon by the Board of Directors of the Company on 30 November 2011 (“2011 Stock Options”) by virtue of an authorization granted by the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 29 March 2011, a 2011 Stock Option holder shall have the same right as, or an equal right to, that of a shareholder should the Company, before the share subscription based on the 2011 Stock Options, decide on an issue of shares or an issue of new stock options or other special rights entitling to shares. Equality is reached in the manner determined by the Board of Directors by adjusting the number of shares available for subscription, the share subscription prices or both of these.

In order to ensure the equal treatment of shareholders and the 2011 Stock Options holders the Board of Directors of the Company has on 2 December 2015, due to the Rights Offering, adjusted the subscription ratio and the subscription price of the 2011 Stock Options in accordance with the terms and conditions of the 2011 Stock Options. As regards stock options IV/A, the amended subscription ratio is 8.287 and the amended subscription price is EUR 0.2 per share. As regards stock options IV/C, the subscription ratio was amended to 8.287 and the subscription price was amended to EUR 0.1497 per share. In connection with such adjustment, options IV/B forming part of the 2011 Stock Options were declared as having expired.

The total amount of shares is rounded down to full shares in connection with subscription of the shares and the total subscription price is calculated using the rounded amount of shares and rounded to the closest cent. Due to the above adjustment, the adjusted maximum total number of shares to be subscribed for based on the 2011 Stock Options will be 4 971 966.

For stock options IV/A, the subscription period commenced on 1 October 2014 and for stock options IV/C on 1 October 2016. For both stock options, the subscription period of the shares ends on 31 December 2018.

The foregoing amendments to the terms and conditions of the 2011 Stock Options due to the Rights Offering will be in force as of the registration of the adjusted maximum total number of shares to be subscribed for based on the 2011 stock options with the Trade Register on or about 11 December 2013, provided that the Rights Offering will be completed in full as planned. Thus, the 2011 Stock Options do not entitle holders to participate in the Rights Offering.

2014 plan

On 18 February 2014, Ixonos’ Board of Directors decided on issuing option rights by virtue of the authorisation given by the Extraordinary General Meeting 30 October 2013.

The option rights will be distributed to the Ixonos group’s management group and other selected key employees in order to engage and motivate them.

The stock options will be marked as series 2014A, 2014B and 2014C.  The aggregate number of issued stock options is 5,000,000, and they have been partly distributed. The Board of Directors will, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the stock options, decide on the allocation of the issued stock options between different series and, if necessary, on the conversion of stock options that has not been allocated into another series of stock options. Each option entitles its holder to subscribe for one new share in Ixonos. On 18 February 2014, the shares that can be subscribed for with the options comprised approximately 5.96 per cent of all Ixonos shares and votes on a fully diluted basis.

In order to ensure the equal treatment of option rights holders and shareholders, the Company’s Board of Directors revised on 2 December 2015 the subscription ratio and subscription price of the 2014 Option rights in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Rights Offering due to the Rights Offering. As regards option rights 2014A, the revised subscription ratio is 1.65 and the subscription price is EUR 0.0903, and as regards option rights 2014B, the revised subscription ratio is 1.65 and the subscription price is EUR 0.06.

In connection with the subscription of the shares, the maximum amount of shares will be rounded down to full shares and the total subscription price is calculated using the rounded number of shares and rounding to the nearest cent. Due to the revision referred to above, the revised maximum amount of shares subscribed for with the 2014 Option rights is 8 250 000.

The share subscription period with 2014A stock options starts on 1 March 2016, with 2014B stock options on 1 March 2017 and with 2014C stock options on 1 March 2018. The share subscription period ends with all stock options on 31 December 2018. The share subscription price for each series is the volume weighted average price of the Company's share on the Helsinki Stock Exchange during the period 1 March to 31 May 2014 for 2014A, 1 January to 31 March 2015 for 2014B and 1 January to 31 March 2016 for 2014C. The subscription price may be decreased with, inter alia, the amount of dividends paid and may also otherwise be subject to change in accordance with the terms and conditions of the stock options.

The above-mentioned revisions made to the terms of the 2014 Option rights due to the Rights Offering will enter into force when the revised maximum amount of shares subscribed for with 2014 Option rights is entered into the Trade Register approximately on 30 December 2015, provided that the Rights Offering is carried out in full in accordance with plan. Therefore, 2014 Option rights do not entitle their holder to participate in the Rights Offering.

Documents made available

Documents mentioned in Chapter 5, Section 21 of the Finnish Companies Act are available for review as of the start of the Subscription Period at the head office of the Company, Hitsaajankatu 24, FI-00810 Helsinki.

Applicable Law and Dispute Resolution

The Rights Offering and the Shares shall be governed by the laws of Finland. Any disputes arising in connection with the Rights Offering shall be settled by the court of jurisdiction in Finland.

Other Issues

Other issues and practical matters relating to the issuing of the Shares and the Rights Offering will be resolved by the Board of Directors of the Company.

Additional information on the subscription Shares is found in the Finnish language securities note relating to the Rights Offering.