28 January
2020
Clear Leisure Plc
(“Clear Leisure” or “the Company”)
PBV Monitor and
ForCrowd
Business
Update
The Board of Clear Leisure (AIM: CLP) is pleased to give
shareholders an update on its technology investment portfolio:
PBV Monitor srl (“PBV”)
PBV, the Italian legal database company in which the Company has
a 10% interest, has received an investment of €300,000 from an
Italian investment company which has also held a minority stake in
Clear Leisure since 2017. The funds have been
raised at a pre-new money valuation of €3m, similar to the
valuation at which Clear Leisure made its own investment in PBV in
December 2018.
The investment of €300,000 will comprise an investment of
€150,000 in PBV equity and a €150,000 subscription for a PBV
18-month convertible loan note with an annual interest rate of 10%.
Should the loan note be converted into PBV shares at the end of the
18-month term it will be on the same valuation as the investment in
PBV equity.
Clear Leisure intends to maintain its holding in PBV at 10% by
subscribing for €15,000 in PBV equity and €15,000 in the PBV
convertible loan on the same terms as described above.
The process to integrate services with Italy’s second largest
financial news publishing group, as announced on 31 October 2019, has taken longer than the board
of PBV expected and its Intelligence Search online service is still
under final testing due to increased categorisation capabilities
being added to the search engine. The board of Clear Leisure,
however, remains confident that its investment in PBV represents a
unique opportunity and this view is shared by the new investor.
PBV has confirmed that the initial legal awards event: “Best
Italian Lawyers and Best Law Firms in Italy”, organised by Class
Editori Group in Milan is being
held on 5 February. PBV is providing all the category data for the
awards which will allow the judging panel to choose the winners at
the event. The awards, part of the previously announced strategic
partnership between PBV and Class Editori Group, will generate
revenues for PBV, under an agreed revenue sharing scheme.
ForCrowd srl (“ForCrowd”)
ForCrowd has appointed additional members to its
board and, subject to the approval of Commission Nazionale
per le Societa e la Borsa (“CONSOB”) the Italian regulator Clear
Leisure’s CEO and executive chairman, Francesco Gardin, will become ForCrowd’s
chairman : he will not receive any remuneration for this
role. In the event that any fees for his services are approved at a
future date, they will be paid to Clear Leisure.
ForCrowd is currently reviewing applications to raise funds via
its platform from three Italian companies operating in renewable
energy, real estate and online business cost optimisation services
respectively. The applications must satisfy strict criteria, both
from a business perspective and for compliance with CONSOB
crowdfunding admission regulations.
Francesco Gardin, Chairman and
CEO of Clear Leisure, commented, “With the help of respected
external investors whom we have introduced to our investee
companies, we believe the Company’s technology investment strategy
is taking shape with PVB’s new fund raising being the first example
of this. The Company is now in talks with several further
investment entities, interested in making direct investments in our
existing portfolio companies.
“My proposed appointment as ForCrowd’s Chairman will, we
believe, better facilitate ForCrowd’s approach with potential
institutional investors, such as the Italian Universities’
incubators, particularly in the Milan area. The strategy will be to offer
these institutions framework agreements to enable their many
start-up vehicles special terms for fund raising on the ForCrowd
platform.”
-ends-
For further information please
contact:
Clear Leisure Plc
Francesco Gardin, CEO and Executive
Chairman
+39 335 296573
SP Angel Corporate Finance (Nominated Adviser &
Broker)
Jeff Keating / John Mackay
+44 (0)20 3470 0470
Leander (Financial PR)
Christian Taylor-Wilkinson
+44 (0) 7795 168 157
About Clear Leisure Plc
Clear Leisure plc (AIM: CLP) is an AIM listed investment company
which has recently realigned its strategic focus to technology
related investments, with special regard to interactive media,
blockchain and AI sectors. The Company also owns shareholdings in a
number of historic investments primarily in the Italian real estate
companies, which it is currently seeking compensation through court
action.
For further information, please visit,
www.clearleisure.co.uk