THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE
INFORMATION.
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR
DISTRIBUTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION
WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR
REGULATIONS OF THAT JURISDICTION. THIS IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT AND NOT
AN OFFER TO SELL OR AN INVITATION TO PURCHASE OR SUBSCRIBE FOR ANY
SECURITIES NOR A CIRCULAR OR PROSPECTUS OR EQUIVALENT DOCUMENT AND
INVESTORS OR PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS SHOULD NOT MAKE INVESTMENT
DECISIONS ON THE BASIS OF ITS CONTENTS.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.
24 April 2023
Hambro Perks
Acquisition Company Limited
Cessation of
Operations, Redemption of Public Shares and Resignation of
Directors
Hambro Perks Acquisition Company Limited (LSE: HPA1)
(“HPAC” or the “Company”), a special purpose
acquisition company formed to focus on a Business Combination,
announces that, given the continuing market conditions, the Board
has decided it is in the best interests of the Company to not
pursue a Business Combination.
Therefore, in accordance with the Articles, HPAC has immediately
ceased all operations except for the purposes of returning funds to
Shareholders and winding up. As promptly as reasonably possible,
and in any event by no later than 9 May
2023 (the “Redemption Deadline”) (being ten business
days from the date of the Board’s decision on the evening of
21 April 2023 (the “Decision
Date”)), HPAC will redeem the Public Shares.
In addition, in light of the Company ceasing all operations
except for the purpose of winding up, the Board considers it
appropriate for only two Directors to remain on the Board until the
winding up of the Company has completed and announces that each of
Dominic Shorthouse and Dr
Sarah Wood have resigned as
Directors of the Company.
Sir Anthony Salz, Chairman of
HPAC, said: “Public equity markets have faced challenging
circumstances in the past year, and several new listings have
suffered. We have had discussions with some excellent companies,
but given the current market conditions, we have concluded that
there is little likelihood of achieving a successful business
combination within our permitted timeframe. Accordingly, it would
be inappropriate to incur further expense in attempting to conclude
a business combination. The Board has therefore made the difficult
decision to wind up the Company.”
Redemption and Liquidation Process
In addition to ceasing all operations except for the purpose of
winding up, the Company will:
· as promptly as reasonably possible but no
later than the Redemption Deadline, redeem the Public Shares as
follows:
o (other than in respect of Public Shares held by the
Sponsor) at a per-share price, payable in cash, of approximately
£10.44 per Public Share (being approximately equal to the aggregate
amount on deposit in the Escrow Account as at the Decision Date,
including interest earned on the funds held in the Escrow Account
(less taxes payable and £100,000 to pay dissolution expenses),
divided by the number of outstanding Public Shares as at the
Decision Date); and
o in respect of Public Shares held by the Sponsor, for nil
consideration,
in each case which redemption will completely extinguish Public
Shareholders’ rights as Shareholders (including the right to
receive further liquidation distributions (if any)); and
· as promptly as reasonably possible following
such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s then
remaining Shareholder, being the Sponsor (by way of written
resolution) and the Board to place the Company into liquidation,
liquidate and dissolve,
in each case, subject to the Company’s obligations under
Guernsey law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases
subject to the other requirements of applicable law and
regulation.
Public Warrants and Sponsor
Warrants
There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions
with respect to the Public Warrants or the Sponsor Warrants which
will automatically expire without value upon completion of the
liquidation of the Company.
Resignation of Directors
In light of the Company ceasing all operations except for the
purpose of winding up, the Board has determined that it is
appropriate for only two Directors, being Sir Anthony Salz and Matthew
Wood, to remain on the Board until the winding up of the
Company has completed. Accordingly, the Board announces that the
Company’s other Directors, being Dominic
Shorthouse and Dr Sarah Wood,
have resigned as Directors of the Company.
The Company’s Listing
Following the redemption becoming effective, the Company will no
longer have any Public Shares listed on the standard segment of the
Official List of the FCA (the “Standard Segment”) or
admitted to trading on the main market for listed securities on the
LSE (the “Main Market”). In accordance with Listing Rule
5.2.8, the Company hereby gives notice of its request today to the
FCA to cancel the listing of its Public Shares and its Public
Warrants on the Standard Segment and to the LSE to cancel the
admission to trading of its Public Shares and its Public Warrants
on the Main Market. Pursuant to Listing Rule 5.2.8, the Company is
required to give at least twenty business days’ notice of the
intended cancellation of listing of its Public Shares and its
Public Warrants. Accordingly such cancellation is expected to occur
by no later than 24 May 2023.
NEXT STEPS
No action is required to be taken by Public Shareholders at this
time. Public Shareholders who hold Public Shares as at close of
business (6:00 p.m.) on the business
day prior to the Redemption Deadline (the “Redemption
Record Time”) shall have their Public Shares automatically
redeemed and payment in respect of such Public Shares will be made
by HPAC’s registrar, Computershare Investor Services (Guernsey)
Limited (“Computershare”), as soon as practicable but in any
event no later than the Redemption Deadline.
White & Case LLP and Carey
Olsen (Guernsey) LLP are acting as legal advisers to
HPAC.
Capitalised terms used but not defined in this announcement have
the meanings given to them in the Appendix.
Expected timetable of events*
EVENT |
EXPECTED
TIMETABLE |
Redemption Record Time |
6:00 p.m. on 8 May
2023 |
Latest date for despatch of cheques
in respect of redemption monies and for settlement of redemption
monies through CREST or other form of payment (the “Redemption
Deadline”) |
9 May 2023 |
Cancellation of listing |
by no later than 24
May 2023 |
Completion of the winding up of the
Company |
during Q3 2023 |
Dissolution of the Company |
before the end of Q3
2023 |
*All references to time in this announcement are to London time.
Enquiries
Hambro Perks
Acquisition Company Limited
Peter Soliman, Company Secretary |
peter@hambroperks.com |
FTI Consulting
(Financial PR advisor to HPAC)
Charles Palmer
Kit Dunford |
+44 (0) 7976 743 360
+44 (0) 7717 417 038 |
Notes to Editors
The information contained in this announcement is deemed by HPAC
to constitute inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
the UK Market Abuse Regulation. By the publication of this
announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside
information is now considered to be in the public domain. The
person responsible for arranging for the release of this
announcement on behalf of HPAC is Peter
Soliman, Company Secretary.
The LEI of HPAC is 2138002WGRFJRKBEVT75.
About HPAC
HPAC is a special purpose acquisition company incorporated as a
non-cellular company limited by shares under the laws of the Island
of Guernsey with number 69093 and for the purpose of acquiring a
majority (or otherwise controlling) stake in a company or operating
business through a merger, capital stock exchange, share purchase,
asset acquisition, reorganisation or similar transaction. HPAC was
admitted to trading on the standard listing segment of the main
market for listed securities of the LSE on 30 November 2021.
For further information on HPAC, please see www.hpac.uk.
This announcement has been submitted to the National Storage
Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at
https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism and will
also shortly be available to download from the Company’s website
https://hpac.uk/category/investor-resources/.
Appendix
Definitions
The following definitions apply throughout this announcement
unless the context requires otherwise.
“Articles” |
the Articles of Incorporation of the
Company as in force at the time of this announcement; |
“Board” |
the board of Directors of the
Company; |
“Business
Combination” |
a business combination between HPAC
and a target company; |
“Company” or
“HPAC” |
Hambro Perks Acquisition Company
Limited, a company registered in Guernsey; |
“Computershare” |
Computershare Investor Services
(Guernsey) Limited; |
“CREST” |
the relevant system (as defined in
the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/3755)) in
respect of which Euroclear UK & International Limited is the
Operator (as defined in the Regulations); |
“Decision
Date” |
21 April 2023; |
“Directors” |
the directors of the Company; |
“Escrow
Account” |
the escrow account opened by the
Company with Citibank, N.A., London Branch; |
“Ordinary
Shares” |
the Sponsor Shares and the Public
Shares; |
“Public
Shareholders” |
the holders of Public Shares; |
“Public
Shares” |
the Class A Ordinary Shares of
HPAC; |
“Public
Warrants” |
the warrants in respect of Public
Shares issued to holders of Public Shares; |
“Redemption
Deadline” |
9 May 2023; |
“Redemption
Record Time” |
close of business (6:00 p.m.) on 8
May 2023; |
“Shareholder” |
a holder of Ordinary Shares,
including a holder of Public Shares and a holder of Sponsor
Shares; |
“Sponsor” |
HPAC Sponsor LLP, a limited
liability partnership formed in England and Wales, with
registration number OC439271 and whose registered office is at 111
Buckingham Palace Road, London, England, SW1W 0SR; |
“Sponsor
Shares” |
the 3,661,996 Class B Ordinary
Shares of HPAC held by the Sponsor. For the avoidance of doubt, the
Class B Ordinary Shares are not admitted to trading on a stock
exchange; and |
“Sponsor
Warrants” |
the warrants in respect of Public
Shares issued to the Sponsor. |