City Briefs: Proactis; Powerhouse Energy; and Henry Boot
The £75m takeover deal for procurement technology group Proactis has been restructured to accommodate investment group DBAY, which had positioned itself to block the deal.
In April Pollen Street Capital and the board of Proactis had agreed a 75p-per-share deal. But DBAY increased its stake in Proactis to a level that would see the offer fail without DBAY’s support, forcing Pollen Street to revisit the structure of the takeover.
A new takeover, still priced at 75p-per-share, is now being put forward which will see Pollen Street own 65% and DBAY 35% of the company. Each of the Proactis directors as well as Lombard Odier Asset Management (Europe) has provided new irrevocable undertakings in support of the deal.
In a joint statement, Pollen Street and DBARY said: “To maximise the market opportunity and become a global market leader to mid-sized corporates, Pollen Street Capital and DBAY believe that Proactis would benefit from returning to private ownership with the support of growth-focused shareholders, who can provide the capital and long-term view of value creation to enable the management team to make the investment in products, sales and marketing, and infrastructure necessary to capitalise on the market opportunity.”
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Powerhouse Energy Group has appointed engineering consultancy SWECO to prepare concept design and environmental impact assessment report for its waste-to-hydrogen project in Konin, Poland.
The deal was signed on 9 June through Hydrogen Utopia International’s subsidiary.
Tim Yeo, executive chairman of Powerhouse Energy said: “We are delighted SWECO has been appointed to help rollout Powerhouse Energy technology in the city of Konin, Poland. The rollout in Europe of Powerhouse Energy technology is underway and it will soon be helping Poland on their clean energy transition, helping it meet its net zero targets”.
Dariusz Czerniak, SWECO, director, energy department said: “It is our privilege to work closely with Hydrogen Utopia International on the PHE DMG® system, as it is a novel, 4.0. technology. We believe that the DMG® solution can tackle the global growing plastic waste problem. The DMG® system will also enhance the transition of the hydrogen economy and we are proud to be a part of this exciting future for Poland”.
Aleksandra Binkowska, CEO of Hydrogen Utopia International said: “The DMG® system is a global revolution and it is reassuring to have SWECO on my side to build the first one in Poland. I am sure that this is just the beginning of a long-standing and prosperous alliance between the two Companies. The ultimate goal is to build at least ten systems in Konin in order to create the first Polish Centre of Hydrogen. It was my vision and it is a privilege to turn this vision into reality together with SWECO”.
The deal follows the news earlier this year that Bingley-headquartered Powerhouse Energy Group had agreed to non-binding Heads of Terms with Hydrogen Utopia International to grant an exclusive non-transferable licence for the application of its DMG® technology in Greece and Hungary.
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A non-executive director at Henry Boot has sold over £500,000 of ordinary shares in the business.
Jonathan James sykes sold 190,000 ordinary shares at a price of 276.43 pence per share, netting him £525,217.00. Following the sale he retains 20,552,155 ordinary shares in the business.
