Clean Air Power confirms bid talks, shares suspended
Clean Air Power has asked for its shares to be temporarily suspended from trading on AIM as it confirmed it is in talks on a possible bid for all or part of the group.
Clean Air Power Ltd
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11:44 09/10/15
FTSE AIM All-Share
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17:08 19/04/24
Industrial Engineering
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The announcement follows a review of the group’s strategic options launched in June with the intention of identifying ways to secure long-term financial stability. Since then, Clean Air said several parties have expressed an interest in purchasing all or part of the group.
The company, which develops and delivers compression-ignited natural gas systems and software for heavy-duty vehicles, said the terms of and basis of any offer have not been finalised, but as previously stated, the board can provide no assurance on the value that would be returned to shareholders.
“As the group's holding company is based in Bermuda the board, as advised by KPMG, is considering the options which are available under Bermudan and local jurisdictions to execute a transaction given the pressing short-term financial constraints under which the group continues to operate.
“In the circumstances the company has requested that trading in the company's shares on AIM be suspended pending the outcome of the discussions and resulting clarification of the company's financial position,” Clean Air said.
The company added that its president and chief executive John Pettitt and chief financial officer Neil Skinner have agreed to resign as directors with immediate effect but will stay on as employees and continue to serve as directors in the UK and US.
The decision has been made because by-laws of the group's Bermudan holding company require that there must be a majority of directors on the board who are non-resident in the UK for tax purposes. Following the resignations of Dr. Ulrich Wöhr and Prof. Dr. Karl-Viktor Schaller, as announced on 3 August 2015, this majority was no longer in place.
“The board, with its legal advisers, has considered a number of options and concluded that, at this stage in the strategic review process, it would not be practical or appropriate to recruit new directors who are non-resident in the UK for tax purposes to replace Wöhr and Schaller on the board,” said the company.