For British multi-asset electronic trading company London Capital Group (LCG:LN), the past two years has proven eventful and dramatic as the company battled hard and relentlessly to secure its future through times of loss and financial instability.
Several veritable oases were sighted by LCG, the earliest of which were represented by a series of peers having demonstrated an interest in purchasing the company in early 2013, after LCG began to report downturns in share valuations following unsatisfactory results for the financial year 2012.
Among interested parties were Cantor Fitzgerald, City Index and GAIN Capital, all of whom retracted their interests as the first quarter of 2013 got underway, leaving LCG to face an independent road to recovery.
A long, lonely road it was, until summer 2014, when leading Swiss banking and FX industry figure Charles-Henri Sabet stepped forward with a financing offer of $17 million.
This upturn in LCG’s chequered fortunes came to fruition on Friday October 17 as the firm announced via the London Stock Exchange that the financing has been completed, with Mr. Sabet’s GLIO Holdings having been issued 20,983,213 ordinary shares, 59,952,038 convertible loan notes, and 80,935,251 warrants.
On October 1 this year, LCG announced that relating to the subscription of £2,000,000 in principal amount of unsecured convertible loan notes of £1.00 each in the capital of the Company (the “CLN Subscription”), Mr Hargreave Hale (registered in the name of HSBC Global Custody Nominee (UK) Limited) would account for £1,000,000 convertible loan notes; and Mr. Tyler Rameson (registered in the name of JIM Nominees Limited) for £1,000,000 convertible loan notes, in joining Mr. Sabet in order to participate in the financing. Subsequently, Mr. Hale and Mr. Rameson have now received 1,398,881 ordinary shares each as part of the deal.
The warrants issued to GLIO may be exercised in full or in part in minimum tranches of 5,000,000 and the warrants issued to Mr. Hargreave Hale and Mr Tyler Rameson may be exercised in full or in part in minimum tranches of 1,000,000 at any time upon 10 business days’ notice up and until the maturity date, being 7 years from the date of issue, provided that the equivalent number of convertible loan notes have been converted.
In the advent of the financing proposal coming to effect, Mr. Sabet took the leadership position of Executive Chairman on September 4 this year, whilst Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) looked toward approving Mr. Sabet’s proposed investment. At that time, LCG also confirmed that Giles Vardey had stepped down as Chairman, however he remains on the Board in the role of non-executive senior independent director.
With regard to the completion of the transaction last week, Charles-Henri Sabet, Executive Chairman of LCG, publicly stated “The proceeds from the financing provide the Company with a firm platform for management to progress with the next stage of development across our chosen business lines as we build upon our services to customers and the generation of returns to all the Company’s investors.”
In order to view the full announcement from the London Stock Exchange, click here.