Regulatory Filings • Mar 26, 2020
Regulatory Filings
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Tern PLC (TERN) 26-March-2020 / 07:00 GMT/BST Dissemination of a RegulatoryAnnouncement that contains inside information according to REGULATION (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR), transmitted by EQS Group. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
26March 2020
Tern Plc(AIM:TERN), the investment company specialisingin the Internet ofThings ("IoT"), provides an update on the impact of COVID-19 on the Companyand the measures being taken by the Company and its principal por.olio companies along with a general update on its principal por.olio companies.
Tern is taking every precau1on to protect its employees,advisors, suppliersand other stakeholders from COVID-19.
This is an unprecedented situa1on which is evolving daily. Tern has been working closely with its por.olio companies, all of which are now workingremotely, since the outbreak was declared to ensure that theyare well prepared to navigate the months ahead. Tern has been providing opera1onal support and advice, helping each company to implement crea1ve, pragma1c solu1ons and to develop dynamic financial models in response to COVID-19. Tern's management has also been holdingregular sessions with the senior leadership teams of its principal por.olio companies to share insights regarding which methodsand resourcesare deliveringthe best results.
Tern is monitoring the UK Government's support ini1a1ves carefully as they become clearer and their mechanismsare put in place for our effec1ve use. Tern has recently improved its cash posi1on following the recent comple1on of its £0.8 million fundraise, announced on 9 March 2020. Tern maintains a posi1ve view of the long-term growth poten1al of its por.olio and the ability of its por.olio companies to generate addi1onal value.
Tern holding: 26.9% Sector: HealthcareIoT Invested Since: May 2018
Surgical simula1on company FVR con1nues to work with its customers to complete the simula1ons that they need to deliver their medical device and pharma-based products. Its virtual reality-based pla.orm can keep the learner safe from unnecessary poten1al exposure to COVID-19, provide an endless supply of virtual pa1entsand measure the performance of the healthcare professional in achievingthe necessary opera1onal skill levels helpingto create a more agile healthcare workforce.
The company has recently secured an addi1onal contract with a leading pharmaceu1cal company to provide a training pla.orm fora new applica1on of their leading drug product.
Tern holding: 56.8% Outstanding loan: \$3.6million Sector: Security Invested Since: September 2014
DA recently announced the launch of KeyScaleras aService ("KSaaS") hosted in Microso= Azure Cloud and four essen1al connectors to Microso= Azure's IoT Edge, IoT Central, Azure Key Vault and Ac1ve Directory Cer1ficate Services ("ADCS") products. These new Azure connectors are in addi1on to Azure IoT Hub, Device ProvisioningService ("DPS") and Event Hub connectors thatare already part of the KeyScaler pla.orm.
The recent shi= to remote working has reinforced the importance of having robust cloud compu1ng infrastructure to the global business community, in order to maintain business con1nuity and to manage Internet infrastructures. Cloud compu1ng makes this easier and the new DA products make it more secure.
DA has recently secured a contract to provide security services to a leading interna1onal automo1ve design and manufacturing company in conjunc1on with its use of the Azure pla.orm.
Further to the announcement on 9 March 2020, the maturity date forall conver1ble loan notes provided to DA by Tern and others has been extended to 30 September 2020.
Wyld has signed a coopera1on agreement with one of the largest global satellite operators to co-design, develop, test and market Low Power Wide Area Network ("LPWAN") connec1vity solu1ons for satellite communica1ons enabled IoT. Wyld will develop a terrestrial LPWAN satellite terminal solu1on, to connect fixed and mobile IoT services direct to low earth orbi1ng ("LEO") satellite constella1ons. Satellite IoT as a service will provide connec1vity to underserved areas in agriculture, transporta1on and industrial ver1cals.
Wyld has filed a patentapplica1on for its disrup1ve mesh (Wyld Mesh) and datacura1on (Wyld Fusion) technology pla.orm to protect its IP and further establish value.
Holding: 50% Outstanding loan: £50,000 Sector: IoT enablement Invested Since: September 2017
InVMA con1nues to support its industrial and manufacturing customers, many of whom are in the food and beverage industry or have seen significant changes to normal manufacturing processes. Furthermore, InVMA's AssetMinder (c) product con1nues to gain trac1on following the £0.8million global partnership deal announced on 13 January 2020.
Holding: less than 1% Sector: contract/document management Invested Since: 2014
The sale of Seal to DocuSign Inc for \$188 million in cash, as announced byTern on 3 March 2020, con1nues to progress. Tern invested £50,000 in the companyand its investment was valued at £115,145 at 30 June 2019. The proceeds from this sale are expected to be broadly in line with the Company'svalua1on.
"Tern has been quick to implement measures which protect our principal por.olio companies and our people from COVID-19. As investors in disrup1ve technologies, we believe technology companies will provide a significant contribu1on in leading the way out of the current public health and economic situa1on. We therefore stand ready to support our por.olio companies during this unprecedented crisis and, following our recent fundraise, are prepared to tackle poten1al future liquidity challenges should the need arise. Reassuringly, our por.olio companies are serving diversified high-growth marketsand genera1ngrevenues, with DA and FVR havingstronginvestor syndicates."
"Tern and the leaders of our principal por.olio businesses are facing new hurdlesand we are very pleased with the agility and selflessness demonstrated by our business leadership and staff. Although there is not enough clarityabout the situa1on to finalise arobust new plan just yet, we are implemen1ng strategies and leveraging our por.olio company network to ensure that the teams are sharing informa1on and collabora1ng, in order to make efficient use of everyone's 1me."
"Steeringthe ship in 1mes of crisis will require course correc1ons and smallermaneuvers which we are modeling and reviewing our investment strategy and its execu1on regularly. We stand behind our high growth por.olio companiesand feel that they will emerge stronger when the economy eventually improves."
Tern Plc Al Sisto/Sarah Payne via Newgate Communica1ons
Allenby Capital Limited
Tel: 0203 328 5656
(Nomad and Joint broker) David Worlidge/Alex Brearley/Guy McDougall
Whitman Howard (Joint broker)
Tel: 020 7659 1234
Elisabeth Cowell/Megan Kovach
Tel: 020 3757 6880
ISIN: GB00BFPMV798 Category Code:MSCM TIDM: TERN LEICode: 2138005F87SODHL9CQ36 Sequence No.: 54689 EQS News ID: 1007395
End ofAnnouncementEQS News Service
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