Prospectus • Sep 13, 2018
Prospectus
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THIS DOCUMENT IS IMPORTANT AND REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. If you are in any doubt about the contents of this Document or the action you should take, you are recommended to seek your own financial advice immediately from an appropriately authorised stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other independent financial adviser who, if you are taking advice in the United Kingdom, is duly authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (''FSMA'').
This document comprises a prospectus relating to Toople plc prepared in accordance with the Prospectus Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority (the ''FCA'') made under section 73A of FSMA and approved by the FCA under section 87A of FSMA. This document has been filed with the FCA and made available to the public in accordance with Rule 3.2 of the Prospectus Rules.
Application(s) will be made to the FCA for the Placing Shares and the Fee Shares to be admitted to the standard listing segment of the Official List of the UK Listing Authority (the ''Official List'') by way of a standard listing under Chapter 14 of the listing rules published by the UK Listing Authority under section 73A of FSMA as amended from time to time (the ''Listing Rules'') and to the London Stock Exchange plc (the ''London Stock Exchange'') for such Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities (together, ''Admission''). No application has been made, or at this time is intended to be made, for the Placing Shares and the Fee Shares to be admitted for listing or dealt with on any other stock exchange.
It is expected that Admission will become effective and that dealings in the Placing Shares and the Fee Shares will commence on 25 September 2018. The Placing has not been underwritten.
The Company and each of the Directors, whose names appear on page 23 of this Document, accept responsibility for the information contained in this Document. To the best of the knowledge of the Company and the Directors (who have taken all reasonable care to ensure that such is the case), the information contained in this Document is in accordance with the facts and does not omit anything likely to affect the import of such information.
INVESTORS SHOULD READ THIS DOCUMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY TOGETHER WITH THE INFORMATION INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE. IN PARTICULAR, YOUR ATTENTION IS DRAWN TO THE PART HEADED ''RISK FACTORS'' FOR A DISCUSSION OF THE RISKS THAT MIGHT AFFECT THE VALUE OF YOUR SHAREHOLDING IN THE COMPANY. PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT AN INVESTMENT IN THE COMPANY INVOLVES A SIGNIFICANT DEGREE OF RISK AND THAT, IF CERTAIN OF THE RISKS DESCRIBED IN THIS DOCUMENT OCCUR, INVESTORS MAY FIND THEIR INVESTMENT IS MATERIALLY ADVERSELY AFFECTED.
ACCORDINGLY, AN INVESTMENT IN THE ORDINARY SHARES IS ONLY SUITABLE FOR INVESTORS WHO ARE PARTICULARLY KNOWLEDGEABLE IN INVESTMENT MATTERS AND WHO ARE ABLE TO BEAR THE LOSS OF THE WHOLE OR PART OF THEIR INVESTMENT.
(Incorporated in England and Wales under the company number 10037980)
Issue of 733,333,333 new Ordinary Shares of 0.0667 pence each in the capital of the Company at the Placing Price per new Ordinary Share through the Placing
Proposed issue of 17,133,332 Fee Shares
This Document does not constitute an offer to sell or an invitation to subscribe for, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for, Ordinary Shares in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation is unlawful or would impose any unfulfilled registration, publication or approval requirements on the Company.
The Ordinary Shares have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (as amended) (the ''Securities Act''), or under the securities laws or with any securities regulatory authority of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States or of any province or territory of Australia, Canada, Japan, Republic of South Africa or the Republic of Ireland. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent: (i) registration under the Securities Act; or (ii) an available exemption from registration under the Securities Act. The Ordinary Shares have not been and will not be offered or sold in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Republic of South Africa or the Republic of Ireland or to or for the account or benefit of any person resident in Australia, Canada, Japan, Republic of South Africa or the Republic of Ireland and this Document does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for Ordinary Shares in such jurisdictions or in any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful or would impose any unfulfilled registration, publication or approval requirements on the Company. These materials may not be published, distributed or transmitted by any means or media, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, in or into the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa or the Republic of Ireland. The distribution of this Document in other jurisdictions may be restricted by law and therefore persons into whose possession this Document comes should inform themselves of and observe any restrictions.
APPLICATION WILL BE MADE FOR THE NEW ORDINARY SHARES TO BE ADMITTED TO THE STANDARD SEGMENT OF THE OFFICIAL LIST. A STANDARD LISTING AFFORDS INVESTORS IN THE COMPANY A LOWER LEVEL OF REGULATORY PROTECTION THAN THAT AFFORDED TO INVESTORS IN COMPANIES WHOSE SECURITIES ARE ADMITTED TO THE PREMIUM SEGMENT OF THE OFFICIAL LIST, WHICH ARE SUBJECT TO ADDITIONAL OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE LISTING RULES. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE UK LISTING AUTHORITY WILL NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO (AND WILL NOT) MONITOR THE COMPANY'S COMPLIANCE WITH ANY OF THE LISTING RULES AND/OR ANY PROVISION OF THE UK CORPORATE GOVERNANCE CODE WHICH THE COMPANY HAS INDICATED THAT IT INTENDS TO COMPLY WITH ON A VOLUNTARY BASIS, NOR TO IMPOSE SANCTIONS IN RESPECT OF ANY FAILURE BY THE COMPANY TO SO COMPLY.
Without prejudice to any obligation of the Company to publish a supplementary prospectus pursuant to section 87G of the FSMA or Rule 3.4 of the Prospectus Rules, the publication of this Document does not create any implication that there has been no change in the affairs of the Company since, or that the information contained herein is correct at any time subsequent to, the date of this Document. Notwithstanding any reference herein to the Company's website, the information on the Company's website does not form part of this Document.
Dated 13 September 2018
| Page | ||
|---|---|---|
| SUMMARY INFORMATION | 4 | |
| RISK FACTORS | 14 | |
| DIRECTORS, OFFICERS AND ADVISERS | 23 | |
| EXPECTED TIMETABLE OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS | 24 | |
| ISSUE STATISTICS | 25 | |
| PART I | INFORMATION ON THE GROUP, OPPORTUNITY AND STRATEGY | 26 |
| PART II | DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE |
41 |
| PART III | CONSEQUENCES OF A STANDARD LISTING | 45 |
| PART IV | PRESENTATION OF FINANCIAL AND OTHER INFORMATION | 47 |
| PART V | HISTORICAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION | 51 |
| PART VI | INFORMATION INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE | 52 |
| PART VII | OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW OF THE GROUP | 54 |
| PART VIII | TAXATION | 60 |
| PART IX | ADDITIONAL INFORMATION | 62 |
| PART X | DEFINITIONS AND GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS | 83 |
Summaries are made up of disclosure requirements known as ''Elements''. These elements are numbered in Sections A – E (A.1 – E.7).
This summary contains all the Elements required to be included in a summary for this type of security and issuer. Because some Elements are not required to be addressed, there may be gaps in the numbering sequence of the Elements.
Even though an Element may be required to be inserted in the summary because of the type of security and issuer, it is possible that no relevant information can be given regarding the Element. In this case, a short description of the Element is included in the summary with the mention of ''not applicable''.
| Section A – Introduction and warnings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Introduction and warnings |
THIS SUMMARY MUST BE READ AS AN INTRODUCTION TO THIS PROSPECTUS. ANY DECISION TO INVEST IN ORDINARY SHARES SHOULD BE BASED ON CONSIDERATION OF THIS PROSPECTUS AS A WHOLE. |
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| Where a claim relating to the information contained in the Prospectus is brought before a court, the plaintiff investor might, under the national legislation of the Member States, have to bear the costs of translating the Prospectus before the legal proceedings are initiated. |
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| Civil liability attaches only to those persons who have tabled the summary, including any translation thereof, but only if the summary is misleading, inaccurate or inconsistent when read together with other parts of this Prospectus or it does not provide, when read together with the other parts of this Prospectus, key information in order to aid investors when considering whether to invest in the Ordinary Shares. |
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| A2 | Subsequent resale of securities or final placement of securities through financial intermediaries |
Not applicable. |
| Section B – Issuer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | Legal and commercial name |
The legal and commercial name of the issuer is Toople plc. | |||
| B2 | Domicile/legal form/legislation/country of incorporation |
The Company was incorporated and registered in England and Wales on 2 March 2016 with registered number 10037980 as a public company limited by shares under the Act. It is domiciled in the United Kingdom and is subject to the City Code. |
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| B3 | Key factors of the issuer's current operations/ principal activities and markets |
The Group provides a range of telecoms services primarily targeted at the UK SME market. The target market of the Group is UK SMEs who have between 1 and 50 employees (of which there are 5.7 million, with around 12.8 million employees). The Group's services offered include hosted telephony service, business broadband, fibre, EFM and Ethernet data services, business mobile phones, cloud PBX and SIP Trunking and Traditional Services (calls and lines) all of which are delivered and managed through Merlin, the Group's proprietary software platform. The Group launched its business proposition and the Toople.com brand in May 2016, formally launching its higher margin hosted telephony service in January 2017. Additionally, the Group has 9 customers that it provides telecoms services to on a wholesale basis and which currently account |
| for a large proportion (approximately 64% in the six months ended 31 March 2018) of the Group's revenue. The wholesale business is however currently not a strategic focus for the Group as it is a lower margin offering in comparison to Toople's direct customer offering. Accelerating growth of the hosted telephony service is a key focus of the Group due to its attractive margins and the increasingly competitive nature of the SME broadband market. However the business is currently at a very early stage of development and the growth of the Group's Business and the success of its strategy is highly dependent on the effectiveness of the Group's marketing campaigns (which in turn is dependent on receipt of the Minimum Net Proceeds) in attracting large volumes of potential customers to the Group's website and a significant proportion of these potential customers signing up for the Group's services. Even in the event that the Minimum Net Proceeds are raised, the Group is likely to remain loss making until the Group has substantially increased its number of customers from its current customer base such that the gross profit generated by the Group's customer base (after incurring costs of customer acquisition) is sufficient to cover the Group's overheads. The Directors believe that one of the Group's strengths is its Merlin platform which allows scalability for the business through automation and provides a strong customer relationship management interface. The Group does not own any telecommunications infrastructure itself but is dependent on the use of the networks of telecommunication wholesale companies. |
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|---|---|---|
| B4a | Significant recent trends |
Following the Group's Standard Listing in May 2016, competition in the SME broadband market increased significantly. This contributed to the Group's initial phase of targeted digital marketing proving to be more expensive than anticipated. Consequently the Group's management enacted a number of demand generation campaigns in order to determine the most effective method to balance customer acquisition costs relative to the investment and customer lifetime value. In addition, the Group brought its sales team in-house in January 2018. Trends within the telecoms industry will continue to impact directly upon the Group going forward, including (but not limited to) regulatory changes, competition, technology and consumer preferences. In addition to increased competition in the broadband SME market, the most significant trends affecting the industry at present are as follows: Regulatory Changes & Competition Ofcom is keen to ensure that the recent and potential activity within the mobile sector is not anti-competitive. On 25 February 2016, Ofcom published its Strategic Review of Digital Communications report indicating that Ofcom is committed to ensuring consumer needs within |
| the telecoms industry are met through allowing BTs competitors improved access to BTs infrastructure. In March 2017, BT agreed to the legal separation of Openreach which will likely lead to greater competition within the telecoms industry and drive both innovation and affordable prices and allow competing providers to build their own fibre networks. Ofcom will encourage providers to build these networks. Technology & Consumer Preferences The telecoms industry advances continually, driven by improved technology and shifts in consumer preferences. Recent years have seen an increased focus on the Hosted Market (inclusive of Cloud PBC/ VoIP), which, according to recent market research by Cavell, is expected to grow significantly in the UK. Consumers are driven by both pricing and quality of service. The Directors believe that it is not only important to deliver quality whilst remaining competitively priced, but also be able to |
| the consumer. | identify and implement new technologies to meet the changing needs of | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group Structure | AskMerlin Limited. | ||||
| Major Shareholders | The interests of the Directors together represent approximately (% of the Existing Ordinary Shares as at 11 September 2018 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this Document) and are expected to represent approximately (% of the Enlarged Share Capital |
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| Name | Ordinary Shares as at the date of this Document |
Percentage of Existing Ordinary Shares t |
Ordinary Shares at Admission* |
Ordinary Shares held as a percentage of Enlarged Share Capital * |
|
| Andrew Hollingworth | 28,250,000 | 13.85% | 28,250,000 | 2.96% | |
| Pte Limited | 10,000,000 | 4.90% | 60,000,000 | 6.4% | |
| * | Assumes that the Placing is subscribed for in full, and that none of the NED Warrants or 2017 Warrants will be exercised. |
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| all aspects. | |||||
| Epsilon Investments | The Company is the holding company of the Group. The Company has four wholly owned subsidiaries: Toople.com Limited, AskMerlin Limited, Toople Finance Limited and Toople Management Services Limited, all of which are registered and incorporated in England. Ask Merlin SP ZOO, which is incorporated in Poland, is the wholly owned subsidiary of (following the issue of the Placing Shares and the Fee Shares). Except for the interests of those persons set out in this paragraph, the Directors are not aware of any interest which, as at the date of this Document, or immediately following the Placing would amount to 3% or more of the Company's issued share capital at the relevant time: No major holder of Ordinary Shares has voting rights different from other holders of Ordinary Shares. All of the Ordinary Shares rank pari passu in |
| B7 | Selected historical key financial information |
The following selected historical key financial information has been extracted without Statements, the unaudited management accounts. |
material Unaudited |
adjustment Interim |
from the Accounts |
Audited and |
Financial subsequent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year ended 30 Sept 2015 (audited) £ |
Year ended 30 Sept 2016 (audited) £ |
Six months ended 31 Mar 2017 (unaudited) £ |
Year ended 30 Sept 2017 (audited) £ |
Six months ended 31 Mar 2018 (unaudited) £ |
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| Consolidated comprehensive income |
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| Revenue Cost of sales Gross profit/(loss) Administrative |
36,799 (76,083) (39,284) |
957,749 (880,108) 77,641 |
654,721 (572,687) 82,034 |
1,281,172 (1,121,867) 159,305 |
689,769 (606,816) 82,953 |
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| expenses Operating loss Net Interest |
(381,278) (420,562) — |
(1,792,200) (1,714,559) (19,018) |
(661,983) (579,949) (23,814) |
(1,473,292) (1,313,987) (49,117) |
(770,897) (687,944) (26,089) |
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| Loss before taxation Taxation Loss after taxation |
(420,562) 21,336 (399,226) |
(1,733,578) — (1,733,578) |
(603,763) — (603,763) |
(1,363,103) — (1,363,103) |
(714,033) — (714,033) |
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| Consolidated financial position Intangible assets |
2,328 | 14,546 | 10,096 | 5,646 | 1,196 | ||
| Trade & other receivables Cash & cash |
194,758 | 223,674 | 191,920 | 316,173 | 382,528 | ||
| equivalents Total assets Current liabilities Non-current liabilities |
130,853 327,939 588,590 — |
743,824 982,044 385,390 469,140 |
191,584 393,600 345,602 492,672 |
820,767 1,142,586 358,629 517,842 |
374,042 757,766 352,307 544,296 |
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| Total liabilities Net assets/(liabilities) |
588,590 (260,651) |
854,530 127,514 |
838,274 (444,674) |
876,471 266,115 |
896,603 (138,837) |
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| Consolidated cash flows Net cash used in |
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| operating activities Net cash inflows in financing activities |
(573,877) 512,141 |
(1,422,865) 2,052,613 |
(552,372) — |
(1,336,442) 1,413,252 |
(724,594) 277,504 |
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| Net cash used in investing activities Net increase / |
192,108 | (16,777) | 132 | 132 | 366 | ||
| (decrease) in cash & cash equivalents |
130,372 | 612,971 | (552,240) | 76,943 | (446,724) | ||
| Toople Plc was incorporated in April 2016 and acquired the material trading subsidiaries of the Group, Toople.com Ltd and AskMerlin Ltd, in April 2016 (''Subsidiaries''), therefore financial information for the Group for the period prior to acquisition of the Subsidiaries represents the combined financial information of the Subsidiaries. |
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| Overview of trading and changes in financial condition of the Group |
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| Background | |||||||
| The Toople brand for the telecoms business of the Group launched in May 2016 shortly after admission to trading on the Standard List on 10 May 2016. Shareholders and potential investors should note that the majority of revenue and expenses in the year ended 30 September 2015 and in the historic periods for Toople.com Ltd and AskMerlin Ltd prior to this, were unrelated to the current business of the Group and instead related to legacy business entered into by the previous owner of these |
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| entities prior to their acquisition by Toople Plc. |
| * | Prior to its acquisition by Toople Plc, Toople.com Ltd (previously called Cube Telecom Ltd) was used to acquire assets as part of the sale of O-bit Telecom Limited to Daisy Group plc by David Breith by way of a Transitional Service Agreement (''TSA''). Toople.com then became a facilities management company until 2015 when these activities ceased. Toople.com began to incur expenses in relation to developing the current business of the Group in the year ended 30 September 2015. A disposal of assets arising from the TSA arrangements accounted for approximately £160,000 of the cash inflows from investing activities in the year ended 30 September 2015. |
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|---|---|---|
| * | AskMerlin owns the Group's Merlin software. Prior to acquisition of AskMerlin by Toople Plc in April 2016, AskMerlin had licenced the Merlin software to Daisy Group however these arrangements came to an end in 2014. AskMerlin entered into a number of licence arrangements in 2016 in relation to the Merlin platform which continue to contribute revenue and gross margin to the Group. |
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| * | The liabilities of the Group have increased over the period covered by the Historical Financial Information, largely due to the increased level of borrowings, represented by the Founder Loan, made to the Group by David Breith to support the launch of the Toople business. The loan balance owed is £606,756 though the net present value was £544,296 as at 31 March 2018. The loan is interest free and is not repayable by the Group until 3 years after the date of 2016 Admission. |
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| * | The level of cash and cash equivalents of the Group increased significantly in the year ended 30 September 2016 as a result of the Company raising approximately £1.66 million (after costs) through a placing of new Ordinary Shares at the time of 2016 Admission. A further £1.26 million (after costs) was raised in June 2017 by way of a subscription and offer. The cash balance has decreased subsequent to 31 March 2018 as a result of the Group's general working capital needs as the Group does not generate a profit. |
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| * | Net cash inflows (used) in financing activities during the period covered by the historic financial information related to funds raised at the time of the Company's Standard Listing, an increase in the Founder Loan, a subscription and offer in June 2017 and a placing in March 2018. |
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| * | Revenue during the period covered by the historic financial information has increased period-on-period reflecting the launch of the Toople telecoms business in May 2016 and its subseuqnet growth. |
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| * | A gross margin of £77,641 (8.1%) was generated in the year ended 30 September 2016, reflecting the predominance of wholesale revenues across the year whilst the Group builds it direct customer telephony business which was launched in May 2016. |
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| * | In the year ended 30 September 2017, there was an upward trend in the gross margin of the Group as the Group's direct, higher margin customer base increased resulting in an overall increase in gross profit margin to 12.4% and a reduction in percentage terms, of total revenue generated from wholesale customers (to approximately 64 %). |
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| * | In the six months ended 31 March 2018, the Group experienced a slight reduction in margin due to the scaling of the direct business and initial one-off costs incurred when contracting with direct customers. |
Current trading and financial position As at 31 July 2018, the Group had unaudited current assets of £0.58 million (including cash of £0.17 million) and current liabilities of £0.49 million resulting in net current assets of approximately £0.08 million. The Group's non-current liability in respect of the Founder Loan (repayable 3 years after 2016 Admission) was £0.61 million (cash value) (with a net present value in the Group's management accounts of approximately £0.56 million as at 31 May 2018. The Group's cash balance as at 10 September 2018 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this Document) was approximately £0.14 million and there have been no material changes to the liabilities of the Group since 30 June 2018. During the three months ended 30 June 2018, the Company achieved a number of new contract wins as it continued to benefit from investment in its new sales centre which has delivered a healthy increase in orders per customer when compared with results achieved by the previously outsourced relationship. Total revenues in the quarter grew by 27.2% when compared to 2017 with overall gross margin higher at 14.76% (2017: 11.95%) and gross margin in the retail division of 23.7% (2017: 17.6%). In August 2018, the Company signed two significant wholesale contracts with resellers, with the larger of these expected to deliver £3.5 million of additional revenue over the initial three year term of the agreement. |
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| B8 | Selected Key pro forma financial information |
Not applicable; this Document does not contain pro forma financial information. |
| B9 | Profit forecast | Not applicable; this Document does not contain profit forecasts or estimates. |
| B10 | Description of the nature of any qualifications in the audit report on the historical financial information |
There are no qualifications in the audit reports on the Historical Financial Information which has been audited. |
| B11 | Working capital | Not applicable The Company is of the opinion that the working capital available to the Group, taking into account the Net Proceeds, is sufficient for the Company's present requirements, that is which are for at least the 12 months from the date of this Document. |
| Section C – Securities | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Type and class of the securities admitted to trading |
The Company proposes to issue of 733,333,333 new Ordinary Shares pursuant to the Placing. The Placing is conditional on Admission. The issue of the Placing Shares is accompanied by the issue of the Adviser Warrants over 1,666,666 new Ordinary Shares and the Broker Warrants over 33,000,000 new Ordinary Shares. Neither the Adviser Warrants nor the Broker Warrants will be admitted to the Official List of the UKLA or to trading on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market for listed securities. |
| The Placing Shares and the Fee Shares are ordinary shares of 0.0667 pence each which will be registered with ISIN number GB00BZ8TP087 and SEDOL number BZ8TP08. |
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| C2 | Currency of the securities |
UK pounds sterling. |
| C3 | Issued share capital | The Company has 203,913,894 Ordinary Shares in issue (all of which are fully paid) of 0.0667 pence each. It proposes to issue up to a further 750,466,665 Ordinary Shares pursuant to this Document through the Placing and issue of Fee Shares. There are no shares in issue that are not fully paid. |
| C4 | Rights attaching to the securities |
The Ordinary Shares rank pari passu in all respects with each other, including for voting purposes, dividends and for any distributions made on a winding up of the Company. Each Ordinary Share confers the right to receive notice of and attend all meetings of Shareholders. On a show of hands, each Shareholder has one vote and on a poll each Shareholder has one vote per Ordinary Share held. In accordance with the Act, any Ordinary Shares issued for cash must first be offered to Shareholders in proportion to their holdings of Ordinary Shares. Such pre-emption rights may be altered and/or waived by a special resolution of Shareholders. The Company must hold an annual general meeting each year in addition to any other general meetings held in the year. The Directors can call a general meeting at any time. All members who are entitled to receive notice under the Articles must be given notice. Except in relation to dividends which have been declared and rights on a liquidation of the Company, the Shareholders have no right to share in the profits of the Company. The Ordinary Shares are not redeemable, however, the Company may purchase or contract to purchase any of the Ordinary Shares on or off market subject to the Act. The Placing Shares and the Fee Shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the Existing Ordinary Shares |
| C5 | Restrictions on free transferability of the securities |
Not applicable; the Ordinary Shares are freely transferable and there are no restrictions on transfer. |
| C6 | Admission to trading | Application will be made for the Placing Shares and the Fee Shares to be issued pursuant to the Placing to be admitted to the standard segment of the Official List and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities. It is expected that Admission will become effective and that unconditional dealings will commence on the London Stock on 25 September 2018. No application has been made or is currently intended to be made for the Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on any other exchange. |
| C7 | Dividend policy | The Company has never declared or paid any dividends on the Ordinary Shares. The Company currently intends to pay dividends on future earnings, if any, only when it is commercially and financially appropriate to do so. Any decision to declare and pay dividends will be made at the discretion of the Board and will depend on, amongst other things, the Company's results of operations, financial condition and solvency and distributable reserves tests imposed by corporate law and such other factors that the Board may consider relevant. |
| Section D – Risks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | Key information on the key risks that are specific to the Group or its industry |
KEY RISKS RELATING TO THE GROUP'S BUSINESS STRATEGY The Group has a relatively limited trading history with limited revenues, therefore, investors have only a limited basis on which to evaluate the Group's ability to achieve its objective of becoming a leading telecoms business to the SME market. If the Group fails to achieve its strategic objectives it will have a significant adverse effect on the Group's financial position. |
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| The Group is at an early stage of business development and has a small direct customer base at present (with the number of direct customers approaching 800 customers). The ability of the Group to become profitable is highly dependent on the Group significantly increasing its direct customer base which is dependent on a number of internal and external factors of which there is no guarantee will occur. |
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| * The majority of the Group's revenue is currently generated by wholesale customers and in particular a single wholesale customer accounted for approximately 50 per cent. of the Group's revenue in the six months ended 31 March 2017. Whilst the Group's wholesale customers are not a strategic area of growth given the low gross margins of the wholesale business, in the early stages of the Company's development, a significant reduction in wholesale revenues could have a material adverse effect on the Group. |
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| * The Group operates in a competitive market and its ability to increase its customer base and profit margins is largely dependent on the success of its marketing campaigns. If marketing and customer acquisition costs incurred are more expensive than anticipated and/or the rate of customer acquisition is slower than expected, the results of the Group may be adversely affected. |
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| * The Group's executives and key employees are material to the business. If one or more of them are unable or unwilling to continue in their present position, the Group may not be able to attract suitably experienced personnel to compensate for those departing which could adversely affect the business of the Group. |
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| * The success of the Group is in part dependent on the technical capabilities of the Group's Merlin platform. Any technical issues are likely to have a negative effect on the Group's ability to attract and retain customers. |
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| * The Group is heavily dependent on third party suppliers for certain products and services (including network suppliers) and any problems with third party suppliers in relation to quality, willingness or ability to supply or pricing may have an adverse impact on the reputation and financial performance of the Group. A number of supplier contracts can be terminated in the event that the Group does not comply with certain provisions under the agreements. Termination by a supplier could have a material adverse effect on the Group. |
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| * The Group's performance is dependent on maintaining its competitive customer service levels and there is a risk that the quality of service provided to customers may fall below that which is expected, which could have a significant reputational impact upon the Group. |
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| * The Group's outsourced marketing and customer service provider may in the future need to be changed in the event of inter alia, poor |
| performance or termination of the agreement. Any change in service provider could lead to significant disruption including an inability to grow or retain the Group's customer base. |
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| * | The Group's ownership and use of intellectual property may be challenged by third parties or otherwise disputed in the future despite precautions taken by the Group. |
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| * | Any change in the tax status of any member of the Group or the tax applicable to holding Ordinary Shares or in taxation legislation or its interpretation, could affect the value of the equity interests held by the Group, the Group's ability to provide returns to Shareholders and/or alter the post-tax returns to Shareholders. |
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| * | Whilst the Group holds relevant business insurances, there can be no guarantee that this will provide adequate protection and compensation to the Group. |
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| * | The Group's reliance on its online and cloud infrastructure and systems to conduct its operations puts it at risk of cyber attacks of both a deliberate and unintentional nature. If the Group suffers from a cyber attack it may lead to significant costs and other negative consequences, such as reputational damage and loss of investor confidence. |
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| * | The Group processes personal data as part of its business and failure to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (''GDPR'') could result in the Group being liable under the GDPR, including a liability for fines. The maximum level of fines is set at either (a) the greater of e10m and 2 per cent. of worldwide annual turnover for the preceding year or (b) the greater of e20m and 4 per cent. of worldwide annual turnover for the preceding financial year. |
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| KEY RISKS RELATING TO THE INDUSTRY IN WHICH THE GROUP OPERATES |
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| * | The pricing environment could become more difficult than currently anticipated by the Group and this could have an adverse impact on the Group's revenues and profit margins. |
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| * | Unforeseen regulatory changes which change the competitive landscape could result in a reduction in profits generated by the Group. |
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| D3 | Key information on the key risks that are specific to the securities |
* | KEY RISKS RELATING TO THE ORDINARY SHARES Notwithstanding the fact that an application will be made for the Placing Shares and the Fee Shares to be admitted to the standard listing segment of the Official List, this should not be taken as implying that there will be a liquid market in the Ordinary Shares and, accordingly, it may be difficult for investors to sell their Ordinary Shares. The share price of publicly traded companies can be highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations, which could lead to losses for Shareholders. |
| * | Future issues of Ordinary Shares (including in relation to the Placing, issue of the Fee Shares exercise of the Warrants and any options which may be granted in the future) could dilute the interests of Existing Shareholders and could impact upon the price of the Ordinary Shares. The Placing is fully subscribed, has been taken up in full and assuming issue of the Fee Shares, Shareholders will experience dilution of 78.63% |
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| * | There can be no assurance provided as to the level or frequency of future dividends, if any. |
||
| * | A standard listing affords investors in the Group a lower level of regulatory protection than that which is afforded to investors in a |
| company with a premium listing, which is subject to additional obligations under the Listing Rules. |
|---|
| * Any change in the Group's or its subsidiaries' tax status or in tax legislation could affect the nature and amount of tax payable an reliefs available which in turn could affect the Group's ability to provide returns to shareholders. |
| Section E – Placing | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | Net proceeds/estimate of expenses |
The Company has conditionally raised gross proceeds of £2.2 million through the Placing, resulting in estimated Net Proceeds of £1.97 million. The total costs of the Placing payable by the Company are approximately £230,000 (exclusive of recoverable VAT). |
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| E2a | Reasons for the Placing/use of proceeds/net amount of proceeds |
The Net Proceeds of the Placing will be used as follows: fund the working capital requirements of the Company including investing in targeted marketing initiatives which seek to grow revenue and delivery future return on capital – £1.57 million; enhance the Company's service offerings – £0.3 million; * fund the identification of potential 'bolt-on' acquisitions, which the Company deem to be earnings enhancing and fit with Company's stated strategy – £0.1 million. |
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| E3 | Terms and conditions of the offer |
The Company has allotted 733,333,333 Ordinary Shares at 0.3 pence per share under the Placing, conditional on Admission occurring and becoming effective by 8.00 a.m. London time on 25 September 2018 (or such later date as agreed with the Company). The rights attaching to the Ordinary Shares will be uniform in all respects and all of the Ordinary Shares will form a single class for all purposes. |
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| E4 | Interests material to the issue/conflicting interests |
The interests of the Directors together currently represent 33,950,000 Ordinary Shares being approximately 16.65% of the Existing Ordinary Shares. Certain Directors also have in aggregate, warrants over a further 3,000,000 Ordinary Shares (''NED Warrants'') representing 1.47% of the Existing Ordinary Shares. It is intended that 17,133,332 Fee Shares will be issued to the Directors and in Accordingly, it is expected that the Directors will hold 51,083,332 Ordinary Shares in aggregate following the Placing. Save as set out above, no Director has any interest in the Existing Ordinary Shares, nor is expected to have any interest in the Enlarged Share Capital or have any conflict of interest between his duties to the Company and any private interests or other duties. |
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| E5 | Name of the offeror, selling Shareholders and Lock up agreements |
Not applicable; no person or entity is offering to sell the relevant securities. |
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| E6 | Dilution | There is no offer of shares to existing equity holders. | ||||
| The issue of the Placing Shares and the Fee Shares will result in the ordinary share capital held by the Existing Shareholders at the date of this Document being diluted by 78.63 per cent |
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| E7 | Estimated expenses charged to the investor |
Not applicable; no expenses will be charged directly by the Company to any investor who subscribes for new Ordinary Shares pursuant to the Placing. |
The Group's business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected by the risks described below. In such cases, the market price of the Ordinary Shares may decline due to any of these risks and investors may lose all or part of their investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to the Directors, or that the Directors currently deem immaterial, may also have an adverse effect on the Group. The Directors consider the following risks to be the material risks for potential investors in the Company, but the risks listed do not necessarily comprise all those associated with an investment in the Company.
Any investment in the Ordinary Shares is speculative and subject to a high degree of risk. Prior to investing in the Ordinary Shares, prospective investors should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties associated with any investment in the Ordinary Shares, the Group's business and the sector in which it operates, together with all other information contained in this Prospectus, including, in particular, the risk factors described below.
Any of the risks described below, as well as other risks and uncertainties discussed in this Prospectus, could have a material adverse effect on the Group's business and could therefore have a negative effect on the trading price of the Ordinary Shares. Prospective investors should note that the risks relating to the Group, its industry and the Ordinary Shares summarised in the part of the Prospectus headed: ''Summary Information'' are the key risks associated with an investment in the Ordinary Shares. However, as the risks which the Group faces relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future, prospective investors should consider not only the information on the key risks summarised in that part but also, among other things, the risks and uncertainties described below.
The following factors do not purport to be a complete list or explanation of all the risk factors involved in investing in the Ordinary Shares and should be used as guidance only. Additional risks and uncertainties that are not currently known to the Company, or that it currently deems immaterial, may individually or cumulatively also have an adverse effect on the Group's business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. If this occurs, the price of the Ordinary Shares may decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment. Prospective investors should also consider carefully whether an investment in the Ordinary Shares is suitable for them in light of the information in this Prospectus and their personal circumstances.
The Group has only a limited trading history to date with limited revenues. Investors therefore have a limited basis on which to evaluate the Company's ability to achieve its objective of becoming a leading telecoms business targeting the SME and gaining a significant number of customers in a relatively short period of time, in particular by using targeted marketing strategies. The majority of the Group's revenue is currently generated by the Group's wholesale customers which generates significantly lower gross margins compared to the direct SME hosted telephony solution customers which are the main focus of the Group's business strategy going forward. The Group launched its hosted telephony service in January 2017 and whilst the Director's believe initial interest of customers in this service is encouraging, revenue in this area represented less than 1 percent. of the Group's revenue in the six months ended 31 March 2017. In the event that the actual performance of the Group and/or effectiveness of the Group's marketing strategies differs materially from the expectations of both the Directors and Shareholders, this may have a material adverse effect on the financial results and position of the Group and its future prospectus.
There is no guarantee that the SME market will find the Group's services sufficiently appealing or differentiated from the Group's competitors and that the Group will be able to grow its customer base at acceptable costs of customer acquisition. If the Group fails to achieve its strategic objectives, this will have a significant adverse effect on the Group's cash flows and income statement.
The Group's ability to generate increased levels of revenue and to become profitable is dependent on a number of factors including, but not limited to: the success of the Group's marketing activities in attracting a significant number potential customers to the Group's website and the cost of these marketing activities; the conversion rate of website visitors into customers; the level of customer service provided by the Group; the retention rate of customers; the reliability and quality of the Group's services; the Group's pricing remaining attractive and the Group's ability to remain operationally robust. Although the Group has approaching 800 customers, the Group's future success is dependent on the Group significantly increasing its number of direct customers and accordingly if any one of the factors outlined above is materially different to the Directors' expectations, it could have material adverse effect on the Group's ability to generate increased levels of revenues and to become profitable.
A significant proportion (approximately 64% in the six months ended 31 March 2018) of the Group's revenue is currently generated by wholesale customers and in particular a single wholesale customer accounted for approximately 50 per cent. of the Group's revenue in the six months ended 31 March 2018. Whilst the Group's wholesale customers are non-core to the business and not a strategic area of growth given the lower gross margins achieved in comparison to the gross margins of the Group's direct SME customers, in the early stages of the Company's development, a significant reduction in wholesale revenues could have a material adverse effect on the Group.
The Placing Price for the Placing is 0.3 pence per New Ordinary Share. The estimated net current asset value of the Group was approximately (0.068) pence per share as at 31 March 2018. The Placing Price premium to net asset value of approximately 0.368 pence per share places an intangible value on the strategy proposed by the Board, the human capital contained in the board and its employees, the perceived value of Merlin (which to date has not been significantly capitalised), as well as reflecting the costs incurred in the Placing. At 31 July 2018, the Company had cash resources of £0.17 million, and outstanding loans of approximately £0.61 million (cash value). The Net Proceeds of the Placing will be £1.97 million. There is no guarantee that the intangible value of the strategy will be realised or reflected in the share price of the Company's Ordinary Shares.
The Group's brand is still relatively unknown having launched in May 2016. Accordingly the Group is still building up its brand awareness and reputation from a low base in order to attract potential customers. The Group intends to continue to invest heavily in marketing using the Net Proceeds and have assumed that there will be a correlation between marketing spend and the number of customers that will be acquired as a direct result of that marketing, however costs of customer acquisition can be variable and unpredictable, influenced by the industry and competition in the market. In particular, since launch of the Toople brand, the Group has found customer acquisition costs to be more expensive than originally anticipated, largely as a result of increasing competition in the sector. Whilst the Group has refined its marketing strategy and closely monitors the costs of customer acquisition to ensure that the most appropriate marketing activities for the business are undertaken, there is no guarantee that its marketing activities will result in increased acquisition of customers at the rate expected by the Group.
The Company is heavily dependent on the continued contribution of Directors and key employees due not only to their experience and ability, but also their relationships and business networks, particularly the relationships with suppliers that certain key individuals have developed over a number of years. If such individuals were to leave the Group, and the Group was unable to attract suitable experienced personnel to compensate for those departing, it could have a significant negative impact on the Group's ability to achieve its objectives.
The Group's strategy assumes that the majority of customers will take more than product or service from the Group. However there is no guarantee that this will occur or that customers will choose to subscribe for higher margin hosted VoIP and mobile services. An inability to sell a range of products to customers and in particular higher margin services, could adversely affect the Group's financial results.
The Group is operating in a competitive market and faces competition from a large number of other telecoms companies, some of which are well established, with well-known brand names and have significantly larger marketing budgets and financial resources than is currently available to the Group. The Group hopes to attract customers through attractive pricing of its services and through the Group's easy to use proprietary software, however, there may be competitors who come to the market and offer a similar service on similar or better terms as the Group which may result in the Group losing its expected competitive advantage or being unable to successfully compete with the funds available to the Group. If the Group is unable to compete, the prospects of the Group will be materially affected.
The sectors in which the Group competes are subject to rapid and significant changes in technology, and the technology upon which the Group's products and services are based may become obsolete or may not continue to have sufficient market acceptance to create adequate demand. In order to compete successfully, the Group will need to continue to improve its products and services and to develop and market new products and services that keep up with technological changes. The Group's competitors may introduce such products and services before it does, or the products introduced may be perceived by the market to be superior to those of the Group. The Group may also incur unforeseen costs in the course of such product and service development including in respect of investment in fixed assets. An increase in the level of capital expenditure and unforeseen expenses of this nature would adversely affect the Group's free cash flow.
In addition, changes in technology are altering the nature of how communications services are provided and consumed and reducing the importance of national boundaries. In the future, the Group may therefore face increased competition from competitors who are different from those it has competed with historically or those who are based outside the UK.
The success of the Group is largely dependent on the technical capabilities of the Group's Merlin platform. In the event that technical issues were to occur, this could have a significant negative effect on the Group's ability to attract new customers and retain existing customers. Technical failures in a competitive market of this nature will adversely affect the reputation and financial condition of the Group.
Part of the Group's strategy is to deliver a strong customer service to its customers. The Group's customer service function is partly outsourced to a third party. Failure to provide and maintain competitive customer service levels and operational and back-office processes could result in customers moving to other providers, and this could have an adverse effect on the financial position of the Group. The Group's outsourced and insourced customer service function is carefully monitored to ensure that service level targets are met. In spite of this, risks still remain that the quality of service provided to customers is below that which is expected, which could have a significant reputational impact upon the Group. In the event that the Group's agreement with the customer service provider was terminated, this could have a material adverse effect on the Company as there could be a delay and costs associated in finding and training a replacement customer service and the Group's ability to attract and retain its customers could also be severely affected in the mean time.
Part of the Group's strategy is to use effective marketing to increase the Group's customer base. This is partly delivered through an outsourced third party. Failure to carry out effective marketing campaigns or termination of the contract could result in the Group not growing its customer base as anticipated which could have a material adverse effect on the Group if an alternative suitable supplier cannot be found within a short space of time.
The Group is dependent on third party suppliers for the provision of network infrastructure, network interconnection, IP traffic transit, equipment and associated services. The performance of equipment and services purchased from third party suppliers is not guaranteed to be error free or to ensure 100 per cent. service availability and any such performance failures could adversely affect the level of service the Group delivers to its customers. Any breakdown or change in the Group's relationships with its suppliers, any supplier declining to sell products or services to the Group for any reason, any material changes in prices, any disruption to the supply of products or services to the Group, any supplier having financial difficulties or going out of business and therefore not satisfying orders, or product liability claims relating to products supplied by third parties could have an adverse effect on the Group's business. Any failures, shortfall against customer expectations, service degradation or errors could result in claims for damages and credits from customers and could adversely affect the reputation and financial condition of the Group.
The Group has agreements in place with a number of wholesale suppliers to enable the Group to offer its telecoms services to potential customers across the UK. A loss of a significant supplier could result in the geographic coverage of the Group's services being limited and could lead to increased losses as potential customers move to alternative telecoms providers.
It should be noted that a number of supplier contracts can be terminated by the supplier in the event that the Group does not achieve a minimum number of customers within a set period of time or in the event of a change of control. In addition, certain suppliers require that clauses from their terms and conditions flow down to the end user or reseller's terms and conditions. In the event that the Group does not fulfil this obligation or its end users/resellers do not fulfil their obligations in respect of these clauses the supplier may be able to terminate the contract with immediate effect.
Should the Group be required to change a supplier it may be that the particular products or services provided are difficult and/or time consuming to replace or that the Group has to incur additional costs in making the change or is unable to fully replicate the desired functionality. Problems with third party suppliers in relation to quality, willingness or ability to supply and pricing may have an adverse impact on the reputation and financial performance of the Group.
The Group has agreements in place with a number of wholesale suppliers at advantageous prices. There can be no assurance that the suppliers will continue to supply the Group at these prices, particularly in the event of the Group failing to meet its targets and proposed sales volumes. In this event the suppliers may increase their prices without the Group being able to pass on these price increases on to their customers, if this were to occur it is likely that it would have a significant impact on the financial results of the Group.
The Group relies and will, in the future, rely on intellectual property laws and third party nondisclosure agreements to protect its intellectual property rights. Despite precautions which may be taken by the Group to protect its products, unauthorised parties may attempt to copy, or obtain and use, its products and the technology incorporated in them. Additionally, intellectual property required by the Group to develop, market and sell its products, or the intellectual property belonging or licensed to the Group may be challenged by third parties and may not be available to it indefinitely on an exclusive basis.
Although the Group has contingency plans in effect for certain natural disasters, as well as other unforeseen events that could damage the Group's operations, no assurance can be given that any such events will not occur nor that they will not materially interrupt the Group's business. In particular, an interruption in the supply of telecom services could have a material adverse impact on the reputation and financial performance of the Group.
The exercise of the Warrants and any options which may be granted in the future will result in a dilution of Shareholders' interests.
The attention of potential investors is drawn to Part IX of this Document headed ''Taxation''. The tax rules, including stamp duty provisions, and their interpretation relating to an investment in the Company may change during the life of the Company as may the tax residence of the Company. The levels of, and reliefs from, taxation may change. The tax reliefs referred to in this Document are those currently available and their value depends on the individual circumstances of investors. Any change in the tax status of any member of the Group or the tax applicable to holding Ordinary Shares or in taxation legislation or its interpretation, could affect the value of the equity interests held by the Company, affect the Company's ability to provide returns to Shareholders and/or alter the post-tax returns to Shareholders given that statements made in this Document concerning the taxation of the Company and its investors are based upon current tax law and practice which is subject to change.
By the very nature of the Group's business, it is expected that from time to time the Group will be subject to complaints or claims in the normal course of business. There is no certainty that such claims or complaints will not be material and that any settlements, awards or legal expenses associated with defending or appealing against any decisions in respect of any such complaints or claims will not have a material adverse effect on the Group's operating results or financial condition. The Group's business may be materially and adversely affected if the Group and or its employees or agents (such as the outsourced customer services centre) are found not to have met the appropriate standard of care or exercised their discretion or authority in a prudent or appropriate manner in accordance with accepted standards.
The Company is exposed to the risk that third parties that owe the Group money, securities or other assets may not fulfil their obligations. These parties may default on their obligations due to bankruptcy, lack of liquidity, operational failure or other reasons which could have a material adverse effect on the Group's cash flows and financial condition.
Whilst the Group holds business insurance relevant to its business, there can be no guarantee that this insurance will provide adequate protection and compensation to the Group to cover every conceivable risk. In the event of an event occurring which is not adequately covered by insurance, the Group's financial condition and the prospects of the Group may be materially adversely affected.
The Group has identified and can be ready to execute an extensive range of disaster recovery procedures. However, the Group's operations now or in the future may be adversely affected by risks outside the control of the Company including labour unrest, civil disorder, war, subversive activities or sabotage, fires, floods, explosions or other catastrophes, epidemics or quarantine restrictions which, if they occurred, could have a material adverse effect on the Group and its financial condition and prospects.
The Group's principal risks relate to market risk, operational risk and regulatory and legal risk. Accordingly, risk management and control of the balance between risk and return are critical elements influencing the Group's financial stability and profitability.
Operational risk refers to the risk of financial loss resulting from the Group's own operations including, but not limited to deficiencies in the Group's operating policy and inadequacies or breaches in the Group's control procedures. There is no certainty that the Group's policies and procedures to mitigate its exposure to market and operational risk will be completely effective. Unforeseen events and changes in the economy may lead to market disruptions and unexpected large or rapid changes in market conditions which may have a significant adverse effect on the Group's business and financial prospects and stability.
The Group must indemnify a Director, former Director or alternate Director of the Company and his or her heirs and legal personal representatives against all eligible penalties to which such person is or may be liable, and the Company must, after the final disposition of an eligible proceeding, pay the expenses actually and reasonably incurred by such person in respect of that proceeding. Each Director and alternate Director shall be deemed to have contracted with the Company on the terms of the indemnity contained in its Articles of Association.
The Group derives most of its profits from the UK and is therefore sensitive to fluctuations in the UK economy. The Group's performance depends to a certain extent on a number of factors outside of the control of the Group which impact on the UK's corporate spending, including political and economic conditions which may prevent the Group from accessing its funds. Changes in economic conditions in the UK and elsewhere, including, for example, interest rates, rates of inflation, industry conditions, political and diplomatic events and trends, tax laws, gross domestic product levels, credit conditions, and other factors could have an adverse effect on the financial performance and prospects of the Group.
The Group's reliance on its infrastructure and systems to conduct its operations puts it at risk of falling victim to cyber attacks. Cyber attacks can result from deliberate attacks or unintentional events and may include (but are not limited to) third parties gaining unauthorised access to the Group's network infrastructure and systems for the purpose of misappropriating its financial assets, intellectual property or sensitive information, corrupting data, or causing operational disruption. If the Group suffers from a cyber attack, whether by a third party or insider, it may incur significant costs and suffer other negative consequences, such as remediation costs (including liability for stolen assets or information) and repairing any damage caused to the Group's network infrastructure and systems. The Group may also suffer reputational damage and loss of investor confidence.
Both the landlord and the Group have certain termination rights under the lease in respect of the Group's premises. A break clause has been provided for on 1 November 2016 or 1 June 2018 upon either party giving three months' notice to the other party. The terms of the break clause constitutes an onerous lease as the Group would only have a three month period in which to find alternative suitable premises should the landlord serve the break notice. In the event that the Group is not able to find alternative premises with the three month period it could have an adverse effect on the Group's ability to continue its business activities and therefore may impact on the financial condition of the Group.
In addition, whilst the Group has the ability to terminate the lease, the validity of the Group's break notice is conditional on rent being paid in full and the premises being handed over in 'full vacant possession'. Should the Group not comply with the additional terms it may result in the Group not being in a position to terminate the lease without incurring additional costs.
The Group processes personal data as part of its business. The General Data Protection Regulation came into force on 25 May 2018 and the Group is required to comply with GDPR in respect of the processing of personal data, whether carried out by the Group or on its behalf, as well as all related policies and procedures. As part of this, the Group undertook a review of existing agreements pursuant to which personal data is processed to ensure that such contracts reflected the new requirements of the GDPR.
Failure to comply with the GDPR could result in the Group being liable under the GDPR, including a liability for fines. The maximum level of fines under the GDPR is set at either (a) the greater of e10m and 2 per cent. of worldwide annual turnover for the preceding year or (b) the greater of e20m and 4 per cent. of worldwide annual turnover for the preceding financial year.
Prices for many telecom products have declined consistently in recent years, through a combination of regulatory intervention and market competition. These declining price trends are expected to continue. It is possible that the pricing environment could become more difficult than currently anticipated by the Group, and this could have an adverse impact on the Group's revenues and profit margins.
Unforeseen regulatory changes changing the competitive landscape could result in a reduction in profits generated by the Group. For example, it is possible that industry regulation will require more competitive pricing to be offered in the market place. Any such revised legislation could negatively impact on the competitiveness of the Group's pricing and result in it being more difficult for the Group to attract new customers.
The Group's main businesses are principally regulated and supervised by Ofcom as well as by the Government and other regulatory authorities at both a UK and EU level. There is likely to be further regulatory intervention in the future which may have unforeseen impacts on market pricing and services provided by the Group at that time. This could include the regulation of services purchased by the Group for use in its service offerings, the regulation of services sold by the Group and the regulation of services with which the Group competes. Regulatory decisions and determinations, such as those made by Ofcom, may be subject to legal appeal through the courts up to and including the European Court. This may result in the need to pursue legal and regulatory action in the future. Decisions made by regulators and the courts could have an adverse impact on the Group's financial performance and such impact could on occasion be retrospective.
Fraud within the telephony industry may arise from customers using services without intending to pay their supplier. The Group's direct customers pay by direct debit therefore reducing the risk of non-payment. This is not, however, the case for the Group's wholesale customers who are in turn reliant on collecting funds from their own end users which may affect their ability to fulfil their financial obligations to the Group. If the Group is unable to efficiently manage credit risk the financial condition and results of the Group could be adversely affected
Notwithstanding the fact that an application will be made for the Ordinary Shares to be admitted to the standard listing segment of the Official List this should not be taken as implying that there will be a liquid market in the Ordinary Shares and, accordingly, it may be more difficult for investors to sell their Ordinary Shares. A return on investment in the Ordinary Shares may, therefore, in certain circumstances be difficult to realise. The share price of publicly traded companies can be highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations in response to a variety of factors, which could lead to losses for Shareholders. The price at which the Ordinary Shares may trade and the price which investors may realise for their Ordinary Shares will be influenced by a large number of factors, some specific to the Group and some which may affect quoted companies generally. These factors could include the performance of the Group's operations, large purchases or sales of shares, liquidity (or absence of liquidity) in its shares, currency fluctuations, legislative or regulatory changes (including changes in the tax regime in the jurisdiction in which the Group or its investments operate), additions or departures of key personnel at the Group, adverse press, newspaper and other media reports and general economic conditions. In addition, stock markets from time to time suffer significant price and volume fluctuations that affect the market price for securities and which may be unrelated to the Group's performance. The value of the Ordinary Shares will, therefore, fluctuate and may not reflect their underlying asset value.
The Ordinary Shares may not be a suitable investment for all of the recipients of this Document. Before making a final decision, prospective investors are advised to consult an appropriate independent investment adviser authorised under FSMA who specialises in advising on the acquisition of shares and other securities.
It may be necessary, at some future time, for the Group to issue additional Ordinary Shares to fund the growth plans of the Group. Any such issue (including the issue of the Placing Shares and the Fee Shares) would dilute the interests of Shareholders and could impact upon the price of the Ordinary Shares. Following the issue of the New Ordinary shares and the Fee Shares, Shareholders will experience dilution of 78.63%. Such dilution will therefore reduce the interest of existing Shareholders in the Company, proportionately reducing their entitlement to any dividends or other distributions made in the Company, together with their respective voting rights.
There can be no assurance as to the level or frequently of future dividends, if any. The declaration, payment and amount of any future dividends of the Company are subject to the discretion of the directors of the Company, and will depend on, amongst other things, the Company's earnings, financial position, cash requirements and availability of profits.
A standard listing affords investors in the Company a lower level of regulatory protection than that afforded to investors in a company with a premium listing, which is subject to additional obligations under the Listing Rules. Further details regarding the differences in the protections afforded by a Premium listing or against a Standard listing are set out in Part IV entitled ''Consequences of Standard Listing''.
Any change in the Company's or its subsidiaries' tax status or in tax legislation could affect the Company's ability to provide returns to shareholders. Statements in this Document in relation to tax and concerning the taxation of investors in Ordinary Shares are based on current tax law and practice which is subject to change. The taxation of an investment in the Company depends on the specific circumstances of the relevant investor.
The nature and amount of tax which members of the Group expect to pay and the reliefs expected to be available to any member of the Group are each dependent upon a number of assumptions, any one of which may change and which would, if so changed, affect the nature and amount of tax payable and reliefs available.
Investors should therefore consider carefully whether investment in the Company is suitable for them, in view of the risk factors outlined above and the information contained in this Document, their personal circumstances and the financial resources available to them.
| Directors | Andrew James Hollingworth, (Chief Executive Officer) Kevin Lawrence (Chief Financial Officer) Richard John Horsman, (Non-Executive Chairman) Geoffrey Paul Wilson, (Interim Chief Financial Officer) |
|---|---|
| Company Secretary | WKH Company Services Limited |
| Registered Office of the Group | PO BOX 501 The Nexus Building Broadway, Letchworth Garden City SG6 9BL |
| Reporting Accountants to the Company |
Crowe U.K. LLP St Bride's House 10 Salisbury Square London EC4Y 8EH |
| Auditors to the Company | PKF Littlejohn LLP 1 Westferry Circus London E14 4HD |
| Registrars | Share Registrars Limited The Courtyard 17 West Street Farnham Surrey GU9 7DR |
| Company website | www.Toople.com |
| Publication of this Document | 13 September 2018 |
|---|---|
| Admission and commencement of dealings in the Placing Shares | 25 September 2018 |
| Crediting of Placing Shares to CREST Accounts | 25 September 2018 |
| Ordinary Share certificates dispatched by | 9 October 2018 |
These dates and times are indicative only, subject to change and may be brought forward as well as moved back, in which case new dates and times will be announced. The times referred to above are references to the time in London, UK.
| 203,913,894 |
|---|
| 733,333,333 |
| 17,133,332 |
| 954,380,559 |
| 0.3 pence |
| £1,970,000 |
| £230,000 |
| 76.84 per cent |
| 40,897,291 |
| GB00BZ8TP087 |
| BZ8TP08 |
| TOOP |
The Group is a technology focused telecoms group whose aim is to become a leading provider of telecom solutions to the UK SME market. The Group's target market is those SME businesses which have between 1 and 50 employees (the ''Target Market''). The Group's services include the provision of cloud based telephony services, broadband over copper, fibre, EFM and Ethernet data services (with call bundles) and mobile services (the ''Business'').
The Directors have entered into the Placing in order to raise gross proceeds of £2.2 million to provide general working capital for the Group and to provide funds for sales, marketing and customer acquisition.
The Directors believe that there is demand from UK SMEs for easily accessible, simple to understand, flexible, reliable telecom solutions which are available with minimal delay at an attractive price and accompanied by excellent customer service. The Toople brand and commercial launch of the Business occurred in May 2016 shortly following the Company's Standard Listing on 10 May 2016.
The number of customers acquired in the initial period after launch was affected by an unexpected significant and rapid increase in competition within the SME broadband market which resulted in the costs of customer acquisition being higher than expected. In response, the Directors adopted a revised digital marketing strategy which saw the launch of the Group's first direct digital marketing campaign at the end of February 2017, resulting in order growth of 81% to the end of April 2017 compared to the number of orders in January and February of that year. Monthly customer orders (excluding wholesale customer orders) have continued to grow during 2018 compared to 2017.
The Group launched its hosted telephony solution in January 2017 which the Directors anticipate being a key driver of growth for the Group. A hosted telephony solution does not use hardware based at a company's own premises but is instead hosted in the cloud with voice traffic carried over an internet connection. The Directors made a strategic decision to accelerate the development and subsequent launch of the hosted platform after analysing market analyst forecasts which predict strong growth in the hosted PBX market over the next 3 years. The hosted telephony market offers potentially higher profit margins in comparison to the mature broadband and mobile markets which are also more crowded markets from a competitive point of view.
Since launch, the Business has seen good growth in broadband and mobile orders and the hosted telephony system has provided the opportunity to deploy a complete unified communications package to the small business market as envisaged at the time of the Company's Standard Listing. The Group uses the BroadSoft platform for its hosted solution, which is recognised as the leading platform for hosted solutions offering the most customer value added services and service resilience. Deploying the hosted solution to small businesses is, in the Directors' opinion, extremely scalable as all handsets and apps are delivered preconfigured by the Toople portal giving the customer a true ''plug and play'' experience.
The Group owns a proprietary software platform, Merlin, which allows potential customers to view, quote and buy packages online. Merlin connects via application program interface (''API'') to the Group's network suppliers to identify the best services available for each customer. The Directors believe that Merlin's capabilities and customer relationship management (''CRM'') interface is very strong, compares favourably to other platforms used in the telecoms industry to serve the UK SME market and when combined with the Group's delivery of online telecoms packages at competitive prices is a differentiator of the Group's business compared to other existing telecoms companies.
Whilst the Group encourages its customers to use Merlin's online capabilities to manage their ongoing services and billing, the Group also seeks to differentiate itself through the provision of excellent customer service for those customers who prefer or need to speak to a UK based customer service operative.
The Group is headquartered in Buckinghamshire, UK and has a developer-team retained in Poland to support and maintain the Merlin platform. Prior to November 2017, the Group employed the services of a third party sales agency to convert the demand generation that Toople's marketing activity generates. This sales activity was transitioned in-house, located in Warrington, during November and December 2017 as the Director's believe that having direct control of the sales resource will drive faster customer growth, improve revenues through the sale of complementary products and improve the customer conversion rate and allow Toople to control the entire sales cycle.
Following the opening of the Warrington sales office, the Group saw an increase of 113% in Revenue Generating Unit (''RGU'') orders in the first three months of 2018 compared with 2017. The Group continues to monitor and seeks to optimise the customer journey experienced by its customers in order to improve its service offering to maximise the opportunity to attract and retain customers.
In addition to the Group's direct SME customers, the Group currently provides telecoms services to 9 wholesale customers which in turn provide telecoms services to a number of end users. Whilst wholesale customers currently account for a large proportion of the Group's revenue, wholesale services are not a core focus of the Group primarily due to the lower margins attached to this service. Further information on the Group's wholesale services is included below within paragraph 3 of this Part I.
SMEs within the target market of the Company were estimated to employ 12.8 million people, across 5.7 million businesses in 20171 . The Director's consider that the break-even point for the Group requires a relatively low volume of customers in comparison to the size of the target market. Whilst there can be no guarantee of this occurring in the short term (or at all) and the success of the business and the financial results of the Group are subject to many variables (including, but not limited to the the success of the Group's marketing campaigns and the profit margins achieved on the Group services), and to the risk factors set out in the section of this Prospectus headed ''Risk Factors'' on page 14, the Directors believe this is a reasonable assumption based on their experience in the industry and the use of the Group's scalable innovative automated software platform which should allow the Group to manage a large number of new customers in a relatively short space of time.
The Company was incorporated on 2 March 2016 for the purpose of becoming the holding company for the Group. The Group consists of the Company and a number of wholly owned subsidiaries (as described in paragraph 2.10 of Part IX of this Document) with the main operating entities being Toople.com Limited and AskMerlin Limited.
Toople.com was founded by David Breith (the ''Founder'') in December 2008 (originally as O-Bit Group Limited, then Epicco Limited (''Epicco'') and Cube Telecom Limited before adopting its current name in March 2016). Following a dormant period until 2011, it was used to acquire assets as part of the sale of O-bit Telecom Limited to Daisy Group plc by David Breith. Toople.com then became a facilities management business operating centralised services such as finance, admin and back office support for other businesses in which David Breith had an interest. After a period, these businesses had grown to the extent that they were capable of bringing these services inhouse and Toople.com consequently ceased activities. In April 2015, the Founder commenced work in relation to developing the product offering and strategy for the Business as set out in this Document.
Toople.com entered into initial arrangements with network providers and suppliers in July 2015 and gained its first customer in August 2015 as Toople.com sought to bring a small number of customers on-board whilst researching and refining the Group's business strategy. Toople.com's research activities focused on determining customer behaviour and preferences in relation to the Group's services through the use of regular surveys and contact strategies. Feedback from customers was also sought on Merlin's automatic capabilities, messaging and pricing to help shape the Group's business strategy going forwards.
The Company's Chief Executive Officer and Neil Taylor, the Group's former Chief Financial Officer, became involved in the business of the Group in 2015 to develop the business strategy of the Group. The Group was officially formed in April 2016 following incorporation of the Company and the acquisition by the Company of the Subsidiaries (as described in paragraph 13.15 of Part IX of this Document) which led to the Company becoming the holding company of the Group.
The Group's proprietary software, Merlin, is owned by the Company's wholly owned subsidiary AskMerlin Limited. AskMerlin was founded in December 2008 as Merlin Soft Limited, and
1 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/business-population-estimates-2017
subsequently adopted its current name in April 2010. AskMerlin was dormant for an initial period after incorporation then acquired Merlin (from O-bit Telecom Limited, owned by David Breith) in 2011. Certain limited modules of Merlin were licenced by AskMerlin to other telecom companies, including Daisy Group plc (2011 to 2013) and Coms plc (2013 to June 2015) in order to generate licence income. These licence agreements have now come to an end.
The developers responsible for the development of Merlin were brought in-house in 2016 through the establishment of Ask Merlin ZOO, a wholly owned subsidiary of AskMerlin. The number of developers employed has reduced as the role of the developer team has moved from one of development to primarily support and maintenance of Merlin and in order to manage the Company's working capital.
Prior to launch of the Toople brand in early 2016, the Directors anticipated that the Group's competitive broadband offering would be disruptive in the market (on the basis that few telecoms companies were focusing on providing broadband to the SME market) which would attract customers to the Toople brand, allowing the Group to upsell other higher margin products. As a result of a significant increase in competition in the SME broadband market since launch, the costs of customer acquisition for the broadband market increased significantly in comparison to the Director's expectations at the time of launch. Consequently, the Group is now focusing its marketing efforts on growth of its hosted telephony service which launched in early 2017. Hosted services attract a significantly higher margin in comparison to broadband customers and a significant proportion of those customers taking hosted services also subscribe for Toople's broadband.
As at the date of this Document, the Group has 17 employees (excluding the Directors). The Group also outsources a number of services (including website design and customer service). Biographies in respect of the Directors, senior management and consultants are set out in Part II.
The Group's service portfolio comprises of hosted telephony services, business broadband, fibre, EFM and Ethernet data services, business mobile phones, cloud PBX and SIP Trunking and Traditional Services (calls and lines) which are delivered and managed through Merlin, the Group's proprietary software platform, to the UK SME market. The Group's services may be sold in isolation or in bundles of multiple services as selected by each customer. Since launch of the Toople brand in May 2016, the Directors have been encouraged by the reaction from SME customers. The Group's hosted cloud based telephony services launched in January 2017 and is now a fundamental part of the Group's core proposition for SMEs.
Currently the majority of the Group's customers are signed up to 12 month, 24 month or 36 month contracts (the latter being the case for hosted services) giving the Company the added benefit of visibility over contracted revenue. The Directors continue to believe that the Group's simple services, competitive pricing, customer focus and Merlin platform are highly attractive to the Group's Target Market and will help to win and retain customers on an ongoing basis.
Merlin delivers an automated process via an online customer portal, commencing with the customer obtaining an online quote for their product following which the customer can place an order. Delivery of the services and products required, as well as the ongoing management of the Group's products and services is also managed through Merlin. The Directors believe this online process and, in particular, the ease with which SME customers can obtain an online quote which they can order online and have delivered in a relatively short space of time, provides the Group with a competitive advantage compared to other UK providers targeting the SME market.
The Group owns the intellectual property rights for its software platform Merlin. Merlin was initially developed in 2005 as an in-house software platform to manage complex billing functions. Multiple additional functionalities have been developed and added to the platform over a number of years based on customer trends, patterns, research, feedback and insight. This has resulted in a cloud based telecoms resource planning platform which is capable of managing all aspects of a business's needs.
Merlin allows the Group's customers to buy their telecoms solutions online, bespoke to their own organisation, get an instant quote and sign an electronic signature for the services that they require. Merlin also allows a customer order to be managed and tracked online by the customer right through to delivery of the service, installation (where applicable), billing and ongoing management and configuration.
Given the automated nature of Merlin, the Directors believe it lends itself to delivery of a scalable business and also mitigates the risk of human error. Merlin has the capability to process a customer order of multiple broadband lines in the same automated way and in the same timescale that would be required for an order of a single broad line and without significant additional overheads being required other than in respect of the Group's customer service team.
Management believe that Merlin forms a key part of the Group's offering and as such retain an inhouse team of programmers who are focused on ensuring the maintenance of the platform and development where required. Retention of an in-house development team is deemed by the Directors to provide a competitive advantage as any improvements and upgrades can be made without significant delay.
The suite of services currently offered can be split by the Group into four areas as follows:
Hosted (SIP Trunking/Cloud PBX) – SIP Trunk installation to allow for hosted VoIP services and Cloud PBX.
Business Broadband, Data, EFM and Ethernet – High quality, high speed broadband with connectivity supplied by tier 1 carriers at a fixed competitive price, underpinned by Merlin platform to allow for identification of bandwidth maximisation.
Calls and Lines – High quality lines and calls from tier 1 Carriers with unlimited calls allowances
Business Mobile Phones – Wholesale mobile offering for SIM only and Handsets, all bundles include unlimited calls and texts and include a data usage in each bundle.
The services on offer can be taken by a customer individually or as a combined package. The Merlin platform is designed to allow customers to add additional services with ease through its automated functionality which allows SMEs to adapt their package to the changing requirements of their business.
Hosted services is a cloud based alternative to the traditional fixed telephony systems that requires no on-site PBX's and no upfront capex costs. Its cloud-based nature means that all features are available anywhere with an internet connection or mobile phone connection. The Group's Cloud PBX is a Broadsoft platform (Broadsoft being the market leading provider in the UK), hosted on the BT Wholesale network. The platform allows the Group to offer a wide range of capabilities such as calls, conferencing, instant messaging and file sharing. The design of the platform takes advantage of BT's resilient and secure next-generation network offering top of the range coverage and gives customers standard and advanced features expected in modern telephony.
Using a system that is cloud based means that it is quick and easy to set up, manage and use with minimal capital expenditure or advance payment. The Group's hosted service configures automatically and seamlessly integrates with existing communications tools. Advanced features can be chosen via the Merlin cloud based services portal and activated from any device and location, meaning that anything from basic to fully mobilised communications are delivered across a powerful next-generation network. The Group's offering is a fully scalable 'pay as you grow' service featuring complete monitoring and full visibility.
The hosted solution, launched by the Group in late January 2017, offers flexible working so that customers can issue employees with 'one number', instead of separate mobile and fixed lines, thereby enabling them to work from different locations, including home, but still be part of the overall communication service. As part of the hosted solution, the Group launched two simple propositions, Toople.com Classic and Toople.com Premium. These products can be ordered on line or over the phone, with unlimited calls bundles for a fixed monthly fee and come with the handset included in the seat price. Toople.com Premium also provides customers with full phone system functionality and mobility via an additional IOS or Andriod app on their mobile, tablet or laptop. This enables customers to take their office with them on any device.
The Directors believe the principal competitive advantages of the Group's hosted offering include:
i. the ability to integrate fixed, mobile and data services making it easy for customers to order, install and manage;
Customers seeking traditional telephony can choose from a range of call and line options separately from any broadband offering as desired. The Group acts as a reseller of lines supplied by BT Openreach. The Directors believe that once a customer has opted to use their traditional telephony services it puts the Group in a position to demonstrate the reliability and functionality of the Merlin platform, placing it in a good position to provide more up-to-date services to the customer if required by the business.
The Group offers ADSL 2+, FTTC and EFM through four separate providers (BT Openreach, BT Wholesale, TalkTalk Business and Vodafone) allowing the Group to provide the best speed available to a customer's site by comparing availability through each one. The superfast connectivity supports the hosted offering (described below) and allows the Group full end-to-end visibility of customer's calls.
The Group's Superfast Connectivity services include:
The Group currently has a VSP agreement which allows the Company access to the 02, Vodafone and EE networks.
Customers can choose the way in which they receive after sales service, from the following options:
This allows SMEs to choose the customer service route which is best suited to them which the Directors believe is more likely to lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction and ultimately customer retention. The Group is working with a UK based customer service centre, whose services will be grown in conjunction with the Group's customer base to ensure the level of service provided to all SMEs is not compromised. The Group has worked closely with the customer service centre to ensure that appropriate training, monitoring and service level agreements are in place.
It is not expected that the Group's services will require significant amounts of site visits for maintenance and repair as the Group's system can be maintained and upgraded automatically via Merlin. However, via an outsourcing arrangement, the Group has access to a team of engineers who are able to assist customers with installation of hardware if needed or repairs.
The Group seeks to offer competitively priced solutions, where possible providing customers with savings against incumbent market players. The Group's pricing strategy seeks to offer customers the ability to have fixed price telephony and data with minimum upfront costs. Customers enter into a choice of 12, 24 or 36 month contract with service charges paid in advance and any overage outside of their bundles paid in arrears. Wherever possible, the Group takes payments through a direct debit arrangement so as to minimise the risk of bad debts.
In addition to the Group's SME customer base to which the Group directly provides telecoms services, the Group also provides telecoms services (minutes, lines, broadband and cloud PBX) indirectly to end users through a number of wholesale customers. These end users or ''indirect customers'' have no exposure to the Group or the Merlin platform and deal directly with their own provider (the wholesale customer of the Group).
Wholesale customers place orders with the Group based on the requirements of their own customers. Typically the wholesale customers have entered into agreements with the Group for a minimum period of 24 months. The Group's wholesale services, including billing functionality, are provided through Merlin. The Group's wholesale customers and their end-users do not have access to Merlin's intellectual property or its full functionality and customer facing portal, therefore, the Directors do not believe that the Group's wholesale services have an impact on the Group's ability to differentiate itself in the market from other telecoms providers (including the Group's wholesale customers). The automated billing functionality of the Merlin platform provides the Group's wholesale customers with a white-label billing service (noting that invoices are issued in the name of the wholesale customer and not the Group).
Approximately 64 per cent. of the Group's consolidated (unaudited) revenue of £689,769 in the six months ended 31 March 2018 was generated from wholesale customers. However, the Group does not deem the indirect route to end users to be a core part of the business moving forward due to the lower gross margins associated with the wholesale revenues and expects the revenue from wholesale customers to reduce over time.
The Group's services are targeted at SMEs (in particular targeting those SMEs with between 1 to 50 employees). The Group's objective is to be the easiest telecoms company to do business with at a price and service that leads the market and that delivers growth and value for the Company's shareholders.
The Group's strategy for achieving its objective is to:
Due to the relatively low level of brand awareness as a result of the Business only launching in 2016, marketing and advertising spend forms a key part of the Group's growth strategy. The Group's marketing and advertising objective is to target high levels of on-line market penetration within a short space of time to increase brand awareness. The strategy involves a wide range of marketing and advertising routes and continued investment in the Group's website and brand image (albeit a significantly smaller amount than was necessary immediately following launch last year).
The Group has continually reviewed and adapted its marketing, advertising and customer journey since launch of the Business and expects to continue to do so in an effort to ensure that the cost of acquisition is balanced with the contribution generated by each customer. The Group's marketing strategy was initially focussed on Google pay per click advertising and Google display was based on small scale testing of the digital marketing strategy carried out prior to the Company's Standard Listing. This strategy was implemented using part of the proceeds of the fundraising at the time of the 2016 Admission, however Google pay per click and Google display proved to be too costly when competition in the SME broadband market accelerated faster than had been envisaged by the Directors in the months following the 2016 Admission. This resulted in the Google ''cost per click'' significantly exceeding the Directors' original expectations and significantly increasing the Group's cost per acquisition of a customer.
As a consequence, the Directors explored a number of alternative digital marketing channels which resulted in a finessed marketing strategy which was announced by the Company in its results for the year ended 30 September 2016. This strategy is focussed on direct digital marketing campaigns (as well as other forms of marketing and advertising activities as described below) to drive growth in the Group's customer base at acceptable costs of customer acquisition. The Directors launched the Group's first direct digital marketing campaign at the end of February 2017 which resulted in order growth of 81% to the end of April 2017 compared to the number of orders in January and February of that year. The strategy has continued to produce results with monthly customer orders continuing to grow during 2018 compared to 2017.
The cost per customer acquisition (''CPA'') is currently in the range £40 to £91. This is based on the actual amount payable to affiliate marketing and comparison sites where a Toople customer signs up through their website (or over the phone). The actual amount payable depends on the comparison site used and whether the order is made on-line or over phone. The CPA range above also captures the direct costs involved in acquiring customers through the Group's outsourced sales and marketing team: the cost of e-direct marketing campaigns and marketing is divided by the number of customers gained. The cost of obtaining a customer lead (only a portion of which will result in Toople gaining a customer) is in the region of £10 to £32 (this is based on the cost of obtaining potential customer leads arising from the activities carried out by the outsourced marketing and sales team. The cost of a lead is included in the CPA range above.
The Group's website for the Toople brand is designed to provide an interactive positive online customer experience, ensuring the customer is able to order services in accordance with the needs of the business.
Specific landing pages on the Group's website are assigned to all paid for advertising to ensure that the potential customer arrives at the appropriate page of the website that relates to the advert that brought them to the site. This is designed to reduce the number of clicks required on the site to bring a more streamlined experience to the user.
In addition to the direct digital marketing campaigns used by the Group, other advertising routes include both paid for services, such as Google AdWords and banner advertising, whilst optimising leads through CRM tools and lead forensics software in order to seek to maximise penetration into the Group's Target Market. Search engine optimisation and web tracking may also be used, in addition to methods such as social media strategies, e-mail marketing and use of affiliate marketing and comparison sites.
Marketing activity undertaken by the Group is closely monitored by the Group's management to assess the impact and effectiveness of the marketing campaigns. This allows the Directors to make changes to the marketing campaign as required. Marketing activities are not typically subject to long term contracts so as to allow the Directors to discontinue a form of marketing campaign if it does not prove to be effective and to allow the Directors to manage the Group's working capital position.
The Directors expect that continued significant marketing spend will be required going forwards in order to drive customer acquisition growth. This expenditure will not be subject to long term contracts and will primarily be on a discretionary ''pay to play'' basis such that if a form of marketing campaign does not prove to be effective, it can be discontinued. This will also allow the Company to carefully manage the Group's working capital position.
In the longer-term, the Directors will continue to review the Group's approach to the market, positioning and brand, and will consider whether it is appropriate to develop the Group's portfolio further and or to enter other markets such as the consumer, mid and large SME's as well as the Enterprise or Government sector.
As described in paragraph 3 of this Part I, the Group has a number of wholesale customers. Whilst this provides a relatively stable revenue base for the Group as described above, it is not currently intended that the Group will strategically focus on growing this part of the business. Instead the Directors intend to focus on growing the direct sales route as described above and in particular, intend to drive growth of the Group's hosted telephony solutions which attract the highest gross margins in comparison to other services offered by the Group.
The Group does not own any telecommunications infrastructure itself but is dependent on the use of the networks of telecommunication wholesale companies. The Group has secured wholesale agreements with a number of network providers including TalkTalk Business, BT Openreach, BT Wholesale and Vodafone which allows the Group to provide its services throughout the UK. All wholesale suppliers have been interconnected (via API) with Merlin to maintain the fully automated capabilities of the platform for each prospective and existing customer.
Merlin selects the most appropriate provider for the customer based on their location versus strength of network coverage versus speed in order to deliver the customer the optimum connectivity that is available to them.
In 2016 there were around 5.7 million SME businesses in the UK. Of this figure, the majority (99%) fall into the category of having less than 50 employees and therefore representing the Group's Target Market. Within this space BT are the largest telecoms provider, receiving nearly 50% of all fixed line revenues.
For the Group's Target Market, the Directors estimate that market for business network access and calls was worth £585m for Q1 2015. The lines market in Q1 2015 was 7,680,000 lines whilst the hosted market was between 2.2-2.4m seats in 2015, with in excess of 500,000 added in the year.
The UK Communications Regulator (''Ofcom'') published a report on 25 June 2015 (Broadband services for SMEs) that indicated a renewed competitive focus was being placed upon the SME market, with a number of significant providers re-branding and re-launching their SME propositions. Additionally, a number of new technologies have allowed for smaller business focused providers to enter the market. The report concluded that the market was in a state of transition due to the number of new players and potential for convergence of services through web based telecoms platforms, such as Cloud PBX solutions.
2 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/business-population-estimates-2017
3 www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/37755/bb-for-smes.pdf
Ofcom reported (June 2015) that BT has a c.49% share of the SME Business Broadband Market, predominantly due to the fact that this market lacks the significant competition that exists in residential markets. The largest market share following BT is held by Virgin Media at 9%, although there is a significant number of small players in the market holding a combined market share of 24%. No clear data exists on the precise number of smaller players but it is estimated to be in excess of 2,000.
The Directors identify the Group's key competitors in the market at present as Virgin Media, Daisy Group plc (''Daisy''), BT Business, TalkTalk Business and Vodafone. Daisy are focused on the SME market and position themselves as one of the largest independent service providers through an indirect model, selling their services via third parties. Vodafone have strong branding due to their presence in the mobile industry and remain focused on mobile as an entry to their customers. Virgin have recently relaunched into the SME segment, focusing on connectivity.
During the past several years a number of large established telecoms companies have sought to target the SME market, the Directors believe that the offerings of these larger companies are not sufficiently flexible or tailored for the SME market and that the size and management policies of these telecoms companies restricts them from being able to readily react to the changing needs of an SME customer.
In recent years there has been an increasing interest in advanced fixed voice telephony features among SMEs. Due to the connectivity requirements for these services, the hosted market (encompassing SIP Trunking and cloud PBX services) has seen significant growth as increasing numbers of SMEs have adopted hosted services. The growth over recent years has seen the number of seats increase from 1.1 – 1.3 million in December 2013, to 3 million in June 2017 demonstrating a growth rate in excess of 11% for each six month period (Source: Cavell Group).
Quality of service is crucial within the hosted market as VoIP services and cloud-based applications require significant upload and download capabilities to ensure services are delivered to SMEs as required.
Market research performed by Ofcom has uncovered a number of issues faced by SMEs in identifying telecoms providers, selecting the services required and ultimately receiving those services without significant issue. Some of these issues are summarised below.
The Group aims to mitigate this risk and increase costing clarity through its fully automated ordering and quoting process which can be accessed by any prospective customer on their website. Applications built into the website allow for comparison with other suppliers on a like for like basis.
The flexibility of the Group's offerings allows customers to add additional offerings to their bespoke telecoms packages at any point during the life of their contract, allowing for services to compliment the changing needs of a business.
Many SMEs experience at least one issue when switching. The Group aims to tackle this through its UK based customer services team which will be grown as appropriate in conjunction with an increasing customer base.
Dissatisfaction is highest among SMEs with ADSL services and in particular in relation to some aspects of broadband quality of service. Research by Ofcom in 2016 found that 47% of SME internet users reported experiencing issues with internet connectivity in the last 12 months, including speed, ability to access the speed paid for, and connection reliability. A minority of SMEs (13%) are also dissatisfied with the speed of fault resolution. Quality of service is of significant importance to SMEs as all businesses have a lower tolerance for outages than residential consumers. Reliable services underpins an SMEs ability to serve their customers. The Group aims to ensure high quality service and mitigate the risk of the Group's customers encountering commonly reported issues as far as is possible.
Whilst broadband coverage for SMEs has grown it lags behind the UK as a whole resulting in some businesses lacking download speeds that are sufficient for certain key business activities. It is estimated that 7% of SMEs do not have an acceptable broadband service (compared with 4% for the overall population) and 84% of SMEs have access to superfast broadband (compared with 91% for the overall population) yet this falls to 74% for those businesses located in business parks and trading estates.
As superfast broadband continues to be rolled out the increase in availability will lead to not only a larger market in which the Group is able to operate, but also generate new customers that have not entered into previous relationships with other suppliers.
Ofcom research performed in June 2015 identified that 23% of landline customers, 26% of broadband customers and 50% of mobile customers were using personal/residential contracts for their business needs. This was due to a range of factors, including customers stating business contracts were too expensive and their personal contracts were sufficient for business needs. While a certain portion of the Group's Target Market may be unlikely to change to a business contract if they deem it to be unnecessary, those who refrain from doing so over pricing issues can be targeted by the Group due to the Group's competitive pricing strategy.
In relation to the hosted telephony market, market analyst forecasts (Cavell Group, February 2017) predict strong growth over the next 2 years with Broadsoft having the largest market share of hosted platform providers in the UK. The hosted telephony market offers potentially higher profit margins in comparison to the mature broadband and mobile markets which are also more crowded markets from a competitive point of view, which in the Directors' opinion, presents a significant opportunity for the Group. The Cavell Group also report that the SME market is seen as the driving force behind growth in the hosted market.
The Board believes that there is a clear market opportunity for a value provider of broadband and telecom services to UK SMEs. Economic uncertainty, means small business customers need value and pricing certainty. That creates real opportunity for a value challenger, offering simple, affordable, reliable, good customer service and fair connectivity.
The strategy of the Company is to create, through a combination of acquisitions and organic growth, a substantial UK providers to the SME and mid-market of telecommunications services and solutions. The Company further intends to provide its customers with a product set including access, hosting, voice, managed services and mobile. The Company intends to provide a comprehensive portfolio of products from a single operating platform and on a single bill.
The Company will seek to cross-sell new products to existing customers and to create a ''one-stopshop'' for converged communications solutions. The Directors believe that such an offering will also help to reduce customer churn. Toople's country of operation is the United Kingdom.
The Directors consider the Merlin platform to be an essential component of the Group's business, providing it with both a competitive edge and allowing for scalability without the need to significantly increase employee numbers to manage the acquisition, registration and set-up process for new customers as a result of Merlin's fully automated functionality.
Merlin is connected via API with key suppliers in the UK, (BT Wholesale, BT Openreach, Vodafone and TalkTalk Business), resulting in Merlin automatically identifying the best connectivity option for each customer based on their geographic location and available networks. The Directors believe the algorithms programmed to perform this detection process significantly reduce the level of human input required whilst simultaneously ensuring high quality of service.
The in-house development team (comprised of 3 individuals) is responsible for the ongoing monitoring, maintenance and development of the Merlin platform. Retaining an in-house team to perform this work is able to ensure corrective actions are taken as required and without delay. Potential improvements to the platform identified in the ordinary course of business and through feedback from SME clients can also be implemented far more effectively than if this service was to be outsourced. This allows the Group and its platform to stay up to date, reflecting the requirements and demands of the market as it constantly evolves in an attempt to retain a competitive edge.
Since January 2018, the Group has operated an in-house sales team in order to move from a transactional sales approach to a consultative one and at the same time deliver a significant annual cost saving. The move to an in-house sales team has resulted in a higher level of RGUs per customer per sale, increased gross margin per customer acquisition and an enhanced customer experience as a result of the sales team being led by the Group's own leadership team.
The Group is focussed on delivering excellent customer service and the Directors believe this differentiates the Group from certain competitors.
The Group's Directors and management team (further described within Part III of this Document) have significant combined experience within the telecoms industry. Previous roles of certain members include long standing senior positions with the key network and service suppliers within the UK, including TalkTalk. As a result, long standing relationships exist between certain Directors and certain of the Group's key suppliers.
In particular the Group is dependent on the expertise of the Company's Chief Executive Officer, Mr Hollingworth, and his relevant experience at TalkTalk Plc. A biography in respect to Mr Hollingworth's experience is set out in Part II of this Document
The Board believes that Toople operates in a sector which is highly fragmented and it intends to increasingly look to use its capital market platform to identify earnings enhancing consolidation opportunities.
Furthermore, the Board believes that to date Toople has remained an underinvested business with under exploited potential for accelerated organic growth and accretive acquisitions.
Toople has received relatively little investment over the last few years. There is, therefore, the potential to deploy capital to accelerate growth organically of revenues streams and margins, while also acquiring products and/or businesses that are aligned with the Company's growth strategy.
Following the recent changes to the Board, and the appointment of a new CFO, the Company has now started the process of exploring potential acquisitions of complementary businesses which are aligned to the Company's business and service offerings, core propositions and focus on the UK SME market.
The Group is classified as a UK telecoms operator and is subject to the Communications Act 2003 (the ''Communications Act''). The Communications Act implements in part a number of EU directives from 2002 which sought to modernise telecoms regulation within the European Union.
As a result of the introduction of the Communications Act, the Office of Communications (''Ofcom'') was established and tasked with the practical implementation of the Communications Act. The Communications Act itself abolished an existing requirement for telecoms operators to hold a license in order to provide networks and services and instead introduced a number of general conditions that must be complied with (''General Conditions''). It is therefore a requirement for the Group to comply with these General Conditions, in order to self-certify its ability to operate within the telecoms market in the UK.
The recent consolidation activity in the mobile sector should allow for a wider distribution of mobile in the trade market. Ofcom is keen to ensure that the recent and potential activity is not anticompetitive. Any material change to the industry and in particular regulation and anticompetitive policies will materially effect the ability of the Group to compete in the market.
On 25 February 2016, Ofcom published its initial findings from its Strategic Review of Digital Communications, which focuses on five key areas:
Subsequent to the above, BT agreed to legally separate Openreach from its business which is expected will lead to higher levels of competition within the telecoms industry, placing an increased focus on innovation and affordable prices.
The Company has never declared or paid any dividends on the Ordinary Shares. The Company currently intends to pay dividends on future earnings, if any, when it is commercially appropriate to do so. Any decision to declare and pay a dividend will be made at the discretion of the Board and will depend on, among other things, the Company's results of operations, financial condition, solvency and distributable reserves tests imposed by corporate law and such other factors that the Board may consider relevant.
At the date of this Document the Company has in issue warrants to subscribe for a total of 6,330,625 new Ordinary Shares (consisting of the NED Warrants and the 2017 Warrants) representing 1.47% of the Existing Ordinary Shares.
The Company has agreed, conditional on Admission to issue the Adviser Warrants to Cairn, to subscribe for 1,666,666 new Ordinary Shares in aggregate, exercisable at the Placing Price. The Company has also agreed, Conditional on Admission to issue the Broker Warrants to Novum and Turner Pope to subscribe for 33,000,000 new Ordinary Shares in aggregate, exercisable at 0.5 pence.
Further details of the NED Warrants, the Adviser Warrants, the Broker Warrants and the 2017 Warrants are set out in paragraph 13 of Part IX of this Document.
The Directors recognise the importance of ensuring that employees of the Group are effectively and appropriately incentivised and their interests are aligned with those of the Group. To that end, the Group may in the future adopt an employee share option plan to align the interests of senior management, and the broader employee workforce alike, with those of the Shareholders. It is expected that the number of Ordinary Shares under option in respect of any share option scheme that is adopted will be less than 10 per cent. of the Enlarged Share Capital.
There are currently no pensions or other similar arrangements in place with the Directors although the Company expects to set up pension arrangements, including for the benefit of the Directors, in due course in order to comply with the legal pension requirements.
The City Code applies to the Group.
The City Code is issued and administered by the Takeover Panel. The Takeover Panel has been designated as the supervisory authority to carry out certain regulatory functions in relation to takeovers pursuant to the Directive on Takeover Bids (2004/25/EC) (the ''Directive''). Following the implementation of the Directive by the Takeovers Directive (Interim Implementation) Regulations 2006, the rules in the City Code which are derived from the Directive now have a statutory basis.
The City Code applies to all takeovers and merger transactions, however effected, where, inter alia, the offeree company is a public company which has its registered office in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, if the company has its securities admitted to trading on a regulated market in the United Kingdom or on any stock exchange in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man. The City Code will therefore apply to the Group and its Shareholders will be entitled to the protection afforded by the City Code.
Under Rule 9 of the City Code, where any person acquires, whether by a single transaction or a series of transactions over a period of time, interests in securities which (taken together with securities in which he is already interested and in which persons acting in concert with him are interested) carry 30 per cent. or more of the voting rights of a company which is subject to the City Code, that person is normally required by the Panel to make a general offer to all the remaining shareholders of that company to acquire their shares. Similarly, where any person who, together with persons acting in concert with him, is interested in shares which in aggregate carry not less than 30 per cent., but does not hold shares carrying more than 50 per cent., of the voting rights of a company and such person, or any persons acting in concert with him, acquires an interest in any other shares in the company which increases the percentage of shares carrying voting rights in which he is interested, such person would normally have to extend a general offer to all shareholders to acquire their shares for cash at not less than the highest price paid by him, or parties acting in concert with him, during the 12 months prior to the announcement.
At the time of the Company's Standard Listing, for the purpose of the City Code, certain Shareholders, being David Breith, Andrew Hollingworth and Matthew Donaldson were treated as acting in concert for the purposes of the City Code in relation to their shareholdings in the Company (together the ''Concert Party'') Following the Placing, the aggregate holding of the Concert Party will be approximately 2.96 per cent.
At the time of the Company's Standard Listing, David Breith, Andrew Hollingworth, the Company and Cairn entered into the Relationship Agreement to regulate the ongoing relationship between the Group and its major shareholders and to ensure appropriate governance and independent management of the Company. Following the Placing, the combined shareholding of David Breith and Andrew Hollingworth has fallen below 20% and consequently the Relationship Agreement is no longer in place.
The Placing will raise approximately £2.2 million before expenses through the issue of 733,333,333 Placing Shares at the Placing Price.
The Net Proceeds of the Placing of approximately £1.9 million will be used to:
* fund the identification of potential 'bolt-on' acquisitions, which the Company deem to be earnings enhancing and fit with Company's stated strategy – £0.1 million.
The Placing is conditional only on Admission occurring on or before 25 September 2018 or such later date as may be agreed by Cairn and the Company. Total expenses in relation to the Placing and Admission are £230,000. All Ordinary Shares issued pursuant to the Placing will be issued at the Placing Price which has been determined by the Directors.
In accordance with Listing Rule 14.3, the Board has ensured that at Admission at least 25 per cent. of the Ordinary Shares of this listed class will be in public hands (as defined in the Listing Rules) and that a minimum of 25 per cent. of the Enlarged Share Capital has been allocated to investors whose individual and unconnected shareholdings will each equate to less than 5 per cent. of the Enlarged Share Capital, and who do not fall within any of the other excluded categories of investors in Listing Rule 14.2.2 (4).
Conditional upon Admission occurring and becoming effective by 8.00 a.m. London time on or prior to 25 September 2018 (or such later date as agreed by Cairn and the Company), each of the Placees agrees to become a member of the Company and agrees to subscribe for those Ordinary Shares set out in his Placing Letter. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Placees will not be entitled to rescind their agreement at any time. In the event that Admission does not become effective by 8.00 a.m. London time on or prior to 25 September 2018 (or such later date as Cairn and the Company may agree), Placees will receive a full refund of monies subscribed.
The rights attaching to the Placing Shares will be uniform in all respects and all of the Ordinary Shares will form a single class for all purposes.
Completion of the Placing will be announced via a regulatory news service on Admission, which is expected to take place at 8.00 a.m. on 25 September 2018.
Application will be made to the FCA for the Placing Shares and the Fee Shares to be admitted to the Standard List and to the London Stock Exchange and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities.
Admission is expected to take place on 25 September 2018. Dealings on the London Stock Exchange before Admission will only be settled if Admission takes place. All dealings in Ordinary Shares prior to commencement of unconditional dealings will be at the sole risk of the parties concerned.
The Company has established arrangements to enable investors to settle interests in the Ordinary Shares through the CREST system. CREST is a paperless settlement system allowing securities to be transferred from one person's CREST account to another without the need to use share certificates or written instruments of transfer.
The Articles are consistent with CREST membership and the holding and transfer of Ordinary Shares in uncertificated form. The Board has passed a resolution to make such arrangements as are necessary for the title to the Ordinary Shares, in issue or to be issued, to be transferred by means of a relevant system in accordance with the provisions of the CREST Regulations.
The Company will apply for the Ordinary Shares to be admitted to CREST with effect from Admission and it is expected that the Ordinary Shares will be admitted with effect from that time. Accordingly, settlement of transactions in the Ordinary Shares following Admission may take place within the CREST system if any investor so wishes.
In order to conserve the Group's cash balances, certain Directors have agreed for a portion of the fees and remuneration owed to them to be settled through the issue of the Fee Shares. Fees of approximately £51,400 in aggregate are to be settled in this way at the Placing Price. In addition to the Fee Shares, the balance of accrued fees and remuneration owed as set out below is expected to be paid to those Directors in cash following completion of the Placing. Further details of the number of Fee Shares to be issued are set out below and in paragraph 6.1 of Part IX:
| Director/Consultant | Total outstanding remuneration and fees owed (£) |
Outstanding remuneration and fees owed to be settled through the issue of the Fee Shares (£) |
Number of Fee Shares to be issued in lieu of remuneration and fees owed |
Period for which fees are owed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/2/2018 to | ||||
| Richard Horsman (Director) | 33,333 | 25,500 | 8,500,000 | 30/9/2018 1/2/2018 to |
| Geoffrey Wilson (Director) | 24,000 | 14,000 | 4,666,666 | 30/9/2018 1/7/2018 to |
| Kevin Lawrence (Director) | 11,900 | 11,900 | 3,966,666 | 30/9/2018 |
Your attention is drawn to Part VIII of this Document. These details are intended only as a general guide to the current tax position under UK law and practice. If an investor is in any doubt as to his or her tax position he or she should immediately consult his or her own independent financial advisor.
Investors subject to tax in other jurisdictions are strongly urged to contact their tax advisers about the tax consequences of holding Ordinary Shares.
Shareholders should read the whole of this Document, which provides additional information on the Company and the Placing and should not rely on summaries of, or individual parts only of, this Document. Your attention is drawn, in particular, to the Risk Factors set out in the section headed ''Risk Factors'', information on the directors, senior management and corporate governance set out in Part II, the summary of the consequences of a Standard Listing set out in Part III, the historical financial information which has been incorporated by reference in this Document as summarised in Part V and Part VI, the operating and financial review of the Group in Part VII, the information on Taxation set out in Part VIII and the Additional Information in Part IX of this Document.
Brief biographies for each of the Directors are included below.
Mr. Hollingworth has worked in the Telecoms Industry for the past 25 years, operating at senior levels across multiple roles and boards, including Sales, Marketing and Operations. The majority of his work has been driving organic and acquisition growth strategies to achieve revenue and EBIT growth. Mr. Hollingworth has held a number of senior positions including Director of Wholesale, Director of Small and Corporate segments, Head of CRM, Head of Distribution, Head of Sales Operations and Head of Loyalty and Retention.
As Director of Wholesale at TalkTalk Plc he lead a growth strategy in the UK reseller market from sub £50m turnover to £250m turnover (£150m net profit with around 30 staff). Mr. Hollingworth then moved into an underperforming area of TalkTalk, the small business and corporate segment, and whilst there moved it from 18% customer loss into growth of over 3000 customers per month within 3 years. Mr. Hollingworth was appointed to the board of the Company on 2 March 2016 having worked with the Group for several months prior to this.
Mr. Lawrence qualified as a chartered accountant in 1986 with Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC) where he spend 14 years before moving to Grant Thornton. He has subsequently held senior financial positions in a wide range of businesses including Group Finance Director of Lighthouse Group plc, an AIM-quoted financial services business that he joined at IPO and is now the largest listed Independent Financial Advice business in the UK, and CFO of Cybit Holdings PLC between 2002 and 2010 when the business was taken private by a US based private equity firm.
In 2011 Mr Lawrence led the Cybit business through a reverse takeover of Masternaut Group to become the pan-European leader in telematics with revenues of EUR100m and 500 employees. Most recently, Mr Lawrence was CFO of Atego Group, a software development company which was acquired by PTC Inc in 2014 and currently holds the position of CFO at Gardien Group, a private equity backed business specialising in the testing of PCB boards that are fabricated for clients supplying the automotive, defense, telecommunications, aerospace, medical and computer markets worldwide. He joined Toople in June 2018.
Mr. Horsman was senior independent non-executive director of Plethora Solutions Holdings Plc between early 2011 and mid-2013 and previously CEO of Cybit Holdings plc (''Cybit''), both admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. During his tenure at Cybit the company grew, from inception, to revenues of £25 million and went through multiple acquisitions. In January 2010, Cybit was acquired in a deal with a US based private equity firm which returned £24 million to shareholders at over a 100% premium to the prevailing market price. Prior to this he held a number of senior roles in the IT industry including with Global Telematics PLC and The Baan Company.
Most recently (from 2011 to the end of 2014) Mr. Horsman was Chairman/CEO of Atego Group – A privately held Company providing Mission and Safety critical software and consulting services to Global Aerospace, Military and Automotive sectors. Atego was sold to PTC who are listed on the US NASDAQ market.
Mr. Horsman was appointed as Non-executive Chairman of the Company on 3 March 2016.
Mr. Wilson has significant experience in the telecoms industry and has held a number of senior positions in different organisations. He studied Law at Birmingham Polytechnic & he qualified as a Management Accountant in 1991 whilst working for Grand Metropolitan PLC in their licenced retail business, Chef & Brewer. He first joined the telecoms industry in 1993 with Mercury Communications where he held a number of finance roles, becoming financial controller for the customer systems division in 1995. He gained wider experience of the industry as Commercial Manager with Siemens Communications Systems and then as Commercial Director for Your Communications, a subsidiary of United Utilities, which he joined in 1999. Whilst there he led the corporate acquisition & integration programme increasing customer base & product range.
Following a strategic review of the United Utility business, Mr. Wilson led the disposal process for Your Communications resulting in the successful sale of the business to Thus in 2006. Most recently he was employed as chief operations officer for TalkTalk Business where, over a four year period, overall operational costs reduced by 9% whilst supporting revenue growth of 33%. For two years prior to this he held the position of Finance Director for TalkTalk Business.
Mr. Wilson was appointed to the Board as a Non-Executive Director on 3 March 2016. Between May and October 2017, Mr. Wilson acted as Interim Chief Financial Officer whilst the Company sought a new Chief Financial Officer, upon whose appointment he returned to the role of Non-Executive Director.
Set out below are brief biographies in respect of the senior managers and consultants of the Group:
Mr. Ward joined the Group in November 2017 and is responsible all UK operations for Toople. He was previously Managing Director at Bluestone Media AG a mobile software company based in Switzerland and Malaysia and prior to that was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Fujitsu Services.
Mr. Ward has held senior level management positions within the mobile technology markets following early roles at O2 Telefonica and was sales & marketing director for Hutchison Whampoa (Orange) where he was responsible for the launch of Orange for Business, which took over 20% market share and achieved revenues of more than £3billion.
Mr. Seddon is an experience telecoms manager and has extensive experience of the telecoms industry and has over the last seven years worked with a number of suppliers, products and customer facing portals. Mr. Seddon has extensive experience of utilising the Group's Merlin software platform.
Following completion of his degree Mr. Seddon joined O-bit Telecom as a customer service advisor in February 2010. In September 2013, Mr. Seddon joined Daisy Wholesale as Voice Assurance Team Leader. In April 2014, Mr. Seddon joined the VoIP provider Coms Plc as Support Team Leader and subsequently became Support Manager in May 2015.
In July 2015, Mr. Seddon joined the Group as Wholesale Support Manager and subsequently became Head of Operations in November 2016.
Ms. Alexander joined the telecommunications industry in 2000 and has since then held senior finance positions at a number of telecoms companies including Pipex, Tiscali, TalkTalk, O-Bit Telecom (part of Daisy Group) and Timico.com Ms. Alexander has been involved in a number of acquisitions and business integration programmes during her career to date including most recently the acquisition of Coms by Timico.
Ms Alexander joined the Group as Financial Controller in May 2016 following 2016 Admission.
Mr. Topor has over six year experience in telecoms billing and revenue assurance and has extensive knowledge of the Groups Merlin software platform having assisted in its development whilst in previous roles at companies which had adopted and utilised the Merlin software platform. In addition, Mr. Topor's experience spans multiple channels including both wholesale and direct.
Between November 1999 and November 2005, Mr. Topor held the positions of Credit Analyst and latterly Billing Specialist at Vodaphone Hungary Plc. Mr. Topor joined Countrywide Residential Lettings in October 2006 as Accounts Assistant and subsequently became Bank Reconciliation Clerk in October 2007. In June 2010, Mr. Topor joined O-bit Telecom as Billing and Accounts Assistant before becoming Revenue and Assurance Manager and Head of Billing in in June 2011. In July 2013 Mr. Topor joined the VoIP provider Coms Plc as Billing and Revenue Assurance Manager a role which he held until September 2015.
In September 2015 Mr. Topor joined the Group as Billing and Training Manager.
Mr. Topor is a certified accountant.
Mr. Kwiatkowski started software programming at a very early age and attended a telecoms technical school in 2002. Whilst there Mr. Kwiatkowski became the winner of many software and mathematical competitions before moving into a part time role in 2003 whilst attending university. He moved to a senior position after successfully completing a number of projects for the tourist industry dealing with complex and high demand online reservations and booking systems for many Polish companies.
Mr. Kwiatkowski completed university in 2007 majoring in computer science and specialising in telecoms. Mr. Kwiatkowski moved to the UK in 2009 where he became head of software at Obit Telecom in 2010. He moved back to Poland in 2012 but continued to consult and support the existing functions in the Merlin software (through a trading entity called DotFusion).
The Board guides and monitors the business and affairs of the Company on behalf of the Company's Shareholders to whom it is accountable, and is responsible for corporate governance matters. While certain key matters are reserved for the Board, it has delegated responsibilities for the day-to-day operational, corporate, financial and administrative activities to the Chief Executive Officer and the Interim Chief Financial Officer.
In assessing the composition of the Board, the Directors have had regard to the following principles:
Richard Horsman and Geoff Wilson are considered to be ''independent'' members of the board.
Directors appointed by the Board are subject to election by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting of the Company following their appointment and thereafter are subject to re-election in accordance with the Company's Articles of Association.
The UK Corporate Governance Code, as published by the Financial Reporting Council, is the corporate governance regime for England and Wales. The Company will, to the extent practicable for a company of its size and nature, follow the UK Corporate Governance Code, and has established a remuneration and audit committee, each with their own terms of reference, the members of which are independent non-executive directors. The Directors are aware that there are currently certain provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code that the Company is not in compliance with, given the size and early stage nature of the Company, these include, inter alia:
* The Company does not currently believe it is necessary to have a separate nominations committee at this time. The Board as a whole will review the appointment of new members of the Board, taking into account the interests of Shareholders and the performance of the Company. The requirement for a nominations committee will be considered on an ongoing basis.
The Remuneration Committee will assist the Board in determining its responsibilities in relation to remuneration, including making recommendations to the Board on the Group's policy on executive remuneration, including setting the over-arching principles, parameters and governance framework of the Group's remuneration policy and determining the individual remuneration and benefits package of each of the Executive Directors and the Group secretary. The Remuneration Committee will also ensure compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code in relation to remuneration wherever possible.
The Remuneration Committee will be chaired by Richard Horsman, and its other member will be Geoffrey Wilson. The Remuneration Committee will meet not less than twice a year.
The Articles of Association of the Company will be such so as to be appropriate for a Standard Listed company. Full details of the Company's Articles and Association are set out in paragraph 4 of Part IX.
The Company has established an Audit Committee with delegated duties and responsibilities. The Audit Committee is responsible, amongst other things, for making recommendations to the Board on the appointment of auditors and the audit fee, monitoring and reviewing the integrity of the Company's financial statements and any formal announcements on the Company's financial performance as well as reports from the Company's auditors on those financial statements.
In addition, the Audit Committee will review the Company's internal financial control and risk management systems to assist the Board in fulfilling its responsibilities relating to the effectiveness of those systems, including an evaluation of the capabilities of such systems in light of the expected requirements for any specific acquisition target. The Audit Committee will meet at least twice a year, or more frequently if required. The Audit Committee is chaired by Geoffrey Wilson, and its other member is Richard Horsman.
The Board has adopted a share dealing code for directors' dealings which captures the requirements of the Market Abuse Regulation. The Board is responsible for taking proper and reasonable steps for ensuring compliance with the share dealing code and the Market Abuse Regulation by the Directors.
The FCA will not have the authority to (and will not) monitor the Company's compliance with its share dealing code nor will it be able to impose any sanctions in respect of failure by the Company to comply.
The Company's Ordinary Shares are admitted to the Standard Segment of the Official List. A Standard Listing offers less protection to Investors than would otherwise be the case with a Premium Listing on the Official List. Further details on the consequences of a Standard Listing are set out in the section entitled ''Consequences of a Standard Listing'' in Part IV of this Document.
Application has been made for the Ordinary Shares to be admitted to the standard segment of the Official List (''Standard Listing''). A Standard Listing affords Shareholders and investors in the Company a lower level of regulatory protection than that afforded to investors in companies whose securities are admitted to the premium segment of the Official List, which are subject to additional obligations under the Listing Rules.
The Company's Existing Ordinary Shares are and the new Ordinary Shares to be issued pursuant to the Placing will be admitted to the standard segment of the Official List pursuant to Chapter 14 of the Listing Rule s, which sets out the requirements for Standard Listings. The Company intends to comply with the Listing Principles set out Chapter 7 of the Listing Rules at Listings Rules 7.2.1 which apply to all companies with their securities admitted to the Official List. In addition, the Company also intends to comply with the Listing Principles at Listing Rule 7.2.1A notwithstanding that they only apply to companies which obtain a Premium Listing on the Official List. With regard to Listing Principles at 7.2.1A, the Company is not, however, formally subject to such Listing Principles and will not be required to comply with them by the UK Listing Authority.
Such non-applicable Listing Rules include, in particular:
The Company is not currently eligible for a Premium Listing under Chapter 6 of the Listing Rules and does not currently intend to seek to transfer to either a Premium Listing or other listing venue.
There are, however, a number of continuing obligations set out in Chapter 14 of the Listing Rules that are applicable to the Company. These include requirements as to:
It should be noted that the UK Listing Authority will not have the authority to (and will not) monitor the Company's compliance with any of the Listing Rules which the Company intends to comply with on a voluntary basis, nor to impose sanctions in respect of any failure by the Company to so comply. However the FCA would be able to impose sanctions for non- compliance where the statements regarding compliance in this Document are themselves misleading, false or deceptive
No person has been authorised to give any information or to make any representations other than as contained or referred to in this Document and, if given or made, such information or representations must not be relied on as having been so authorised and, if any other information is given or representations are made, such information or representations must not be relied upon as having been authorised by or on behalf of the Company or the Directors.
The Company does not accept any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any information reported by the press or other media, nor the fairness or appropriateness of any forecasts, views or opinions expressed by the press or other media regarding the Placing, the Ordinary Shares or the Group. The Company makes no representation as to the appropriateness, accuracy, completeness or reliability of any such information or publication. Without prejudice to any obligation of the Company under the FSMA, the Prospectus Rules, the Listing Rules or the Disclosure and Transparency Rules, the delivery of this Document shall not, under any circumstances, create any implication that there has been no change in the business or affairs of the Company or of the Group taken as a whole since the date hereof or that the information contained herein is correct as of any time subsequent to its date.
The contents of this Document or any subsequent communications from any member of the Group or any of their respective affiliates, officers, advisers, directors, employees or agents are not to be construed as advice on legal, business, taxation, accounting, regulatory, investment or any other matters. Each investor should consult his or her own lawyer, financial adviser or tax adviser for legal, financial or tax advice, as appropriate.
This Document comprises a prospectus relating to the Company prepared in accordance with the Prospectus Rules and has been approved by the FCA under section 87A of FSMA. This Document has been filed with the FCA and made available to the public in accordance with Rule 3.2 of the Prospectus Rules. No arrangement has, however, been made with the competent authority in any other member state of the EEA (or any other jurisdiction) for the use of this Document as an approved prospectus in such jurisdiction and accordingly no public offer is to be made in such jurisdiction
This Document does not constitute, and may not be used for the purposes of, an offer to sell or an invitation to subscribe for or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for, any Ordinary Shares by any person in any jurisdiction: (i) in which such offer or invitation is not authorised; (ii) in which the person making such offer or invitation is not qualified to do so; or (iii) in which, or to any person to whom, it is unlawful to make such offer, solicitation or invitation. The distribution of this Document and the offering of the Ordinary Shares in certain jurisdictions may be restricted. 22 Accordingly, persons outside the UK into whose possession this Document comes are required by the Company to inform themselves about, and to observe any restrictions as to the offer or sale of Ordinary Shares and the distribution of this Document under, the laws and regulations of any territory in connection with any applications for Ordinary Shares, including obtaining any requisite governmental or any other consent and observing any other formality prescribed in such territory.
The Ordinary Shares have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act, or under any relevant securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction in the United States, or under the applicable securities laws of Australia, Canada, Japan, Republic of South Africa or the Republic of Ireland. See paragraphs 4 to 6 below for further information.
Investors should read this Document in its entirety.
The following historical financial information has been incorporated by reference into this Document as set out in Part VII:
In each case, financial information is prepared in accordance with IFRS unless otherwise indicated. The Company reports its results half-yearly.
The non-financial operating data included in this Document has been extracted without material adjustment from the management records of the Group and is unaudited.
The Ordinary Shares have not been approved or disapproved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, any state securities commission in the US or any other US regulatory authority, nor have any of the foregoing authorities passed upon or endorsed the merits of the offering of the Ordinary Shares or the accuracy or adequacy of this Document. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offence in the US.
The Ordinary Shares have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act, or under the securities laws or with any securities regulatory authority of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States or of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland or the Republic of South Africa, or any province or territory thereof. Subject to certain exceptions, the Ordinary Shares may not be taken up, offered, sold, pledged, transferred, distributed or delivered, directly or indirectly, and this Document may not be distributed by any means including electronic transmission within, into, in or from the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland or the Republic of South Africa or to for the account of any national, resident or citizen of the United States or any person resident in Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland or the Republic of South Africa. The Ordinary Shares may only be offered or sold in offshore transactions as defined in and in accordance with Regulation S promulgated under the Securities Act. Acquirers of the Ordinary Shares may not offer to sell, pledge or otherwise transfer the Ordinary Shares in the United States, or to any US Person as defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act, including resident corporations, or other entities organised under the laws of the United States, or non-US branches or agencies of such corporations unless such offer, sale, pledge or transfer is registered under the Securities Act, or an exemption from registration is available. The Company does not currently plan to register the Ordinary Shares under the Securities Act.
The ability of an Overseas Shareholder to bring an action against the Company may be limited under law. The rights of holders of Ordinary Shares are governed by English law and by the Articles. These rights differ from the rights of shareholders in typical US corporations and some other non-UK corporations.
In relation to each member state of the EEA which has implemented the Prospectus Directive (each, a ''relevant member state'') with effect from and including the date on which the Prospectus Directive was implemented in that relevant member state (the ''relevant implementation date''), no Ordinary Shares have been offered or will be offered to the public in that relevant member state prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the Ordinary Shares which has been approved by the competent authority in that relevant member state or, where appropriate, approved in another relevant member state and notified to the competent authority in the relevant member state, all in accordance with the Prospectus Directive, except that with effect from and including the relevant implementation date, offers of Ordinary Shares may be made to the public in that relevant member state at any time:
For the purpose of these provisions, the expression an ''offer to the public'' in relation to any Ordinary Shares in any relevant member state means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information of the terms of the Placing, and any Ordinary Shares to be offered, so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase any Ordinary Shares, as the same may be varied in that relevant member state by any measure implementing the Prospectus Directive in that relevant member state, and the expression ''Prospectus Directive'' includes any relevant implementing measure in each relevant member state.
In the case of any Ordinary Shares being offered to a financial intermediary as that term is used in Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive, such financial intermediary will also be deemed to have represented, acknowledged and agreed that the Ordinary Shares acquired by it have not been acquired on a non-discretionary basis on behalf of, nor have they been acquired with a view to their offer or resale to, persons in circumstances which may give rise to an offer of any Ordinary Shares to the public other than their offer or resale in a relevant member state to qualified investors as so defined or in circumstances in which the prior consent of the Company has been obtained to each such proposed offer or resale. Each of the Company and its respective affiliates, and others, will rely upon the truth and accuracy of the foregoing representation, acknowledgement and agreement.
In this Document, references to ''sterling'', ''£'', ''pence'' or ''p'' are to the lawful currency of the UK.
Percentages and certain amounts in this Document, including financial, statistical and operating information, have been rounded to the nearest thousand whole number or single decimal place for ease of presentation. As a result, the figures shown as totals may not be the precise sum of the figures that precede them. In addition, certain percentages and amounts contained in this Document reflect calculations based on the underlying information prior to rounding, and, accordingly, may not conform exactly to the percentages or amounts that would be derived if the relevant calculations were based upon the rounded numbers.
The Company confirms that all third party information contained in this Document has been accurately reproduced and, so far as the Company is aware and is able to ascertain from information published by that third party, no facts have been omitted that would render the reproduced information inaccurate or misleading. Where third party information has been used in this Document, the source of such information has also been identified.
The contents of the Company's website, any website mentioned in this Document or any website directly or indirectly linked to these websites have not been verified and do not form part of this Document and investors should not rely on such information.
A list of defined terms and technical terms used in this Document is set out in the part entitled ''Definitions''.
This document includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, ''forward-looking statements''. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms ''believes'', ''estimates'', ''anticipates'', ''expects'', ''intends'', ''may'', ''will'', ''target'', ''plan'', ''continue'' or ''should'' or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. They appear in a number of places throughout this Document and include statements regarding the intentions, beliefs or current expectations of the Company concerning, amongst other things, the investment objectives and policies, financing strategies, performance, results of operations, financial condition, prospects, and dividend policy of the Company and the markets in which it and the other companies in the Group operate. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. The Company's actual performance, results of operations, financial condition, dividend policy and the development of its financing and operational strategies may differ materially from the impression created by the forward-looking statements contained in this Document. In addition, even if the performance, results of operations, financial condition and dividend policy of the Company, and the development of its financing and operating strategies, are consistent with the forwardlooking statements contained in this Document, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments
Important factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to the risk factors (which are not exhaustive) set forth above in the Part of this Document headed: ''Risk Factors''.
Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. In addition, even if the Company's results of operations and financial condition, and the development of the industry in which the Company operates, are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this Document, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods.
Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. The Company makes no representation, warranty or prediction that the results predicted by such forward-looking statements will be achieved and these forward-looking statements represent, in each case, only one of many possible scenarios and should not be viewed as the most likely or standard scenario. Forward-looking statements may, and often do, differ materially from actual results. Any forward-looking statements in this Document speak only as at the date of this Document, reflect the Company's current view with respect to future events and are subject to risks relating to future events and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to the Company's operations, results of operations and growth strategy. Investors should specifically consider the factors identified in this Document that could cause actual results to differ. All of the forward-looking statements made in this Document are qualified by these cautionary statements.
Forward-looking statements contained in this Document apply only as at the date of this Document. Subject to any obligations under FSMA, the Listing Rules, the Disclosure and Transparency Rules and the Prospectus Rules, the Group undertakes no obligation publicly to update or review any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
Audited financial information on the Company and its subsidiaries is published in the annual report for the years ended 30 September 2016 and 30 September 2017. The annual report for the year ended 30 September 2016 also contains comparative information for the year ended 30 September 2015. Historical financial information contained in the 2016 and 2017 Annual Reports are expressly incorporated by reference into this Document as detailed in Part VI.
The historical financial information referred to above was audited by Crowe U.K. LLP (formerly Crowe Clark Whitehill LLP) for the year ended 30 September 2016 and PKF Littlejohn LLP for the year ended 30 September 2017. All reports were without qualification and contained no statements under section 498(2) or (3) of CA 2006 and were prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards and are being incorporated by reference.
The annual reports incorporated by reference, all of which have been filed with the companies registrar as required under CA 2006 and previously published as required by the Listing Rules and the 2016 Prospectus, are available on the Investor section of the Company's website at www.toople.com
The Group's unaudited consolidated interim accounts for the six months ended 31 March 2018 (and comparative unaudited interim accounts for the six months ended 31 March 2017) are also incorporated by reference into this Document as detailed in Part VI. The Unaudited Interim Accounts have not been reviewed by the Group's auditor pursuant to the Financial Reporting Council guidance on ''Review of Interim Financial Information''.
This Prospectus should be read and construed in conjunction with:
The table below sets out the sections of these documents which are incorporated by reference into, and form part of, this Prospectus, and only the parts of the documents identified in the table are incorporated into, and form part of, this Prospectus.
The parts of these documents which are not incorporated by reference are either not relevant for investors or are covered elsewhere in this Prospectus. To the extent that any part of any information referred to below itself contains information which is incorporated by reference, such information shall not form part of this Prospectus.
| Reference document | Information incorporated by reference into this Document |
Page numbers in such document |
|---|---|---|
| Unaudited Interim Accounts for the six months ended 31 March 2018 and 31 March 2017 |
Chairman's statement Chief Executive Officer's review Directors' responsibilities statement Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Position Condensed Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Interim Report |
4 5 to 8 9 10 11 12 to 13 14 15 to 20 |
| Annual Report and Accounts for the financial year ended 30 September 2017 together with comparative information for the financial year ended 30 September 2016 |
Chairman's Statement Chief Executive Officer's Review Directors' responsibilities statement Strategic/Business Review Principal Risks and Uncertainties Financial Review Directors' report Strategic report Remuneration report Independent auditor's report on the group financial statements Consolidated statement of comprehensive income Consolidated statement of financial position Consolidated statement of changes in equity Consolidated cash flow statement |
2 3-6 10 12 13 3-4 9-11 12-14 20-25 28-31 32 33 34-35 36 |
| Annual Report and Accounts for the financial year ended 30 September 2016 together with comparative information for the financial year ended 30 September 2015 |
Chairman's Statement Chief Executive Officer's Review Directors' responsibilities statement Strategic/Business Review Principal Risks and Uncertainties Financial Review Directors' report Strategic report Remuneration report Independent auditor's report on the group financial statements Consolidated statement of comprehensive income Consolidated statement of financial position Consolidated statement of changes in equity Consolidated cash flow statement Notes to the Group financial statements |
2 3 to 6 10 12 13 3 9 to 11 12 to 14 20 28 31 32 33 to 34 35 36 to 49 |
| 2016 Prospectus for the 2016 Admission to the Standard Listing Segment of the Official List |
Toople Plc Historical Financial Information | 55 to 61 |
The overview of financial results below provides information which the Board believes to be relevant to an assessment and understanding of the Group's financial position and results of operations. The information in this section has been derived from: the audited consolidated financial statements for the Group for the years ended 30 September 2017, 30 September 2016 and 30 September 2015 and the unaudited consolidated financial information for the Group for the six months ended 31 March 2018 and 31 March 2017.
You should read this operating and financial review and prospects in conjunction with the Annual Financial Statements, the Unaudited Interim Accounts and the historical financial information included in the 2016 Prospectus which are incorporated by reference into this Document as set out in Part VI of this Document and the working capital statement set out in Paragraph 12 of Part IX of this Document.
The following operating and financial review contains statements reflecting the Board's views about the Group's future performance, constituting ''forward-looking statements''. These views may involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and should be considered in conjunction with the factors discussed in the ''Risk Factors'' section of this Document.
The Toople brand for the telecoms business of the Group launched in May 2016 shortly after the 2016 Admission on 10 May 2016. The Group provides a range of Toople branded telecoms services, primarily targeting the UK SME market. In addition, the Group has a number of wholesale customers who place orders with the Group for telecoms services based on the requirements of their own customers (''Wholesale Customers'').
Toople Plc was newly incorporated on 2 March 2016. On 15 April 2016, the Company entered into the Share Exchange Agreements pursuant to which the Company acquired the entire issued share capital of Toople.com and AskMerlin (''Subsidiaries''). Shareholders and potential investors should note that the majority of revenue and expenses in the year ended 30 September 2015 and in the historic periods for Toople.com and AskMerlin prior to this, were unrelated to the current business of the Group and instead related to legacy business entered into by the previous owner of these entities prior to their acquisition by Toople Plc (as further described below).
Prior to its acquisition by the Company, Toople.com (previously called Cube Telecom Ltd) was used to acquire assets as part of the sale of O-bit Telecom Limited to Daisy Group plc by David Breith by way of a Transitional Service Agreement (''TSA''). Toople.com then became a facilities management company until 2015 when these activities ceased. Toople.com began to incur expenses in relation to developing the current business of the Group in the year ended 30 September 2015 and first entered into arrangements for the provision of telecoms services with a number of Wholesale Customers around August 2015. A disposal of assets arising from the TSA arrangements contributed cash inflows from investing activities of approximately £160,000 in the year ended 30 September 2015.
AskMerlin owns the Group's Merlin software. Prior to acquisition of AskMerlin by the Company in April 2016, Merlin had licenced the Merlin software to Daisy Group which is reflected by the revenue generated in the year ended 31 March 2014, however these arrangements came to an end in 2014. AskMerlin did not trade during the year ended 31 March 2015. AskMerlin entered into a number of licence arrangements in 2016 in relation to the Merlin platform which contributed revenue and gross profit to the Group of approximately £28,000 in the six months ended 31 March 2017 (and approximately £64,000 in the year ended 30 September 2016). This licence income is not a strategic focus of the Group going forwards.
Toople.com is the main trading entity of the Group. The consolidated financial statements for the two year ended 30 September 2016 (incorporated by reference into this Document as set out in Part VII) present the combination of the Company and the Subsidiaries pursuant to the Share Exchange Agreements as a continuation of the combined financial information of the Subsidiaries with no goodwill arising on the transaction.
The Directors are of the opinion that the business comprises a single economic activity, being the provision of telephony services and that currently this activity is undertaken solely in the UK.
Consolidated statement of comprehensive income for the Group
| 12 months | 12 months | 12 months | 6 months | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ended | ended | ended | ended | |
| 30 Sept | 30 Sept | 30 Sept | 31 March | |
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
| (Audited) | (Audited) | (Audited) | (Unaudited) | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Revenue | 36,799 | 957,749 | 1,281,172 | 689,769 |
| Cost of sales | (76,083) | (880,108) | (1,121,867) | (606,816) |
| Gross profit/loss | (39,284) | 77,641 | 159,305 | 82,953 |
| Administrative expenses | (381,278) | (1,792,200) | (1,473,292) | (770,897) |
| Operating loss | (420,562) | (1,714,559) | (1,313,987) | (687,944) |
| Interest payable and similar charges | — | (20,041) | (49,249) | (26,455) |
| Interest receivable | — | 1,023 | 132 | 366 |
| Loss before taxation | (420,562) | (1,733,577) | (1,363,103) | (714,033) |
| Taxation | 21,336 | — | — | — |
| Loss for the year | (399,226) | (1,733,577) | (1,363,103) | (714,033) |
Revenue in 2015 related to facilities management services provided by Toople.com to other entities in which David Breith had a significant interest (i.e. unrelated to the current business of the Group ).
During the year ended 30 September 2016, the Toople brand was launched (May 2016) and the Group's primary focus was validating the Toople business concept and market opportunity whilst assessing the market's willingness to accept a new brand and targeting customer acquisition through online marketing and advertising.
Of the revenue of £957,749 generated by the Group in the year ended 30 September 2016, the majority was generated by the Group's Wholesale Customers as the Toople brand began to be established. Revenue grew by 38% in the second half of the year ended 30 September 2016 in comparison to the first half of the year which was driven by the consolidation of the wholesale business and acquisition of initial SME customers.
During the year ended 30 September 2017 revenue grew by 34% as Toople began to be recognised within the SME market as an alternative telecoms provider. This resulted in a growing number of direct customers which reduced the proportion of revenue derived from wholesale business to 64%
During the six months ended 31 March 2018 direct business grew as a proportion of total revenue such that wholesale business accounted for 64% of total revenue compared with 65% in the comparative period. The period saw a 63% increase in the sale of RGUs compared with the total number at the end of September 2017.
The Group incurred costs of sales of £76,083 in the year ended 30 September 2015 which were largely in relation to the development costs and launch of the Toople business. The cost of sales incurred by the Group grew significantly to £880,108 in the year ended 30 September 2016 following launch of the Toople brand and initial marketing and advertising campaigns to target customer acquisition.
The gross margin achieved in the year ended 30 September 2016 increased to £77,641 from a loss of £39,284 in the year ended 30 September 2015 reflecting the launch of the Toople business and generation of increased revenue in the year ended 30 September 2016. The gross margin of £77,641 (8.1%) reflected the predominance of revenue from Wholesale Customers across the year (which accounted for the majority of revenues during the year) whilst the Group built its direct customer telephony business which was launched in May 2016.
The gross margin for the year ended 30 September 2017 was £159,305 (12.4 %) representing an significant increase from the prior year as the Group decreased the level of lower margin wholesale business to higher margin direct business, following its launch in the second half of the previous financial year.
The gross margin achieved in the six month period ended 31 March 2018 was £82,953 (12.0 %). This compares to a gross margin of £82,034 (12.5 %) in the six months ended 31 March 2017. The slight reduction in margin is due to the scaling of the direct business an initial one-off costs incurred when contracting with direct customers, for example cost of routers provided to each customer.
The most material costs in 2015 related to wages and marketing expenditure with total general and administrative costs being £381,278. The level and nature of administrative expense changed significantly in the year ended 30 September 2016, (total costs being £1,792,200), as the Group's employee base increased from 4 to 14 people, the Group incurred costs associated with its Listing and the Toople brand was launched. Wages (excluding national insurance costs) increased from £107,796 in 2015 to £322,600 in 2016, marketing costs increased from £105,504 to £342,552 and costs associated with the 2016 Admission were £263,136 (excluding incremental on going costs associated with being a listed public company). Customer service costs in 2016 were £147,193 (2015: nil).
In the year ended 30 September 2017 the Group incurred administrative expenses of £1,473,292. This included marketing costs of approximately £191,286 and staff costs of approximately £446,190. The overall reduction in general and administrative costs (compared to the year ended 30 September 2016) was attributable to the lower one-off costs associated with the 2017 equity raise compared with the 2016 Admission and lower marketing costs. Employee numbers decreased in the interim period to 14 employees as at 30 September 2017 (excluding the Directors), largely as a result of the decrease in the number of developers retained in-house by the Group since launch of the Toople business.
In the six months ended 31 March 2018 the Group incurred administrative expenses of £770,897 compared with £661,983 in the six months ended 31 March 2017. This included marketing costs of £223,417 and staff costs of £261,319. The increase in general and administrative costs (compared to the six months ended 31 March 2017) was attributable to the establishment of the sales team in Warrington and marketing spend.
| As at 30 Sept 2015 (Audited) £ |
As at 30 Sept 2016 (Audited) £ |
As at 30 Sept 2017 (Audited) £ |
As at 31 March 2018 (unaudited) £ |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-current assets | ||||
| Intangible assets | 2,328 | 14,546 | 5,646 | 1,196 |
| 2,328 | 14,546 | 5,646 | 1,196 | |
| Current assets Trade receivables and other |
||||
| receivables | 194,758 | 223,674 | 316,173 | 382,528 |
| Cash and cash equivalents | 130,853 | 743,824 | 820,767 | 374,042 |
| 325,611 | 967,498 | 1,136,940 | 756,570 | |
| Total assets | 327,939 | 982,044 | 1,142,586 | 757,766 |
| Equity and liabilities | ||||
| Share capital | 26,013 | 66,700 | 117,084 | 136,011 |
| Share Premium | — | 1,900,245 | 3,261,279 | 3,519,856 |
| Merger reserve | (25,813) | (25,813) | (25,813) | (25,813) |
| Share based payment reserve | — | 24,130 | 114,417 | 145,992 |
| Capital contribution reserve | — | 137,616 | 88,499 | 62,045 |
| Accumulated deficit | (260,851) | (1,975,364) | (3,289,351) | (3,976,928) |
| Total equity | (260,651) | 127,514 | 266,115 | (138,838) |
| Current liabilities | ||||
| Trade payables and other payables | 588,590 | 385,390 | 358,629 | 352,307 |
| 588,590 | 385,390 | 358,629 | 352,307 | |
| Non-current liabilities | ||||
| Financial liabilities – borrowings | — | 469,140 | 517,842 | 544,296 |
| — | 469,140 | 517,842 | 544,296 | |
| Total equity and liabilities | 327,939 | 982,044 | 1,142,586 | 757,766 |
Intangible assets held by the Group relate to capitalised third party website development costs.
Trade and other receivables in the period ended 31 March 2018 totalled £382,528 of which £134,024 was in relation to prepayments.
Trade and other receivables at the year ended 30 September 2017 totalled £316,173 of which £132,808 was in relation to prepayments.
Trade and other receivables at the year ended 30 September 2016 totalled £223,674 of which £81,450 was in relation to prepayments.
Trade and other receivables as at 30 September 2015 primarily related to a deposit for network services paid to BT in respect of the provision of its network services.
The level of cash and cash equivalents of the Group has fluctuated during the review period. It increased significantly in the year ended 30 September 2016 as a result of the Company raising approximately £1.66 million (after costs) through a placing of new Ordinary Shares at the time of the Company's Standard Listing in May 2016. The net placing proceeds were used in the remainder of the year ended 30 September 2016 for launch of the Toople business (and in particular marketing and customer acquisition costs) and general working capital needs. The Group also repaid loans and an overdraft of approximately £0.17 million in aggregate. The cash balance as at 30 September 2016 was £743,824. In June 2017, a further £1.26 million (net of costs) was raised by way of a subscription and offer for additional marketing and customer acquisition activities resulting in a cash balance as at 30 September 2017 of £820,767
The Toople business is currently early stage, does not generate a profit and is dependent on marketing spend to drive customer growth. Accordingly, as at 31 March 2018 the Group's cash at bank had decreased to £374,042 which included an additional fund raising of £250,000 (before associated costs) through a placing in March 2018.
The total liabilities of the Group (including the Subsidiaries prior to their acquisition by Toople Plc) increased over the period covered by the historical financial information to 30 September 2015, largely due to the increased level of a shareholder loans made to the Company by David Breith to support the launch of the Toople business. Total liabilities as at 30 September 2015 were £588,590. Total liabilities have continued to increase during the review period to £854,530 as at 30 September 2016 following commencement of trading in respect of the Toople business, £876,471 as at 30 September 2017 and £896,603 as at 31 March 2018.
Included in non-current liabilities as at 30 September 2016 was a balance of £469,140, being the present value of the Founder Loan (the non-discounted cash value is £606,756). Due to the passage of time, the present value of the loan increased to £517,842 as at 30 September 2017 and £544,296 as at 31 March 2018. The loan is interest free and the balance of the loan cannot be recalled by David Breith until the 3 May 2019 and is then only repayable in the event the Board consider the Company to be in a positon to service the debt, therefore, the balance outstanding has been classified a non-current liability. For comparative purposes it should be noted that in the year ended September 2015, prior to the terms of the Founder Loan being formalised, this loan was noted as a current liability for £507,014.
In the the financial year ended 30 September 2017 the Company experienced increasing competition in the SME broadband market such that it became increasingly difficult for the Group to differentiate itself around the service as originally anticipated when the Toople brand was launched in May 2016.
As a result of the increasing competition in the broadband market, and unexpectedly high cost of customer acquisition through certain channels as a result, the Company reviewed its strategy in order to accelerate sales growth in its higher margin hosted telephony solution which it launched in January 2017. The Group also reviewed its marketing strategy to identify new less costly routes to customer growth.
The current cost of customer acquisition ranges between £40 and £91 per customer, and the Company expects to achieve a 30% margin over the contract life of the customer. As at the date of this Document, Toople's broadband packages start at around £17.50 per month for line rental (with no extra charges for the entry level broadband package save for any connection costs). Toople's hosted packages including calls start at £11.99 a month per user. The Group's cloud based hosted business telephony service has higher margins and also has the benefit that customers are typically signing a 36 month agreement (compared to 12 to 24 months for other services).
During the three months ended 30 June 2018, the Company achieved a number of new contract wins as it continued to benefit from investment in its new sales centre which has delivered a healthy increase in orders per customer when compared with results achieved by the previously outsourced relationship. Total revenues in the quarter grew by 27.2% when compared to 2017 with overall gross margin higher at 14.76% (2017: 11.95%) and gross margin in the retail division of 23.7% (2017: 17.6%). In August 2018, the Company signed two significant wholesale contracts with resellers, with the larger of these expected to deliver £3.5 million of additional revenue over the initial three year term of the agreement.
Since the period ended 31 March 2018 the Group has continued to generate losses which continues to reduce the Group's cash balances.
The Company's capital resources comprise its share capital and reserves. The Group derives substantially all of its revenues from funds generated by the Company's operating subsidiaries. The Group budgets for its capital resources on at least an annual basis. The Group's principal sources of liquidity are cash raised through capital raisings and operating cash flows. The Company may also seek to use overdraft facilities from time to time (although no such facility is in place at the date of this Document). To date the Group's subsidiaries have been primarily financed by the Founder's Loan, an overdraft facility, equity capital raised at the time of the Company's Standard Listing and operating cash flows. The Founder's Loan is not repayable for a period of three years following the Company's Standard Listing. The Group's cash is held in demand.
In the year ended 30 September 2017, being the period covered by the most recent audited financial information, cash outflows from the operating activities of the Group (before cash flows from financing activities) was £1.34 million, compared to £1.42 million for the year ended 30 September 2016. Cash outflows from operating activities in the six months ended 31 March 2018 were £724,594 and save for revenue generated during this period, there were no other material sources of income during this period. There has been no material changes in the cashflows of the Group since 31 March 2018 save that the Group continues to have a net outflow each month and the cash position of the Group as at 31 May 2018 was approximately £269,287.
The Company did not have any contingent liabilities as at 31 March 2017. The Company's working capital statement is set out in paragraph 12 of Part IX of this Document.
As at 31 March 2018 the Group's capitalisation and indebtedness, derived from the Group's unaudited consolidated financial information is set out in the table below:
| Total Current Debt | £ |
|---|---|
| – Guaranteed | — |
| – Secured | — |
| – Unguaranteed/Unsecured | — |
| Total Non-Current Debt (excluding current portion of long-term debt) | |
| – Guaranteed | — |
| – Secured | — |
| – Unguaranteed/Unsecured | 544,296 |
| Shareholder's Equity | |
| a) Share capital | 136,011 |
| b) Legal reserves | 3,519,856 |
| c) Other reserves | (3,794,704) |
| Total | 405,459 |
There has been no material change in the capitalisation and indebtedness of the Company since 31 MArch 2018.
The non-current unguaranteed/unsecured debt is due to David Breith. The loan is unsecured and interest free and has a cash value of £606,756. The balance cannot be recalled by Mr Breith until the third anniversary of the loan agreement on 3 May 2019 and after this anniversary is only repayable if the Board consider the Company to be in a position to service the debt. The Directors consider the market rate of interest that may be applicable to similar borrowing from a third party is approximately 10%. The cash value of the loan has therefore been discounted to its present value of £544,296 and the present value adjustment recognised as a capital contribution within equity.
The following information is based on UK tax law and HM Revenue and Customs (''HMRC'') practice currently in force in the UK. Such law and practice (including, without limitation, rates of tax) is in principle subject to change at any time The information that follows is for guidance purposes only. Any person who is in any doubt about his or her position should contact their professional advisor immediately.
The following information, which relates only to UK taxation, is applicable to persons who are resident in the UK and who beneficially own Ordinary Shares as investments and not as securities to be realised in the course of a trade. It is based on the law and practice currently in force in the UK. The information is not exhaustive and does not apply to potential investors:
Such Shareholders should consult their professional advisers without delay. Shareholders should note that tax law and interpretation can change and that, in particular, the levels, basis of and reliefs from taxation may change. Such changes may alter the benefits of investment in the Company.
Individual shareholders who are either non-resident or temporarily non-resident in the UK will not normally be liable to UK taxation on dividends paid by the company. Such shareholders should not be liable to UK taxation on capital gains arising on the sale or other disposal of Ordinary Shares, provided the period of non-residence in the UK (generally) exceeds five years. Such Shareholders should consult their own tax advisers concerning their tax liabilities.
Non-UK resident corporate shareholders who do not carry on a trade, profession or vocation through a branch, agency or permanent establishment in the UK with which the Ordinary Shares are connected, will not normally be liable to UK taxation on dividends paid by the Company or on capital gains arising on the disposal of Ordinary Shares.
Where the Company pays dividends no UK withholding taxes are deducted at source, Shareholders who are resident in the UK for tax purposes will, depending on their circumstances, be liable to UK income tax or corporation tax on those dividends.
UK resident individual Shareholders who are domiciled in the UK, and who hold their Shares as investments, will be subject to UK income tax on the amount of dividends received from the Company.
Dividend income received by UK tax resident individuals has a £2,000 dividend tax allowance. Dividend receipts in excess of £2,000 will be taxed at 7.5 per cent. for basic rate taxpayers, 32.5 per cent for higher rate taxpayers , and 38.1 per cent. for additional rate taxpayers.
Shareholders who are subject to UK corporation tax should generally, and subject to certain antiavoidance provisions, be able to claim exemption from UK corporation tax in respect of any dividend received but will not be entitled to claim relief in respect of any underlying tax.
Any gain arising on the sale, redemption or other disposal of Ordinary Shares will be taxed at the time of such sale, redemption or disposal as a capital gain.
The rate of capital gains tax on disposal of Ordinary shares by basic rate taxpayers is 10 per cent., and for upper rate and additional is 20 per cent.
For Shareholders within the charge to UK corporation tax, indexation allowance may reduce any chargeable gain arising on disposal of Ordinary Shares but will not create or increase an allowable loss. Indexation allowance was frozen from 31 December 2017.
Subject to certain exemptions, the corporation tax rate applicable to its taxable profits is currently 19 per cent. falling to 17 per cent. after 1 April 2020.
The attention of Shareholders (whether corporates or individuals) within the scope of UK taxation is drawn to the provisions set out in, respectively, Part 15 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 and Chapter 1 of Part 13 of the Income Tax Act 2007, which (in each case) give powers to HM Revenue and Customs to raise tax assessments so as to cancel ''tax advantages'' derived from certain prescribed ''transactions in securities''.
The statements below are intended as a general guide to the current position. They do not apply to certain intermediaries who are not liable to stamp duty or SDRT or (except where stated otherwise) to persons connected with depositary arrangements or clearance services who may be liable at a higher rate:
No UK stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax will be payable on the issue of the Ordinary Shares. Most investors will purchase existing Ordinary Shares using the CREST paperless clearance system and these acquisitions will be subject to Stamp Duty Reserve Tax at 0.5%. Where Ordinary Shares are acquired using paper (i.e. non-electronic settlement) Stamp Duty will become payable if the purchase consideration exceeds £1,000.
The Directors, whose names appear on page 23 of this Document, and the Company accept responsibility for the information contained in this Document. To the best of the knowledge of the Directors and the Company (who have each taken all reasonable care to ensure that such is the case), the information contained in this Document is in accordance with the facts and contains no omission likely to affect its import.
| Company Name |
Company Number |
Date of incorporation |
Principal business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toople.com | 06762397 | 1 December 2008 | Provider of telecoms services |
| Toople Finance | 09967768 | 25 January 2016 | Dormant |
| Toople Management | 09967788 | 25 January 2016 | Dormant |
| AskMerlin | 06762364 | 1 December 2008 | Owner of the Group's Merlin Platform |
2.11. AskMerlin Limited has one wholly owned subsidiary being AskMerlin Poland, a company incorporated on 1 July 2015 in Poland with company number 0000565369, whose principal business is the employment of the Group's team of software developers.
3.4. On 13 March 2018, 24,462,268 Ordinary Shares were issued and allotted pursuant to a private placing.
3.5. On 28 March 2018, 3,913,894 Ordinary Shares were issued in lieu of advisory services to the Company.
The authority shall, unless renewed, varied or revoked by the Company, expire on the date which is 15 months after the date on which the resolution was passed or, if earlier, the date of the next annual general meeting of the Company save that the Company may, before such expiry, make offers or agreements which would or might require relevant securities to be allotted after such expiry and the directors may allot relevant securities in pursuance of such offer or agreement notwithstanding that the authority conferred by this resolution has expired.
3.6.2. The directors were generally and unconditionally empowered, pursuant to Section 570 of the Act, to allot equity securities (as defined in section 560 of the CA 2006) for cash under the authority conferred by that resolution and/or to sell ordinary shares held by the Company as treasury shares as if section 561 of the CA 2006 did not apply to any such allotment or sale, provided that such authority shall be limited to the allotment of equity securities or sale of treasury shares to any person up to an aggregate nominal amount of £100,050 .
The authority granted by this resolution will expire at the conclusion of the Company's next annual general meeting after the passing of this resolution or, if earlier, 15 months from the date of passing this resolution, save that the Company may, before such expiry make offers or agreements which would or might require equity securities to be allotted (or treasury shares to be sold) after the authority expires and the Directors may allot equity securities (or sell treasury shares) in pursuance of any such offer or agreement as if the authority had not expired.
The authority shall, unless renewed, varied or revoked by the Company, expire on the date which is 15 months after the date on which the resolution was passed or, if earlier, the date of the next annual general meeting of the Company save that the Company may, before such expiry, make offers or agreements which would or might require relevant securities to be allotted after such expiry and the directors may allot relevant securities in pursuance of such offer or agreement notwithstanding that the authority conferred by this resolution has expired.
3.7.2. The directors were generally and unconditionally empowered, pursuant to Section 570 of the Act, to allot equity securities (as defined in section 560 of the CA 2006) for cash under the authority conferred by that resolution and/or to sell ordinary shares held by the Company as treasury shares as if section 561 of the CA 2006 did not apply to any such allotment or sale, provided that such authority shall be limited to the allotment of equity securities or sale of treasury shares to any person up to an aggregate nominal amount of £667,500 .
The authority granted by this resolution will expire at the conclusion of the Company's next annual general meeting after the passing of this resolution or, if earlier, 15 months from the date of passing this resolution, save that the Company may, before such expiry make offers or agreements which would or might require equity securities to be allotted (or treasury shares to be sold) after the authority expires and the Directors may allot equity securities (or sell treasury shares) in pursuance of any such offer or agreement as if the authority had not expired.
3.8. As at the date of this Document, the issued share capital of the Company consists of 203,913,894 Ordinary Shares (all of which are fully paid).
The Articles of Association, which were adopted on incorporation contain, inter alia, provisions to the following effect:
In the case of joint holders of a share, the person whose name appears first in the register of Shareholders is entitled, to the exclusion of the other joint holders, to vote, whether in person or by proxy, in respect of the share.
Nothing in the Articles confers on major shareholders in the Company any voting rights, which are different to those conferred on the holders of Ordinary Shares as described in this paragraph 4.
Pursuant to Rule 5 of the Disclosure Rules, holders of three per cent. or more of the voting rights of the Company's share capital are required to notify their interest in writing to the Company.
and (in the case of a partly paid share) by or on behalf of the transferee. The transferor shall be deemed to remain the holder of the share until the name of the transferee is entered on the register of members in respect thereof.
If the Board refuses to register a transfer it must, within two months after the date on which the instrument of transfer was lodged with the Company, send notice of the refusal to the transferor and the transferee, together with the reason therefore.
If the Board refuses to register a transfer it must, within two months after the date on which the instrument of transfer was lodged with the Company, send notice of the refusal to the transferor and the transferee, together with the reason therefore.
(d) no transfer of any default share shall be registered unless:
ii. Any disenfranchisement notice shall cease to have effect:
and to the address the Shareholder or joint Shareholders may direct in writing. The mailing of such cheque will, to the extent of the sum represented by the cheque (plus the amount of the tax required by law to be deducted), discharge all liability for the dividend unless such cheque is not paid on presentation or the amount of tax so deducted is not paid to the appropriate taxing authority.
x. The directors may, subject to the Articles and with the authority of an ordinary resolution of the Shareholders, from time to time capitalize any undivided profits of the Company of the Company not required for paying any fixed dividends on shares issued on terms requiring payment of the same (whether or not they are available for distribution) and which profits shall be deemed to include any amounts for the time being standing to any reserve or reserves or to the Company's share premium or other special account or to the capital redemption reserve.
The Ordinary Shares are not redeemable.
proceeds of sale in due proportion among the Shareholders who would have been entitled to the fractions of shares. For the purpose of any such sale, the Board may authorise some person to sign an instrument of transfer of the shares representing the fractions to their purchaser, whose name will be entered in the register of Shareholders as the holder of the shares and who will not be bound to see to the application of the purchase money and the title to the shares of such purchaser will not be affected by any irregularity or invalidity in the proceedings in reference to the sale.
Subject to the provisions of the Act and of the Articles, the special rights attached to any class of share in the Company may, by special resolution, be varied or abrogated.
Unless and until otherwise determined by the Company by ordinary resolution, the number of directors (other than alternate directors) shall not be fewer than two nor more than 10.
(d) the funding by the Company of his expenditure on defending proceedings or the doing by the Company of anything to enable him to avoid incurring such expenditure where all other directors are being offered substantially the same arrangement;
(e) any proposal concerning an offer of shares or debentures or other securities of or by the Company or any of its subsidiaries for subscription or purchase in which offer he is or is to be interested as a participant as a holder of shares, debentures or securities or in the underwriting or sub-underwriting thereof;
provided that for this purpose the director in question and any other interested director are not counted in the quorum at any meeting of the Board at which such matter, or such office, employment or position, is approved and it is agreed to without their voting or would have been agreed to if their votes had not been counted.
shall retire from office and may offer himself for election/re-election by the Shareholders.
(d) a registered medical practitioner who is treating him gives a written opinion to the Company stating that that person has become physically or mentally incapable of acting as a director and may remain so for more than three months;
(e) he has been absent from meetings of the Board for more than six consecutive months without permission of the Board and his alternate director (if any) has not during such period attended in his place, and the Board resolves that his office be vacated;
The Directors (other than alternate directors) shall be paid such remuneration (by way of fee) for their services as may be determined by the Board save that, unless otherwise approved by ordinary resolution of the Company in general meeting, no director shall be entitled to a fee in excess of £100,000 per annum, and the aggregate maximum amount per annum to be paid to directors by way of fees shall be, without approval of the members by resolution, £500,000. In the case of an executive director, such fees (if any) are payable to him in addition to his remuneration by way of salary, commission, profit participation or otherwise as an executive director.
present in person at the meeting and shall be entitled to vote and be counted in a quorum accordingly. Subject to the Act, all business transacted in such a manner by the Board or committee of the Board shall, for the purposes of the Articles, be deemed to be validly and effectively transacted at a meeting of the Board or a committee of the Board notwithstanding that fewer than two directors or alternate directors are physically present at the same place. Such a meeting shall be deemed to take place where the largest group of those participating is assembled, or, if there is no such group, where the chairman of the meeting is then present.
(a) making such adjustment as may be appropriate to reflect the profit or loss of the Company since the relevant balance sheet;
(b) excluding any amount set aside for taxation (including any deferred taxation) or any amounts attributable to outside shareholders in subsidiary undertakings of the Company;
If the Company is wound up, the liquidator may, without prejudice to any other right or power that the liquidator may have to divide or transfer the assets in specie, with the authority of a special resolution and any other authority required by law, divide among the members in specie the whole or any part of the assets of the Company. This applies whether the assets shall consist of property of one kind or different kinds. For this purpose, the liquidator may set such value as the liquidator considers fair on any asset or assets and may determine how to divide it between the members or different classes of members. The liquidator may, with the authority of a special resolution and any other authority required by the law, transfer all or any part of the assets to trustees on such trusts for the benefit of members as the liquidator decides. Where the liquidator divides or transfers any assets in pursuance of the powers in this article, no Shareholder shall be required to accept any asset in respect of which there is a liability.
4.19. Indemnification
Subject to the provisions of, and so far as may be consistent with (and not void under), the Act, every director, secretary or other officer of the Company or any associated company shall be entitled to be indemnified by the Company against all costs, charges, losses, expenses and liabilities incurred by him in the execution and/or discharge of his duties and/ or the exercise of his powers and/or otherwise in relation to or in connection with his duties, powers or office. Subject to the provisions of the Act, the Company shall have the power to purchase and maintain for any director, officer or employee of the Company or any associated company insurance against any liability.
The Company may fund a director's expenditure and that of a director of any subsidiary of the Company for any purposes permitted under the Act (including, without limitation, for the purposes permitted under sections 205 and 206 of the Act) and may do anything to enable a director or a director of any subsidiary of the Company to avoid incurring such expenditure as provided in the Act (including, without limitation, for the purposes permitted under sections 205 and 206 of the Act).
The City Code applies to the Company. Under Rule 9 of the City Code, if:
the acquirer and, depending on the circumstances, its concert parties, would be required (except with the consent of the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers) to make a cash offer for the outstanding shares at a price not less than the highest price paid for any interests in the shares by the acquirer or its concert parties during the previous 12 months.
The Act gives minority shareholders a right to be bought out in certain circumstances by an offeror who has made a takeover offer. If a takeover offer related to all the shares in the Company and, at any time before the end of the period within which the offer could be accepted, the offeror held or had agreed to acquire not less than 90 per cent. of the shares to which the offer relates, any holder of shares to which the offer related who had not accepted the offer could by a written communication to the offeror require it to acquire those shares. The offeror is required to give any shareholder notice of his or her right to be bought out within one month of that right arising. The offeror may impose a time limit on the rights of the minority shareholders to be bought out, but that period cannot end less than three months after the end of the acceptance period. If a shareholder exercises his or her rights, the offeror is bound to acquire those shares on the terms of the offer or on such other terms as may be agreed.
Under the Act, if a takeover offer (as defined in section 974 of the Act) is made for the Shares and the offeror were to acquire, or unconditionally contract to acquire, not less than 90 per cent. in value of the shares to which the takeover offer relates (the ''Takeover Offer Shares'') and not less than 90 per cent. of the voting rights attached to the Takeover Offer Shares within three months of the last day on which its offer can be accepted, it could acquire compulsorily the remaining 10 per cent. It would do so by sending a notice to outstanding shareholders telling them that it will acquire compulsorily their Takeover Offer Shares and then, six weeks later, it would execute a transfer of the outstanding Takeover Offer Shares in its favour and pay the consideration to the Company, which would hold the consideration on trust for outstanding shareholders. The consideration offered to the shareholders whose Takeover Offer Shares are acquired compulsorily under the Act must, in general, be the same as the consideration that was available under the takeover offer.
6.1. The interests of each of the Directors (all of which are beneficial unless otherwise stated) in the issued share capital of the Company as at the date of this Document or which are interests of a person connected with a Director (within the meaning of section 252 of the Act) and the existence of which is known or could, with reasonable diligence, be ascertained by a Director and as they are expected to be immediately following Admission are as follows:
| Number of Ordinary Shares as at the date of this Document |
Percentage of Ordinary Shares as at the date of this Document |
Number of Fee Shares to be issued conditional on Admission |
Number of Placing Shares expected to be subscribed for |
Total expected number of Ordinary Shares on Admission1 |
Percentage of Enlarged Share Capital1 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | ||||||
| Andrew Hollingworth | 28,250,000 | 13.85% | — | — | 28,250,000 | 2.96% |
| Richard Horsman | 4,000,000 | 1.96% | 8,500,000 | — | 12,560,000 | 1.31% |
| Geoffrey Wilson | 1,700,000 | 0.83% | 4,666,666 | — | 6,366,666 | 0.67% |
| Kevin Lawrence | NIL | NIL | 3,966,666 | — | 3,966,666 | 0.42% |
1 This assumes that there are no changes in the relevant Directors' shareholding other than set out here prior to Admission.
| Name | Number of NED Warrants |
|---|---|
| Richard Horsman | 2,000,000 |
| Geoffrey Wilson | 1,000,000 |
6.5. No Director has or has had any interest in any transaction which is or was unusual in its nature or conditions or significant to the business of the Company and which was effected by the Company since its incorporation or which is or was unusual in its nature or conditions or significant to the business of the Company.
Andrew Hollingworth, is employed as Chief Executive Officer under a service agreement with the Company dated 3 May 2016. He is entitled to a salary of £120,000 per annum. He is entitled to 35 days' paid holiday per annum (in addition to public and bank holidays in England and Wales). He will be entitled to participate in any pension scheme operated by the Group should one be set up. His service agreement contains a confidentiality clause that is without limit in time, along with post termination restrictions covering a period of 12 months from termination. His service agreement is terminable by either party on not less than 6 months' written notice, to expire on or after an initial 12 month term or immediately upon payment in lieu of notice and contains a garden leave clause.
Kevin Lawrence, is engaged as Chief Financial Officer under an agreement with the Company dated 21 June 2018 pursuant to which he is contracted to work one day per week and received an annual remuneration of £10,800. In addition, and pursuant to a separate arrangement, Kevin is entitled to be paid £700 per day for any days worked over and above his contractual one day per week. His arrangements are subject to 6 months notice on either side.
Richard Horsman was appointed as a director and non executive Chairman of the Company on 3 March 2016 and on 3 May 2016 he entered into a letter of appointment with the Company, pursuant to which he entitled to an annual fee of £18,000 for up to 8 days' work per annum, which includes consideration for chairing the Remuneration Committee and for being a member of the Audit Committee. He will be entitled to an additional fee if he is required to perform any specific and additional services. The Chairman is not entitled to receive any compensation on termination of his appointment (other than payment in respect of a notice period where notice is served) and is entitled to be reimbursed all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the proper performance of his duties.
Mr Horsman is entitled to 2,000,000 NED Warrants which vested on 10 May 2018.
Mr Horsman is subject to confidentiality undertakings without limitation in time.
Mr Horsman's appointment was for an initial term of three years commencing on 2016 Admission unless terminated earlier by either party giving to the other three month's prior written notice. The appointment may also be terminated pursuant to the Articles or as otherwise required by law. He is subject to re-election by the Company in general meeting in accordance with the Articles.
In addition the services of Mr Horsman are to be provided on a consultancy basis via High Lees Farm Partnership. Pursuant to the terms of the consultancy agreement High Lees Farm Partnership is entitled to be paid a fee of £32,000 plus any applicable VAT. The appointment was for an initial term of three years to be reviewed annually and terminable on three months' notice by either party.
Mr. Wilson was appointed as a director of the Company on 3 March 2016 and on 3 May 2016 he entered into a letter of appointment with the Company, pursuant to which he is entitled to an annual fee of £36,000 for up to 24 days' work per annum, which includes consideration for chairing the Audit Committee and being a member of the Remuneration Committee. He will be entitled to an additional fee if he is required to perform any specific and additional services. Mr Wilson is not entitled to receive any compensation on termination of his appointment (other than payment in respect of a notice period where notice is served) and entitled to be reimbursed all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the proper performance of his duties
Mr Wilson is entitled to 1,000,000 NED Warrants which vested On 10 May 2018. Mr Wilson is subject to confidentiality undertakings without limitation in time.
Mr Wilson's appointment is for an initial term of three years commencing on 2016 Admission, unless terminated earlier by either party giving to the other three month's prior written notice. The appointment may also be terminated pursuant to the Articles or as otherwise required by law. He is subject to re-election by the Company in general meeting in accordance with the Articles.
8.1. In addition to their directorship of the Company, the Directors hold or have held the following directorships or have been partners in the following partnerships within the five years prior to the date of this Document.
| Director Current Directorships |
Past Directorships | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Hollingworth | None | Cube Holdings Ltd | ||
| Kevin Lawrence | Gardien (Kunshan) Co.Ltd Gardien (SEA) Pte. Ltd Gardien (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd Gardien (Wuxi) Co. Ltd Gardien Advanced Test Technology Corp Gardien Pacific Limited Gardien Taiwan Inc. KBL Consulting Limited |
Aonix North America Limited Atego Group Limited Atego SAS Atego Systems GmbH Atego Systems Limited Blue River Software GmbH HighRely Service Inc. |
||
| Richard Horsman | High Lees Farm Partnership JC Mackinlay and Co. Limited |
Aonix North America Inc. Atego Group Limited Atego Systems Limited Atego Systems Inc. High Rely Incorporated Plethora Solutions Holdings plc |
||
| Geoffrey Wilson | Adicote Limited | Arbor Low Limited Executel Ltd Future Office Communications Ltd Greystone Telecoms Ltd Opal Business Solutions Ltd Opal Connect Ltd Pipex Internet Ltd Southern Communications Networks Limited TalkTalk Business (2CCH) Ltd TalkTalk Communications Ltd TalkTalk Direct Ltd Tiscali UK Ltd UK Telco (GB) Ltd V Networks Ltd |
(vii) been publicly criticised by any statutory or regulatory authority (including recognised professional bodies); or
(viii) been disqualified by a court from acting as a director of any company or from acting in the management or conduct of the affairs of a company.
9.1. As at the date of this Document, and as expected to be the case at Admission (assuming the Placing is fully subscribed), the Directors were aware that the following persons were, or are likely to be, interested, directly or indirectly, in 3 per cent. or more of the issued share capital of the Company as at that date:
| Name | Number of Ordinary Shares held as at the date of this Document |
Percentage of Existing Ordinary Shares |
Number of Ordinary Shares held on Admission1 |
Percentage of Enlarged Share Capital1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Hollingworth | 28,250,000 | 13.85% | 28,250,000 | 2.96% |
| Epsilon Investments Pte Limited |
10,000,000 | 4.90% | 60,000,000 | 6.4% |
1 This assumes that there are no changes in the relevant Directors' shareholding other than set out here prior to Admission
| Name | Number of Ordinary Shares held as at the date of this Document |
Percentage of Existing Ordinary Shares as at the date of this Document |
Number of Ordinary Shares held on Admission |
Percentage of Ordinary Shares held on Admission |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Breith | NIL | 0.00 | NIL | 0.00 |
| Andrew Hollingworth | 28,250,000 | 13.85 | 28,250,000 | 2.96 |
| Matthew Donaldson | NIL | 0.00 | NIL | 0.00 |
| 28,250,000 | 32.98 | 28,250,000 | 2.96 |
Save for the Share Exchange Agreements, the Founder Loan and the Short Term Loan and as set out in in sections D and F of Part V of the 2016 Prospectus (which have been incorporated by reference), on page 46 of the Audited Financial Statements for the year ended 30 September 2016 (which have been incorporated by reference), on page 51 of the Audited Financial Statements for the year ended 30 September 2017 (which have been incorporated by reference) and on page 20 of the Unaudited Interim Financial Statements for the six months ended 31 March 2018 (which have been incorporated by reference) there are no other related party transactions during the period covered by the Historical Financial Information.
As at the date of this Document, excluding the Directors, the Group has 18 employees (excluding the Directors), of which, 15 live and work in England and 3 are employed in Poland by AskMerlin SP ZOO.
The Company is of the opinion that the working capital available to the Group present requirements, taking into account the Net Proceeds, is sufficient for the Group's present requirements, that is for at least the 12 months from the date of this Document.
The following contracts (not being contracts entered into in the ordinary course of business) have been entered into by the Company or any other member of the Group within the two years immediately preceding the date of this Document and are or may be material:
By way of an engagement letter dated 3 May 2016 Cairn was appointed as financial adviser in connection with the Company's Standard Listing. Pursuant to the engagement the Company agreed to pay Cairn a corporate finance fee of £50,000 plus VAT together with costs and expenses relating to the 2016 Admission. The Company agreed to indemnify Cairn for any losses suffered by Cairn as a result of its engagement as financial adviser. Under the engagement letter the liability of Cairn to the Company is limited to a sum equivalent to three times the fees paid by the Company to Cairn.
The Company entered into an Admission Agreement on 3 May 2016 which contained certain warranties and indemnities given by the Company and the Directors in favour of Cairn Financial Advisers LLP in relation to the contents of the 2016 Prospectus and the Company's Standard Listing.
By way of an engagement letter dated 26 May 2017 the Company appointed Novum to act as joint placing agent in respect of the 2017 Offer. Pursuant to the engagement letter, Novum agreed to act as joint placing agent and to use reasonable endeavours to place new Ordinary Shares with investors pursuant to the 2017 Offer. The fees charged by Novum included corporate finance fee of £10,000
An agreement was entered into on 3 May 2016 between Cairn (1), the Company (2) and the Directors (3) pursuant to which Cairn agreed to act as the Company's financial adviser from the date of 2016 Admission.
Details of the service agreements between the Company and each of Andrew Hollingworth, Kevin Lawrence and Geoff Wilson are set out in paragraph 7 of this Part IX.
Details of the service agreements between the Company and Richard Horsman are set out in paragraph 7.2 of this Part IX.
Two Warrant Deeds executed by the Company on 3 May 2016 pursuant to which the NED Warrants are constituted. Each NED Warrant entitles the holder to subscribe for 1 new Ordinary Share at an exercise price of 8 pence at any time during the period commencing on the date of vesting (being midnight on second anniversary of 2016 Admission) (''Vesting Date'') and expiring at midnight on the second anniversary of the Vesting Date. The NED Warrants were granted to Richard Horsman and Geoffrey Wilson in the amounts set out in paragraph 6.4 of this Part IX. It is a condition of the NED Warrants vesting that the holder thereof is a director of the Company on the date of vesting. The NED Warrant Deeds contains the usual anti-dilution protections.
A warrant deed containing the usual anti-dilution protections, dated 20 June 2017 pursuant to which 3,230,625 warrants over Ordinary Shares were granted to certain advisers in connection with the 2017 Offer. Each such warrant entitles the holder to subscribe for 1 new Ordinary Share at an exercise price of 2 pence per Ordinary Share at any time during the 3 year period expiring at midnight on 20 June 2020.
The warrant deed to be entered into by the Company in relation to the Adviser Warrants over Ordinary Shares to be granted, conditional on Admission, pursuant to which the Adviser Warrants shall be constituted. Once constituted, each Adviser Warrant shall entitle the holder to subscribe for 1 new Ordinary Share at an exercise price of 0.3 pence at any time during the period commencing on Admission and expiring at midnight on the second anniversary thereof. The Adviser Warrant Deed shall contain the usual anti-dilution protections
The warrant deed to be entered into by the Company in relation to the Broker Warrants over Ordinary Shares to be granted, conditional on Admission, pursuant to which the Broker Warrants shall be constituted. Once constituted, each Broker Warrant shall entitle the holder to subscribe for 1 new Ordinary Share at an exercise price of 0.5 pence at any time during the period commencing on Admission and expiring at midnight on the second anniversary thereof. The Broker Warrant Deed shall contain the usual anti-dilution protections
David Breith, when a director of Toople.com, made director's loans to Toople.com (''Founder Loan'') the outstanding balance of which as at the date of publication of this Document is £606,756. By way of a letter agreement dated 3 May 2016 (and amended by way of a deed of variation on 24 May 2017) the arrangements concerning the Founder Loan were formalised such that the Founder Loan:
the Company may, subject to being in profit and having sufficient funds, repay the Founders Loan prior to the expiry of the 3 year term.
The deed of variation entered into on 24 May 2017 amended the outstanding balance of the Founder Loan, as stated in the original agreement dated 3 May 2016, from £725,000 to £606,756. All other terms of the Founder Loan remain as agreed on 3 May 2016. The outstanding balance was incorrectly stated in the original agreement on 3 May 2016.
Since 31 March 2018 (being the date to which the unaudited interim financial information has been prepared for the Group), there have been no significant changes in the trading or financial position of the Group.
15.1. Crowe has given and has not withdrawn its written consent to the information incorporated by reference as set out in in the form set out in Parts VII of this Document and to the references to its name in the form and context in which they appear in this Document.
There are no governmental, legal or arbitration proceedings (including any such proceedings which are pending or threatened of which the Company is aware) during a period covering at least the previous 12 months which may have, or have had in the recent past, significant effects on the financial position or profitability of the Company or the Group.
Copies of the following documents may be inspected at the head office of the Group, The Chapel, Britwell Road, Burnham Buckinghamshire, SL1 8DF during usual business hours on any day (except Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays) from the date of this Document until 12 months thereafter:
In addition, this Document will be published in electronic form and be available on the Company's website at www.toople.com subject to certain access restrictions applicable to persons located or resident outside the United Kingdom.
In this Document, unless the context requires otherwise the words and expressions set out below shall bear the following meanings.
| ''2016 Admission'' | admission of the entire issued share capital of the Company to the standard segment of the Official List of the UK Listing Authority by way of standard listing and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market for listed securities which took place on 10 May 2016; |
|---|---|
| ''2016 Prospectus'' | the prospectus published by the Company on 4 May 2016 in connection with the Company's admission to the standard segment of the Official List of the UK Listing Authority by way of standard listing and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market for listed securities; |
| ''2017 Warrants'' | the 3,230,625 warrants constituted by the 2017 Warrant Deeds, each such warrant giving the holder thereof the right to subscribe for one new Ordinary Share at a price of 2 pence per share subject to the terms and conditions of the 2017 Warrant Deeds; |
| ''2017 Warrant Deeds'' | the warrant deed constituting the 2017 Warrants, further details of which are set out in paragraph 13.9 of Part IX; |
| ''Act'' | the Companies Act 2006; |
| ''Admission'' | the admission (or Admissions) of the Placing Shares to the standard segment of the Official List and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities, and ''Admitted'' shall be construed accordingly; |
| ''Adviser Warrants'' | the 1,666,666 warrants constituted by the Adviser Warrant Deed, each such warrant giving Cairn the right to subscribe for one new Ordinary Shares at the Placing Price subject to the terms and conditions of the Adviser Warrant Deed; |
| ''Adviser Warrant Deed'' | the warrant deed dated on or around the date of this Document constituting the Adviser Warrants, further details of which are set out in paragraph 13.10 of Part IX; |
| ''Articles'' | the Articles of Association of the Company, as amended from time to time; |
| ''AskMerlin'' | AskMerlin Limited, a company incorporated on 1 December 2008 in England & Wales with registered number 06762364, being a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company; |
| ''Ask Merlin Poland'' | AskMerlin ZOO, a company incorporated on 1 July 2015 in Poland with company number 0000565369 being a wholly owned subsidiary of AskMerlin; |
| ''Audited Financial Statements'' | means the audited financial statements of the Company for the years ended 30 September 2016 with comparative information for the year ended 30 September 2015 which the Company has published in accordance with the Listing Rule requirements; |
| ''Board'' | the board of directors of the Company; |
| ''Broker Warrants'' | the 33,000,000 warrants constituted by the Broker Warrant Deed, each such warrant giving Novum and Turner Pope the right to subscribe for one new Ordinary Shares at the 0.5 pence subject to the terms and conditions of the Broker Warrant Deed; |
| ''Broker Warrant Deed'' | the warrant deed dated on or around the date of this Document constituting the Broker Warrants, further details of which are set out in paragraph 13.11 of Part IX; |
|---|---|
| ''Cairn'' | Cairn Financial Advisers LLP of 62 – 63 Cheapside, London EC2V 6AX; |
| ''City Code | City Code on Takeovers and Mergers issued and administered by the United Kingdom Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, as amended from time to time; |
| ''Company'' or ''Toople'' | Toople Plc, a company incorporated in the UK with company number 010037980; |
| ''Concert Party'' | David Breith, Andrew Hollingworth, and Matthew Donaldson; |
| ''Control'' | an interest, or interests, in Ordinary Shares carrying in aggregate 30% or more of the voting rights of a company, irrespective of whether such interest or interests give de facto control; |
| ''Costs'' | total expenses incurred (or to be incurred) by the Company in connection with the Placing and Admission, of approximately £0.23 million (exclusive of recoverable VAT); |
| ''CREST'' | the relevant system (as defined in the CREST Regulations) operated by Euroclear in accordance with which securities may be held and transferred in uncertificated form; |
| ''CREST Regulations'' | the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001 (SI 2001No. 3755), as amended; |
| ''Crowe'' | Crowe U.K. LLP of St Bride's House, 10 Salisbury Square, London, EC4Y 8EH; |
| ''Directors'' | the directors of the Company as at the date of this Document; |
| ''Disclosure and Transparency Rules'' |
the disclosure rules and the transparency rules made by the FCA under section 73A of FSMA; |
| ''Document'' | this Document; |
| ''Enlarged Share Capital'' | the issued Ordinary Share capital of the Company on Admission consisting of the Existing Ordinary Shares and the Placing Shares ); |
| ''Euroclear'' | Euroclear UK & Ireland Limited; |
| ''European Economic Area'' | the European Union, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein; |
| ''European Union'' | an economic and political union of 28 Member States located in Europe; |
| ''Euronext'' | the European cross-border exchange for trading and clearing of cash products and derivatives on regulated and non-regulated markets; |
| ''Existing Ordinary Shares'' | the 203,913,894 Ordinary Shares in issue as at the date of this Document; |
| ''Existing Shareholders'' | the Shareholders of the Company prior to Admission; holding the Existing Ordinary Shares; |
| ''FCA'' | the Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom (or any such body appointed in replacement thereof); |
| ''Fee Shares'' | the 17,133,332 new Ordinary Shares to be issued to Richard Horsman and Geoff Wilson at the Placing Price in lieu of fees and remuneration owed, as set out in paragraph 16 of Part I of this Document and paragraph 6.1 of Part IX of this Document; |
| ''Founder'' | David Breith; |
| ''Founder Loan'' | the loan provided by David Breith as described in paragraph 13.12 of Part IX'; |
| ''FSMA'' | the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (as amended from time to time); |
|---|---|
| ''Group'' | the Company and the Subsidiaries from time to time; |
| ''Historical Financial Information'' |
the historical financial information of the Group and its subsidiaries as referred to in Part V of this Document, parts of which have been incorporated by reference into this Document as summarised in Part VI of this Document; |
| ''IFRS'' | International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union; |
| ''Listing Rules'' | the Listing Rules made by the FCA under Part VI of the FSMA; |
| ''London Stock Exchange'' or ''LSE |
London Stock Exchange plc; |
| ''Main Market'' | the Main Market of the LSE; |
| ''Member State'' | a member state of the European Economic Area; |
| ''NED Warrants'' | the 3 million warrants constituted by the NED Warrant Deed, each such warrant giving the holder thereof the right to subscribe for one new Ordinary Share at a price of 8 pence per ordinary share subject to the terms and conditions of the NED Warrant Deed; |
| ''NED Warrant Deeds'' | the two warrant deeds each dated 3 May 2016 constituting the NED Warrants, further details of which are set out in paragraph 13.8 of Part IX; |
| ''Net Proceeds'' | the net proceeds of the Placing after Costs; |
| ''Novum'' | Novum Securities Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with registered office at 8-10 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0DH; |
| ''Official List'' | the Official List of the United Kingdom Listing Authority; |
| ''Ordinary Shares'' | ordinary shares of 0.0667 pence nominal value in the capital of the Company; |
| ''Overseas Shareholders'' | holders of Ordinary Shares who have registered addresses in, or who are resident or ordinarily resident in, or citizens of, or which are corporations, partnerships or other entities created or organised under the laws of countries other than the UK or persons who are nominees or custodians, trustees or guardians for citizens, residents in or nationals of, countries other than the UK which may be affected by the laws or regulatory requirements of the relevant jurisdictions; |
| ''Placing'' | the placing of the Placing Shares at the Placing Price to be undertaken by Novum and Tuner Pope, to raise £2,200,000, conditional on Admission; |
| ''Placing Price'' | 0.3 pence being the price at which each Placing Share will be issued pursuant to the Placing; |
| ''Placing Shares'' | the 733,333,333 new Ordinary Shares to be issued pursuant to the Placing; |
| ''Prospectus Rules'' | the prospectus rules made by the FCA under section 73A of FSMA; |
| ''Premium Listing'' | a Premium Listing under Chapter 6 of the Listing Rules; |
| ''Prospectus Rules'' | the prospectus rules made by the FCA pursuant to section 73A of the FSMA, as amended from time to time; |
| ''Registrar'' | Share Registrars Limited; |
| ''Regulations'' | the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001 (SI 2001 No. 2001/3755) (as amended from time to time); |
| ''RIS'' | Regulatory Information Service |
| ''Shareholders'' or ''Shareholder'' |
the holder or holders of Ordinary Shares |
|---|---|
| ''Share Exchange Agreements'' | the four share for share exchange agreements each entered into on 15 April 2016 between the Company and David Breith; |
| ''Short Term Loan'' | the short term loan previously provided by David Breith as described in paragraph 13.12 of Part IX; |
| ''Standard Listing'' | a Standard Listing under Chapter 14 of the Listing Rules; |
| ''Subsidiaries'' | means collectively Toople.com, AskMerlin, AskMerlin Poland, Toople Finance and Toople Management Services; |
| ''Toople Finance'' | Toople Finance Limited, a company incorporated on 25 January 2016 in England & Wales with registered number 09967768, being a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company; |
| ''Toople.com'' | Toople.com Limited, a company incorporated on 1 December 2008 in England & Wales with registered number 06762397, being a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company; |
| ''Takeover Panel'' | Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, regulatory body which administers the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers; |
| ''Turner Pope'' | Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FRN 739104 with registered address 550 Ley Street, Ilford, Essex, England, IG2 7DB; |
| ''UK'' | United Kingdom; |
| ''UK Corporate Governance Code'' |
the UK Corporate Governance Code as published by the Financial Reporting Council in September 2014 and as subsequently amended from time to time; |
| ''UKLA'' or ''United Kingdom'' | the FSA acting in its capacity as the competent authority for the Listing Authority'' purpose of Part VI of FSMA; |
| ''Unaudited Interim Accounts'' | the Group's unaudited interim accounts for the six months ended 31 March 2018 (with comparative information for the six months ended 31 March 2017); |
| ''Voting Rights'' | all the voting rights attributable to the capital of a company which are currently exercisable at a general meeting; |
| Warrants | Together the NED Warrants, the Adviser Warrants and the 2017 Warrants |
| ''Working Capital Period'' | the period of 12 months following the date of this Document; |
| ''£'' or ''GDP'' | United Kingdom pounds |
In this Document, words denoting any gender include all genders and the singular includes the plural (and vice versa).
| ''ADSL 2+'' | Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line extending existing ADSL capacity; |
|---|---|
| ''BroadSoft'' | a technology innovator in cloud PB |
| ''Bundled Solution'' | A collection of services for which pricing is not quoted for each element that it comprises; |
| ''Carriers'' | Communications providers with the ability to carry calls; |
| ''CDR'' | Call Detail Record/Call Data Record, being the records relating to voice calls; |
| ''Cloud-based'' | A product or service accessed through a data link/the internet; |
| ''CRM'' | Customer Relationship Management; |
| ''Cloud PBX'' | Cloud based PBX services; |
| ''Data Services'' | Broadband and Ethernet services; |
| ''Direct'' | Service supplied by the Group directly to the end user; |
| ''DSL'' | Digital Subscriber Line; |
| ''Ethernet'' | A commonly used networking protocol; |
| ''EFM'' | Ethernet First Mile; |
| ''Fibre'' | Fibre optic cable; |
| ''Fixed Line'' | Provision of communications services to premises using wired technology; |
| ''Fixed Telephony Systems'' | Provision of telephony services via a Fixed Line; |
| ''FTTC'' | Fibre to the Cabinet broadband service; |
| ''Hosted Services'' | Services provided to an end-customer via a Data Link; |
| ''IP'' | Internet Protocol; |
| ''LLU'' | Local Loop Unbundled; |
| ''PBX'' | Private Branch Exchange; |
| ''Portal''/''Merlin Portal'' | |
| the Merlin platform through which customers access their services; |
|
| ''SIP'' | Session Initiation Protocol for VoIP handling; |
| ''SIP Trunking'' | The provision of VoIP services using SIP; |
| ''SLA'' | Service Level Agreement; |
| ''Traditional Services'' | Calls and lines using common signal paths; |
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