Imperial spin-out Ceres hopes to raise the money through an oversubscribed placing.
Ceres Power, an Imperial College London spin-out, is aiming to raise £20m ($34m) through an oversubscribed placing. Shares are being placed at 8.5p ($0.15) each. IP Group has already agreed to buy 47,058,822 shares for just under £4m ($6.86m).
IP Group will hold 179,558,822 ordinary shares, or 23.2%. Ceres’s aim is to generate enough capital through the placing to take the company all the way into 2016.
The reason for the fundraising is three-fold. Ceres needs sufficient money to tie it over until new agreements are in place, so it can respond to the commercial interest its technology has generated in the meantime. It also needs to push ahead development of its patented Steel Cell technology and manufacturing roadmaps to retain its competitive edge. The company is also hoping to increase its manufacturing volumes.
Ceres develops fuel cell technology that can reduce operating costs, lower CO2 emissions, increase efficiency and improve energy security.
Phil Caldwell, chief executive at Ceres, said: “We believe that fuel cells are a technology whose time has come and Ceres Power is now well positioned to be one of the leaders in this rapidly growing industry. This funding will enable the company to advance the development and commercialisation of our low cost Steel Cell technology across different markets and applications, with our world class partners.”
The placing is conditional upon, among other details, shareholders voting in favour at a general meeting to be held on 29 July 2014.
