The Quoted Companies Alliance (QCA) wants the British Business Bank to set aside part of its cash for investment in quoted smaller companies. The QCA believes that setting aside £1bn for quoted company investment will have a significant positive effect.
The British Business Bank has nearly £26bn and new government guidance means that it has £2bn to invest in specific sectors that are viewed as key to the UK economy.
The QCA argues that investing in quoted smaller companies will help to offset the capital outflows from smaller company funds and create a much more positive attitude towards investment in smaller companies.
This could revitalise the London market and help to attract more companies to float on AIM and other markets.
ITM Power gets UK government funds
Electrolyser technology developer ITM Power will receive £86.5m in UK government funding for projects.
There is a £40m subscription at 55.56p/share via the government's GB Energy entity. That is a lower issue price than previous fundraisings. This will give it a 10.4% stake. There will also be a £46.5m grant from the UK government, which will be received quarterly over three years.
This will help to fund the £120m of capital investment in the Chronos electrolyser stack manufacturing line. This is more efficient than the Trident stack. The facility's capacity will be 1GW/year. Cash should be £211m at the end of April 2026 and £157.9m at the end of April 2027.
Hargreaves cash boost
Hargreaves Services will benefit from the latest fundraising by Tungsten West.
The fundraising will accelerate payments for services at the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine in southwest England. Hargreaves Services sold the mine to Tungsten West in 2019. There are three outstanding payments of £1m each and when mining commences Hargreaves Services would be paid for mining services. Tungsten West is buying out this mining services contract for £7m.
The £3m payment will be brought forward and recognised in the current financial year, while the £7m termination fee will be a one-off profit.
