OCEANUS Group Oceanus : 579 +5% plans to issue US$6 million in digital convertible bonds to one of its substantial shareholders, as part of a plan to repay some bridging loans. It will also place out new shares representing 5.2 per cent of its existing share capital, with a total value of S$29.2 million.

 

The bonds are due on Mar 22, 2026 and will bear a coupon of 4 per cent per annum, payable on a quarterly basis. The subscriber, Alacrity Investment Group, is owned by Cleveland Cuaca and Bryan Tan Jie.

 

Alacrity owns 14.6 per cent of seafood supplier Oceanus. It is also taking up part of the placement, which would take its stake to 17.1 per cent.

 

A price floor has been set on the convertible bonds such that any conversion shares would represent a maximum of 1.57 per cent of the company' s enlarged share capital.

 

The digital tokens will be held by HydraX Digital Assets, a digital asset custodian. Peter Koh, the chief executive of Oceanus, was among the early investors in HydraX.

 

Meanwhile, Oceanus' s placement will be priced at S$0.023 per share - a premium of 9.5 per cent to the weighted average price of S$0.021 per share on the full market day on which the placement agreements were signed.

 

The other entities taking up the placement are PY Opulence Investment and Golden Summit International. The latter is a financial advisory firm while the former is a investment holding company whose interests include agriculture and aquaculture. The managers of both entities were acquainted with Koh " in a networking setting" . They will take 0.2 per cent and 1.6 per cent of the placement, respectively.

 

The placement shares and the convertible bonds are being issued to repay bridging loans facilities entered into in November last year to fund the company' s growth plans.

 

Upon completion of the placement exercise and bonds issue, the bridging loan facilities will be terminated and settled.