Interim Results

Interim Report for the period ended 31 December 2019

This unaudited interim report for the period ended 31 December 2019 represents a period prior to the reverse take-over of OTAQ Group Ltd by Hertsford Capital plc which was formally agreed at a General Meeting by Hertsford shareholders on 27 March 2020.

During this interim period Hertsford was a cash shell and recorded a loss of £70,820. As the directors drew no salary, the ongoing costs are only administrative and listing expenses. Cash at the period end was over £2.7 million.

Post period end:

On 12 February 2020, Hertsford announced it was in discussions to acquire OTAQ Group Limited (‘OTAQ’). OTAQ designs, develops and supports marine technology products and solutions for the global aquaculture and offshore oil and gas industries. Their marine technology portfolio includes a market-leading intelligent acoustic deterrent system, designed to protect marine-based aquaculture sites from predation, with multiple systems deployed in Scotland, Chile, Finland and Russia.

On 27 March 2020, the Company announced that at its General Meeting, all of the Resolutions set out in the circular dated 10 March 2020 (‘Circular’) were duly passed by the requisite majorities. The resolutions authorised, amongst other matters:

• a share consolidation comprising the consolidation of every five existing ordinary shares into one consolidated ordinary share (‘Consolidated Share’);
•  in connection with the acquisition of the entire issued and to be issued share capital of OTAQ Group Limited for consideration of £12.4 million, satisfied through the issue of 21,539,904 Consolidated Shares at 57.5 pence per Consolidated Share, the waiver of any obligation that would otherwise arise under Rule 9 of the Takeover Code for any of the Concert Party to make a general offer to shareholders, as a result of the allotment and issue to them of the Consideration Shares, the Concert Party Placing Shares, the Concert Party Warrant Shares and the Option Shares (each as defined in the Circular);
• a placing raising c.£1.5 million (before expenses) through the issue of 2,608,694 Consolidated Shares at 57.5 pence per Consolidated Share.

Hertsford Capital plc will be renamed OTAQ plc, and now trades on the Standard segment of the Official List, under the ticker OTAQ.

The strategy of the enlarged group is to build a business of significance within the aquaculture industry focussed on helping salmon farmers become more effective and helping them overcome challenges in their operations. Over time, the enlarged group intends to have a range of products designed to meet these needs that are based on a common infrastructure and a cloud-based information system. The strategy is to design, develop, install and support these products on an 'Infrastructure as a Service' basis on long-term rental contracts.

About OTAQ:

OTAQ is a highly innovative marine technology company focused on the marine aquaculture, offshore energy, renewables and oceanographic research sectors. It has 36 employees in four worldwide locations; Lancaster, Aberdeen and Ulverston in the UK and Puerto Montt in Chile. OTAQ’s marine technology portfolio includes a market-leading intelligent acoustic deterrent system, designed to protect marine-based aquaculture sites from predation, with multiple systems deployed in Scotland, Chile, Finland and Russia.

The Oceansense leak detection systems have a global reputation as the industry standard solution and have been deployed successfully on hundreds of jobs.  The Dragonfish laser measurement system is fast becoming recognised as one of the most accurate underwater precision laser measurement systems available. OTAQ also has significant experience in the design & manufacture of underwater connectors, penetrators & communication systems.

It seeks to develop and continuously improve its products using its specialist mechanical, electronic and software engineers with decades of experience in bringing underwater technology products to market.