Acta : Notice of EGM

4 December 2014

Acta S.p.A. ("Acta" or "the Company")

Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting

 Acta S.p.A. (AIM: ACTA), the hydrogen energy company, announces that it will hold an Extraordinary General Meeting ("EGM") to put in place the authorities needed to allow the Board to determine and approve the issue of up to €8,000,000 in nominal share capital, denominated in shares of 0.6 euro cents each, during the thirty six months following the shareholders meeting.  These authorities, if approved, will allow the Board the flexibility that it needs to raise additional equity in accordance with the current and future needs of the Company.

The EGM has been convened for 19, 20 and 22 December 2014.  The meeting is expected to be held at the third calling, on 22 December 2014, unless the meeting quorum is reached at the first or second calling.

The meeting will allow the Board to fulfil its formal requirements under Italian law to notify the shareholders that the net equity of the Company has fallen below the notification threshold of two thirds of the issued share capital.

Having made a review of the financial resources available to the Company the Board has determined that the capital currently available will not be sufficient to finance the Company's short to medium term funding requirements, and has decided to seek additional funds, which will be required in the New Year, to finance the Company's working capital.

The Board expects that the majority of any fundraising is likely to come from a non-preemptive equity fundraising via a private placing with financial institutions. It is important that the resolution is passed as without the flexibility to place equity on a non-preemptive basis, it may be difficult for the Company to raise sufficient funding within an appropriate timescale to satisfy its funding needs.    

The Board continues to seek settlement of the outstanding legal dispute announced with a subsidiary minority shareholder and, subject to the settlement of the dispute, may use part of the authorisation granted at the EGM to issue shares in part-payment of the settlement.

Copies of the EGM Notice, shareholder circular and voting forms will be published on the Company's website at www.actagroup.itand sent to shareholders shortly.

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About Acta S.p.A.

Acta S.p.A. is a developer and manufacturer of a range of clean energy products.  Based on its world-leading expertise in alkaline membrane technology, the Company has developed a unique range of low-cost, compact hydrogen generators (electrolysers) which produce pure, dry compressed hydrogen at high efficiency from renewable or grid power.

In April 2013 Acta launched the Acta Power, an integrated electrolyser and fuel cell system for use in back-up power and renewable energy storage applications.  Best understood as a "Hydrogen Battery", the system converts energy from renewable or grid power when it is available and stores it in the form of hydrogen, and then converts the hydrogen back to electrical power when needed due to grid black-out or lack of solar / wind power. 

This system has extensive application as a back-up power unit for telecommunications base stations, where it competes on cost against traditional battery and diesel solutions, while offering a cleaner solution and better service.  In particular, the use of rainwater and the generation of hydrogen on-site removes the cost and logistical barriers of fuel delivery, while also avoiding the theft risk associated with diesel, methanol and battery systems. 

The supply of fuel cell back-up power systems for telecommunications base stations represents a large and fast-growing market, especially in extensively bad-grid and off-grid locations such as in Asia and Africa.  Battery sales to the Chinese telecoms industry are currently valued at $4.7 bn to $7.8 bn per annum (Fuel Cell Today, China).

Acta holds a portfolio of patents and patent applications on its key technologies, manufactures its products through a combination of production, component subcontracting, and final product assembly and quality control, and has established distribution channels through partnerships in China, India, SE Asia, Australia, Africa, Middle East, Germany, UK, USA and South America.

Acta S.p.A. is based near Pisa, Italy, and was admitted to trading on AIM in October 2005.