Emmerson raises £0.85m to fund dispute with Moroccan government

(Sharecast News) - Morocco-focused potash developer Emmerson announced on Friday that it has raised £0.85m to fund its next move in its dispute with the Moroccan government. The AIM-traded firm said the funds were raised through an oversubscribed placing and subscription of 130.8 million new shares at 0.65p each, including 43.6 million attached warrants with an exercise price of 3p per share and a seven-year term.

It said the proceeds would primarily support Emmerson as it explored options concerning the dispute, as it outlined in November.

The fundraising was led by Shard Capital Partners.

Directors Hayden Locke, Robert Wrixon, and Graham Clarke participated in the fundraising, contributing £20,000 collectively through the purchase of 3.2 million shares.

The issue of shares was being conducted under existing authorities granted at Emmerson's 2024 annual general meeting, requiring no further shareholder approval.

"The government of the Kingdom of Morocco has failed to respond to our notice of dispute," said chairman Hayden Locke.

"Accordingly, working with our specialist arbitration legal team, Boies Schiller Flexner, we have presented our case to funders of potential arbitration claims and have received significant interest.

"As we expected, the merits present extremely well with these litigation experts, and we are aiming to close our funding agreement as soon as we possibly can."

Locke said that given the "complete lack of engagement", the company expected to request arbitration via ICSID.

"A core group of investors, which were involved in the recent, successful, GreenX arbitration victory over the Polish government, are taking up a position in this capital raise.

"These investors are well versed in international arbitration and have worked extensively with our legal counsel.

"They share our view on the strength of our case."

At 1418 GMT, shares in Emmerson were up 8.32% at 0.68p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.