Archer Materials raising up to $3 million to accelerate work programs

Archer Materials Ltd (ASX:AXE) is offering shareholders an opportunity to participate in a share purchase plan (SPP) to raise up to $3 million at an issue price of 60 cents per share. Funds raised will be used to accelerate work programs in the advanced materials and mineral exploration business components as well as to start hiring additional staff to do this work. Archer is also offering shareholders the opportunity to visit its offices and laboratories as it continues to find ways to engage with shareholders and help them to feel part of the company's growth strategy. With this purpose in mind, the company decided to undertake a SPP rather than a broker sponsored placement as an SPP gives shareholders an opportunity to participate at a price discount normally reserved for sophisticated and professional investors. Materials technology momentum The company achieved much in 2019 and has continued this momentum into 2020 with the announcement of an agreement to join the IBM Q Network as an ecosystem partner, which will help put Archer on the global stage. This agreement with IBM is in support of AXE plans to use IBM's open-source framework, Qiskit, as the software stack for its 12CQ qubit processor chip technology. Early exploration success Archer has also had early success in mineral exploration and in particular with development plans for the Franklyn Halloysite-Kaolin Project in South Australia, with pilot plant processing due to be completed next month. Coinciding with these developments has been an increase in share prices from 18.5 cents at close on May 1 to a new all-time high of 81.5 cents this week. SPP funds The funds raised from the SPP will be used to meet company expenses associated with: Development of the 12CQ qubit processor chip technology, as well as active collaboration with IBM to use Qiskit as the software stack for its processors and participation in the global IBM Q Network as an ecosystem partner; Prosecution of the human health biosensor patents and the hiring of new staff to expedite the development of this technology; Completion of the Franklyn halloysite pilot plant test work and resource drill-out upon successful trials of the halloysite product by potential customers; and Identify and assess new technologies for inclusion in the Reliable Energy vertical. SPP terms The SPP is only available to Australian and New Zealand shareholders who were registered as Archer shareholders at 7:00pm (AEST) on Wednesday, May 27.   The SPP issue price of 60 cents per new share represents a discount of: 12.4% to the closing price of Archer shares on May 27, which was the last trading day prior to the date of the announcement of the SPP; 26.4% to the 52-week high Archer share price of 81.5 cents on May 26; and 9.1% to the volume-weighted average price of Archer shares over the five trading days prior to the date of the announcement of the SPP on May 28.