Minoan turns £1.15m of liabilities into convertible loans

Minoan Group announced the conversion of £1.15m worth of outstanding loans into new convertible loans on Wednesday, as part of its efforts to deleverage its balance sheet.

The AIM-traded firm said the majority of the new convertible loans were interest-free, with a 10% fee, and could be redeemed or converted at the option of either the company or the loan holders.

Minoan said it could only exercise its conversion option if its share price exceeded 0.9p for seven consecutive days.

One loan, valued at £0.19m and carrying a 10% annual interest rate, was convertible solely at the loan holder's discretion.

All the new convertible loans had a redemption date of 31 December 2025, and would be convertible into ordinary shares at 1p per share, representing a 90% premium over the prior day’s closing price of 0.53p.

Should all loans be converted, the company's liabilities would be reduced by £1.15m.

The loan conversion, along with settlements announced in October last year, marked significant progress in reducing Minoan's debt burden as it prepared to move forward with the Cavo Sidero development project.

Its board said it also expected to update shareholders soon on commercial developments and negotiations with the Greek Ministry of National Economy and Finance regarding its updated contract with the Public Welfare Ecclesiastical Foundation Panagia Akrotiriani.

Two directors of Minoan’s subsidiary Loyalward - Nicholas Day and Peter Raby - were participating in the transaction, with loans of £206,468 and £218,372, respectively.

Their participation constituted a related party transaction under the AIM rules, and Minoan’s board, after consultation with Zeus Capital, said it considered the terms fair and reasonable for shareholders.

At 1144 BST, shares in Minoan Group were down 0.95% at 0.52p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.