Tungsten Corporation was founded in February 2012 by Edmund Truell and Danny Truell to identify and acquire a company, business or asset within the financial services sector which could grow into a business with a significant market presence in a segment with potential for sustainable long-term cash generation, return on equity and growth. They have been joined on the Board in a Non-Executive capacity by Arnold Hoevenaars (Chairman), Peter Kiernan, and Michael Spencer and the Company has been advised by Disruptive Capital Finance LLP. The founders of the Company and management team have to date invested £9.6 million into the Company to provide it with the funds required to undertake the identification and acquisition process.



The Tungsten Board, through its experience in the financial services sector, believed that the financial crisis of the last five years created an opportunity to acquire and/or build a presence in undervalued segments of the financial market where better management and improved use of technology could deliver enhanced returns. Disruptive Capital was exclusively engaged by the Tungsten Board for the purposes of identifying and recommending investment opportunities to the Company.



Admission to Trading on AIM

On 16 October 2013, Tungsten Corporation was admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, raising gross proceeds of £225 million. Tungsten’s market capitalisation on admission was £225 million.




Proceeds from the IPO will be used as follows:


1.£73 million to fund the cash element of the acquisition of OB10 Limited, the leading global business to business e-invoicing network:
2.£58 - £60 million to finance the acquisition of FIBI Bank (UK) Plc (subject to regulatory approval) and to provide solvency capital to support the invoice discounting activities of the Bank;
3.£15 million for working capital and business development purposes; and
4.£14 million to fund acquisition and transaction fees and expenses, with a further £2 million payable at the board of Tungsten’s discretion.

The Placing of £160 million represented the largest trading company IPO on AIM since 2008.



Tungsten’s strategic vision



The strategic vision of Tungsten is to create a leading cloud based global trading network, monetising the existing OB10 e-invoicing platform with the addition of value added services such as seamless electronically secure encrypted invoice discounting against “approved for pay” invoices, substantially reducing fraud and dilutions risks so evident in traditional “old model” supply chain finance; and the provision of spend analytics technology across OB10’s established network.


http://www.tungstencorporationplc.com/

StockMarketWire.com
Tungsten has materially improved its H1 pretax loss to £3.08m, from a loss of £12.04m.

Revenue was £15.54m, from £12.98m.

"I am very encouraged by the emerging momentum across our business, notably in the areas where we have been investing," said CEO Richard Hurwitz.

"We are making good progress toward our strategic goals, repairing operational efficiency while positioning the business for profitable growth. The benefits of the changes we are making are starting to show in our reported results.

"We have been executing to plan and ensuring cost discipline as we take needed steps on the path to profitability. I am especially encouraged by our customers' response to the new products we have launched.

"Completing the sale of Tungsten Bank is an important component in the reshaping of our business. With a stronger customer proposition, improved funding structure and the right leaders, our expectations for developing a successful invoice financing business are high."