Carmat: under pressure after equitization operation

(CercleFinance.com) - Carmat shares were under pressure on the Paris Bourse on Friday, following the presentation of the terms and conditions for the conversion into shares of the loan contracted with the EIB.


The implementation of this so-called "equitization" operation will result in the issue of 5.6 million warrants in order to repay the first tranche of the loan, corresponding to an amount of around 18 million euros.

Although this transaction will enable Carmat to avoid having to pay out a single cent to repay the loan, investors are unhappy with the highly dilutive effect of the operation.

For information purposes only, a shareholder holding 1% of the capital before the equitization of the first tranche would see his stake reduced to 0.86%.

Following conversion of the three tranches of the loan, representing some 47 million euros, his stake would be reduced to 0.74%.

The pressure on the shares of Aeson, the manufacturer of the artificial heart, is all the greater given that the company's current financing horizon is limited to mid-August 2024.

In a press release, the company states that it is continuing to work on various options to strengthen its equity and cash position during the current financial year.

'But we must not lose sight of the fact that Aeson's commercial success will be crucial in order to be able to raise additional funds', warned analysts at Degroof Petercam this morning.

The management team believes that the company has passed an inflection point in view of the positive sales momentum observed in the fourth quarter of 2023 and the sustained activity seen so far this year, which bodes well for the rest of the year", the research firm adds.

At the start of the session, Carmat's share price was down by more than 11%.

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