Perth robotic technology company FBR Limited (ASX: FBR) has entered into a strategic share subscription and share purchase agreement with UK-based shareholder M & G Investment Management to acquire 277,000,000 fully paid ordinary shares in FBR for an aggregate sum of $9.14 million.
The agreement will enable FBR to fund the manufacture and commercial deployment of three additional next-generation Hadrian X® robots, designed specifically for expedited use in the US.
The three new Hadrian X® robots will be built on US truck bases and be immediately deployed to offer Wall as a Service® via the existing Fastbrick Americas LLC entity.
“The agreement with M & G provides FBR with the funding to manufacture another three next-generation Hadrian X® machines to bring our technology to the USA to pursue meaningful revenue for FBR with builders who have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Hadrian X®,” FBR managing director Mike Pivac said.
“With one Australian-spec next-generation Hadrian X® unit already assembled and laying its first blocks, another mid-assembly and these three additional USA-spec Hadrian X® units, we are building a fleet of Hadrian X® robots that will transition the construction industry towards a more sustainable footing by providing a faster, safer, less wasteful, more accurate and, ultimately, cheaper solution.
“Having recently achieved International Code Council certification for the USA, the agreement accelerates FBR’s Wall as a Service® expansion into the market. FBR sees a compelling revenue opportunity there as the developer, producer and operator of the world’s most advanced and capable construction robots and we are well positioned to begin digitalising the high-volume building model in the USA.
“The support of M & G will enable us to enter a major market poised to transition its reliance on human labour in the construction industry to robotic construction solutions.”
Under the Agreement, 227,000,000 new fully paid ordinary shares will be issued on March 17 at a price of $0.033 per share, being an aggregate sum of $7,491,000.
In addition, subject to compliance with certain know your customer requirements, M & G has agreed to purchase 50,000,000 fully paid ordinary shares from Mark Pivac and Michael Pivac within 30 calendar days following the date of issue of the new shares to M & G, for an aggregate sum of $1,650,000. These shares were previously issued to the executive directors in 2020 as loan-funded shares with the loan term expiring in December 2022. Full proceeds of the sale of these shares will go directly and solely to FBR in part repayment of the outstanding loans before being applied towards the manufacture and commercial deployment of the additional next-generation Hadrian X® robots.