TIDMVELA
RNS Number : 5247C
Vela Technologies PLC
22 January 2018
22 January 2018
Vela Technologies plc
("Vela")
BTL Group Ltd - Investment Update
The Board of Vela (AIM: VELA), the investing company focused on
early-stage and pre-IPO disruptive technology investments, is
pleased to note the update announcement made today by BTL Group Ltd
("BTL") regarding its European energy trading project under which
several oil and gas companies and energy traders propose to use
BTL's Interbit blockchain platform.
Vela holds, as at the date of this announcement, 620,000 common
shares in BTL equivalent to approximately 2.91 per cent. of BTL's
issued share capital. BTL is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, on
which the closing mid-market price on 19 January 2018 of BTL's
common shares was C$11.50 per share which values Vela's
shareholding in BTL at approximately C$7.13 million (equivalent to
GBP4.11 million*).
Extracts from the BTL announcement are copied below:
BTL GROUP LTD. (TSX Venture:BTL) ("BTL" or the "Company") is
pleased to provide further information on the next phase of its
previously announced European energy trading project, under which
four oil and gas supermajors and five leading energy traders
including Eni Trading & Shipping, Total, Gazprom Marketing
& Trading Limited, Mercuria, Vattenfall, Petroineos and
Freepoint, propose to participate in using BTL's Interbit
blockchain platform to deliver gas trading reconciliation through
to settlement and delivery of trades. This enterprise solution is
being called OneOffice and is a revenue generating project for
BTL.
OneOffice - this second phase of BTL's European energy project -
follows the successful completion of the phase one pilot (see the
Company's press release dated June 5, 2017) which demonstrated the
Interbit platform's delivery of back office cost saving via smart
contracts that automate trade reconciliation processes. In this
second phase, BTL will work with the participants to build the
OneOffice application to deliver cost savings across the trade life
cycle.
Interbit, as a next generation blockchain platform, has the
capacity to operate and interconnect many thousands of blockchains
per server, in a secure, private and scalable manner and moreover
is designed for ease of use. See the Company's October 17, 2017
press release for more information about Interbit's capabilities
and the patents filed in connection therewith.
Francesco Romeo, Eni Trading & Shipping ICT Vice President,
said, "Following our experience during the European energy pilot,
we look forward to expanding the scope to enable straight through
processing through the whole settlement process as well as bringing
wider participation from the industry."
"Total has been trading gas and power since 2000. At the moment,
we hear a lot about blockchain and how this technology could
transform the trading processes. If successful, this initiative
with BTL could help us to reduce the risks of human errors and to
increase the speed in the reconciliation process of transactions
with our fellow counterparts," said Philippe Chauvain, Vice
President Risk Control and IT - Total Gas & Power Limited.
Catherine Newman, General Manager Global IT & Delivery,
Gazprom Marketing & Trading Limited, said, "Blockchain could
provide cross-industry opportunities to improve the speed, security
and efficiency of transactions with Gazprom Marketing & Trading
Limited's counterparties at the forefront of technological
developments in commodity trading. These opportunities can only be
realised by working collaboratively with other commodity market
participants. Although it is early stages yet, the POC with BTL
represents an exciting and potentially disruptive prospect in the
near future."
"Blockchain has great potential to increase automation and
efficiency of our trading operation. Back office processes for
confirmation, settlement and invoicing are ideal use cases for this
emerging technology. We expect significant improvements in these
processes by utilising BTL's OneOffice," said Frank van Doorn,
acting Head of Trading, Vattenfall.
"Phase two extends from trade reconciliation to settlement using
our Interbit application for the natural gas trade life cycle. We
are delighted to be working with some of the largest and most
innovative companies in the energy sector, bringing together
like-minded firms that see the potential of BTL's industry agnostic
blockchain technology in reducing risks, costs and providing better
protection against cyber threats," said Dominic McCann, BTL's CEO.
"The launch of the OneOffice project is a significant achievement
for BTL as we move closer towards introducing the Interbit platform
across multiple industries later this calendar quarter."
Recent Annual General Meeting
The Company is also pleased to announce that all resolutions
presented before the Company's shareholders at its Annual and
Special Meeting on January 9, 2018, received requisite approvals by
shareholders of the Company. Elected as directors of the Company
were Brian Hinchcliffe, John Thomson, Dominic McCann and Guy
Halford-Thompson. Should the Board of Directors decide to take
further action in connection with the proposed name change of the
Company as approved by shareholders, it will announce such actions
at the applicable times.
ABOUT BTL(TM) AND INTERBIT(TM)
Listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX Venture:BTL) and
operating from both Canada and the UK, BTL is an enterprise
technology platform provider that is developing Interbit, a
proprietary next generation blockchain platform. Via Interbit, BTL
can help companies greatly reduce risks and costs by securely
streamlining existing IT infrastructures. BTL has successfully
demonstrated how Interbit can innovate and transform existing
business processes for leading companies in the finance, energy and
gaming sectors.
Interbit is a fast, private, and scalable inter-connected
blockchain platform. Via its suite of APIs and smart contracts,
Interbit allows businesses around the world to improve efficiency
in trading and operations, accelerate development of internal
systems, and embrace new revenue generating opportunities, while
providing the high levels of security, resilience and auditability
required in regulated enterprise environments.
With offices in Vancouver and Calgary, Canada and London, UK,
BTL is positioning itself as a front-runner in the blockchain
ecosystem, partnering with and enabling enterprises on Interbit in
order to improve their existing IT systems.
Website: www.btl.co
Twitter: https://twitter.com/blockchainltd
Videos: https://youtu.be/YFOH0YEHLak and
https://youtu.be/wx-ZOzzNx1U
*Based on the exchange rate as on 22 January 2018 of C$1:
GB0.5766
For further information, please contact:
Vela Technologies plc
Brent Fitzpatrick, Tel: +44 (0) 7802
Non-Executive Chairman 262 443
Antony Laiker, Director
Allenby Capital Limited
(Nominated Adviser)
Nick Athanas/Katrina Tel: +44 (0) 20 3328
Perez/Asha Chotai 5656
Smaller Company Capital
Limited
(Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 20 3651
Rupert Williams/Jeremy 2910
Woodgate
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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