S-Ventures PLC (AQSE:SVEN), the Aquis-listed investment company, has raised £300,000 through the issue of 8.6 million new shares at 3.5p each, with the majority of proceeds earmarked for an investment in Hydra Drones, a defence drone technology business.
Hydra Drones develops hybrid unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that combine jet propulsion with battery-powered systems, and counts MBDA, Europe's largest missile systems group, as an existing investment partner.
MBDA, which is jointly owned by BAE Systems, Airbus and Leonardo and generates more than €4 billion in annual revenues, has already backed Hydra Drones, which operates from a facility in Thruxton, Hampshire.
Each subscriber will receive one warrant for every new share acquired, exercisable at 5 pence per share for a period of two years from the date of the announcement.
S-Ventures said the investment in Hydra Drones would sit alongside its existing stake in Tooru, an Aquis-listed company, as it seeks to build what it described as a dynamic special opportunities public investment vehicle.
Directors Scott Livingston and Bhanu Choudhrie each subscribed for 1.43 million shares at a cost of £50,000 apiece, constituting a related party transaction under Aquis rules.
S-Ventures also announced the appointment of Oberon Capital as joint corporate broker alongside existing adviser VSA Capital, with admission of the new shares to the Aquis Growth Market expected on 23 April.