Completion of Disposal, Change of Name and Registered Office, and Board Changes

IPPlus PLC (AIM: IPP), the customer engagement specialist focussed on telephony and secure payment solutions, is pleased to announce that following the successful passing of all resolutions put to the general meeting held on 30 September 2016 (the "General Meeting"), the disposal of IPPlus (UK) Limited and CallScripter Limited (the "Disposal") has now completed and as a result IPPlus has exited its call centre operations. 

New Focus and Available Resources

Following completion and including the proceeds of a property sale, the continuing Group now has approximately £4.8 million in net cash.  A further announcement will be made in relation to the proposed special dividend of £1 million to shareholders. The Group will now focus its efforts and resources on the significant opportunities in secure payments presented by its PCI-PAL products and services, in which both the client base and transaction volumes have been growing.  

Change of Name and Registered Office, New Trading Symbol ("PCIP")

Following shareholder approval to the change of name at the General Meeting, the Group is pleased to announce that its new name of PCI-PAL PLC has been registered at Companies House today, and is now effective.  The new name reflects the sole focus of the Group on its secure payments solutions business.  The Company also confirms that it has changed its registered office with immediate effect to Unit 7, Gamma Terrace, Masterlord Estate, Ipswich IP3 9FF.

It is expected that trading in the Company's shares on AIM under the new name of PCI-PAL PLC and under the TIDM¹ "PCIP" will commence with effect from 8.00am on Monday 3 October 2016.  Certificated shares held in the old name of IPPlus PLC remain valid.

Board Changes

To support the planned growth in its business, PCI-PAL PLC is pleased to announce the appointment of James Barham and Andy Francombe to its Board of Directors.  Andy Francombe joins as Chief Financial Officer and James Barham is promoted to Commercial Director.

James Christopher Barham, aged 34, graduated from Bath Spa University and worked for Hiscox Plc and Call Connection Ltd before joining IPPlus in 2008, where he held several senior management positions before being appointed to the Board of IPPlus (UK) Limited in 2015.  James has been instrumental in the growth of the telecoms and payments businesses and the ultimate evolution of the PCI-PAL product suite.  James is responsible for sales, operations and commercial development.

Andrew ('Andy') Kevin Francombe, aged 53, is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales having qualified with Ernst & Young.  Andy has held senior finance roles for The Coca-Cola Company in Europe and Macquarie Bank, in addition to being Finance Director at Conran Restaurants and Deputy Finance Director at Schweppes Beverages.

Finally, as outlined in the Company circular published in connection with the disposal, Stuart Gordon has resigned from the Board with immediate effect. The Board would like to thank Stuart for his many years of service and wishes him well in his future endeavours.

William Catchpole, Chief Executive Officer of PCI-PAL PLC, commented:

"This marks the beginning of our next phase of growth and is a very exciting time for the business.  The opportunities to grow our secure payments operations are without doubt considerable.  We have an excellent team in place and cash resources to pursue our strategy."

Additional information required under the AIM Rules in relation to the newly appointed Directors is included below. 

(1)           Tradable Instrument Display Mnemonic, the code used to identify a traded quoted security

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About PCI-PAL PLC:

The Group currently has a single principal business, PCI-PAL, which provides products and services that enable organisations to securely take customer payments, safely store customer data, in particular credit card data, and to de-risk their business activities from the threat of data loss and cybercrime.  The Group's shares are admitted to trading on AIM under the symbol, "PCIP".

Regulatory Information

The following additional details in relation to the appointments of James Barham and Andy Francombe are disclosed in accordance with Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules:

James Barham

Andy Francombe (Current Directorships)

There is no further information required to be disclosed in accordance with Schedule 2(g) or Rule 17 of the AIM Rules.