FIRE Finance Ireland

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED BY IAMFIRE PLC TO CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) NO. 596/2014, AS AMENDED ("MAR"). ON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE ("RIS"), THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

IamFire plc

AQSE: FIRE

(“FIRE” or the “Company”)

WeShop Update

IamFire plc is pleased to provide an update on progress within its primary portfolio company, WeShop Holdings Limited (“WeShop”).

WeShop Update Highlights

• Six-figure equity fundraise at a share price of £4.76 per share, valuing WeShop at c. £130m giving IamFire a see-through holding of £22.5m assuming CLNs outlined below convert to equity.

• Sponsorship of SoccerAid for UNICEF resulting in national and international exposure of the WeShop brand, and continued uptake from various creators and influencers which enables viral uptake of the app.

• User downloads for the WeShop platform as at 31 May 2023 were over 230,000 up from 43,000 last reported by FIRE on 21 November 2022. 

• Total purchases through the platform now total over 180,000 with an annualised gross merchandise value (“GMV”) of £33.4m as at the end of May 2023 (over a 3 month average) compared to the last reported figure of £27.9m for March 2023.  Total GMV to date is £22.1m through the platform.

• The list of retailers affiliated to WeShop continues to grow with recent additions including John Lewis, Argos, Habitat, Sports Direct, TicketMaster, booking.com and Skyscanner.  This adds to the existing list of over 1,000 UK retailers.

Richard Griffiths, Chairman of WeShop Holdings Limited said:

“WeShop’s growth continues to impress and over £20m has been spent through the platform.  We now enter the next phase of the company’s growth which will be enhanced through digital marketing and national advertising campaigns.  Our partnership with SoccerAid for UNICEF 2023 has increased the public profile of the company whilst at the same time supporting an incredibly important cause.  The WeShop team continues to work tirelessly to achieve its goal of building the world’s first shoppable social network owned by its community.”

IamFire Investments in WeShop Holdings and CSIL

IamFire currently holds £6.85m of Convertible Loan Notes (CLNs) directly in WeShop.  It also holds the right to subscribe for a further £0.9m in CLNs.  Should these convert it would result in FIRE holding some 2,758,333 shares in WeShop (prior to any further uptake).

It also holds approximately 23.6% of the issued share capital of CSIL which in turns holds 8,333,333 shares in WeShop as its only asset.  FIRE believes that these shares will be distributed in specie to CSIL shareholders in due course.

The aggregate holdings of IamFire in relation to WeShop Holdings Limited and CSIL are outlined in the following table:

There are currently some 28,669,415 shares in issue in WeShop Holdings Limited.  Should the CLNs in the table convert and CSIL conducts a distribution in specie of its WeShop shares, then IamFire would hold approximately 4,718,333 shares in WeShop Holdings Limited representing some 15% prior to any further share issuance. 

Based on the most recent fundraise in WeShop Holdings outlined above the value of the resultant FIRE holdings in WeShop would be £22.5m.

The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.

REGULATORY ANNOUNCEMENT ENDS

Enquiries:

Company:
info@iamfireplc.com

Peterhouse Capital Limited

Corporate Advisor:
Guy Miller: + 44 (0) 20 7220 9795 (Direct)

Narisha Ragoonanthun: + 44(0) 20 7220 9794 (Direct)

Corporate Broker

Tennyson Securities Limited
Peter Krens: +44 (0) 20 7186 9033 (Direct)

About WeShop:

WeShop is a social commerce platform that allows users to shop and help each other by reviewing, asking about or recommending products. It is affiliated to the vast majority of the UK’s top 1,000 online retailers.  Instead of rewarding the users with cashback, discount codes or vouchers, WeShop allows users to earn shares in the business.

WeShop intends to be 90% owned by its community of users, so the more users shop, recommend and refer friends the more shares they will own in WeShop and the more they will share in its financial success.  Users of WeShop buy products from retailers through the platform, as they would normally, but in doing so they will earn shares in WeShop and benefit from aggregation as a community and the revenue streams generated from affiliate programs, data, promotion and advertising that the community through WeShop will generate. 

WeShop intends to be the first truly shoppable social network owned by its community of users.  By creating a disruptive online model it hopes to create a retail revolution which shares the financial success of online businesses with the users of those online businesses whose data, transactions and engagement has created them in the first place.

The App can be downloaded at www.we.shop

Links to recent press coverage of SoccerAid can be found at:

https://we.shop/socceraid-weshop-2023/

https://www.sportindustry.biz/news-categories/news/soccer-aid-scores-weshop-partnership/