Hexima shares rise 66% on proposed acquisition of AI player Real Thing Entertainment

Melbourne-based company Hexima Ltd (ASX:HXL) has seen its shares rise more than 66% on news of its proposed acquisition of Real Thing Entertainment Pty Ltd – creator of an AI platform which enables users to use simple voice commands and even complex dialogue to achieve goals – which has offices in Australia, the United Kingdom and United States.

Hexima is seeking to take on 100% of Real Thing’s issued capital, and will issue shareholders in the latter an aggregate of 78,974,300 fully paid ordinary HXL shares and 8,721,504 options to acquire fully paid ordinary HXL shares (with a 20-cent exercise price and expiring on 5 March 2026).

The proposal also suggested a name change – to RealThing AI Ltd – and the appointment of directors Mr Silvio Salom (a current director of Real Thing) and intelligent agents pioneer Dr Michael Georgeff, with this decision being subject to the acquisition.

Hexima is also planning a capital raising of between $4 million and $7.5 million (before costs) via a public offer, and if the acquisition goes ahead – subject to shareholder approval – will issue two Real Thing shareholders an aggregate of up to 2.5 million shares (on a post-Consolidation basis) at a deemed price equal to the capital raising price to redeem
convertible notes previously issued by Real Thing with an aggregate face value of $500,000.

The market’s warm response to this news meant that at 13:44 AEDT, Hexima shares were trading at 2 cents, a rise of 66.66% since open.