REG - Agronomics Limited - Share Buyback Programme announced

AgronomicsAnnouncement

22/09/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 2676N  Agronomics Limited  22 September 2023

22 September 2023

Agronomics Limited

("Agronomics" or the "Company")

Share Buyback Programme announced

The Board of Agronomics announces that it will execute an on-market Share
buyback programme for an aggregate amount of up to £3 million (the "Buyback
Programme"). The term of the Buyback Programme shall be 6 months, commencing
on 2 October 2023. The Company intends to cancel any repurchased Shares under
the programme unless used to cover obligations under share-based remuneration
arrangements.

The Board notes that the price of the Company's Shares is currently
significantly below the last reported net asset value per share ("NAV Per
Share") of 15.8 pence and believes that the Buyback Programme will help reduce
this discount. In particular, as reported on 2 August 2023, the Company's
unaudited NAV Per Share as at 30 June 2023 was 15.8 pence per share (whereas
the price of the Company's shares at close of business on 19 September 2023,
was 9.9 pence per share, a discount of approximately 37.3%). The Company
reports NAV Per Share on a quarterly basis within 90 days of the end of each
calendar quarter ("Quarterly NAV Statement").

The Buyback Programme will be executed within the limitations of the existing
authority in the Company's Articles of Association. The Board will authorise
each buyback transaction during the Buyback Programme which will be undertaken
by Cavendish Securities Plc as the Company's joint broker and each such
transaction will be reported and announced once executed.

The Company has determined that in conducting the Buyback Programme it will
not rely on the safe harbour conditions for trading set out in Article 3(2)
and Article 3(3) of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 (which
forms part of domestic UK law pursuant to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018) and, as such, the Company may purchase on any trading day materially in
excess of 25 per cent of the average daily volume in the 20 trading days
preceding the date on which the purchase is carried out.

The terms of the Buyback Programme are set out below:

 Name of Programme                              2023 Share Buyback Programme
 Purpose of the Programme                       To reduce the capital of the issuer
 Duration of the Programme                      2 October 2023 to 29 March 2024
 Maximum amount allocated to the Programme      £3.0 million
 Maximum monthly amount allocated to Programme  £500,000
 Maximum price                                  The higher of:

                                                a)   the price of the last independent trade; and

                                                b)  the highest current independent purchase bid on the trading venue where
                                                the purchase is carried out,

                                                SAVE THAT no share shall be bought back by the Company at a price per share
                                                higher than 75% of the last reported NAV Per Share published in the Company's
                                                most recent Quarterly NAV Statement.

There is no guarantee that the Buyback Programme will be implemented in full
or that any purchases will be made.

As at the time of this announcement, the Company's total issued share capital
consists of 993,153,870Ordinary Shares with one voting right per share. The
Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury, therefore, the total
number of Ordinary Shares carrying voting rights is 993,153,870.

The above figure 993,153,870may be used by shareholders as the denominator for
the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify
their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the
FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

About Agronomics

Agronomics (https://agronomics.im/) is the leading listed venture capital firm
with a focus on cellular agriculture. The Company has established a portfolio
of over 20 companies at the Pre-Seed to Series C stage in this rapidly
advancing sector. It seeks to secure minority stakes in companies owning
technologies with defensible intellectual property that offer new ways of
producing food and materials with a focus on products historically derived
from animals. These technologies are driving a major disruption in
agriculture, offering solutions to improve sustainability, as well as
addressing human health, animal welfare and environmental damage. This
disruption will decouple supply chains from the environment and animals, as
well as being fundamental to feeding the world's expanding population.

About Cellular Agriculture

Cellular Agriculture is the production of agriculture products directly from
cells, as opposed to raising an animal for slaughter or growing crops. This
encompasses cell culture to produce cultivated meat and materials, and
fermentation processes that harness a combination of molecular biology,
synthetic biology, tissue engineering and biotechnology to massively simplify
production methods in a sustainable manner.

Over the coming decades, the source of the world's food supply traditionally
derived from conventional agriculture is going to change dramatically. We have
already witnessed the first wave of this shift with the consumer adoption of
plant-based alternative proteins but today, we are on the cusp of an even
bigger wave of change. This is being facilitated by advances in cellular
agriculture. This change is necessary, given scientists' claims that if we
maintain existing animal protein consumption patterns, then we will not meet
the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting warming to 1.5℃.

AT Kearney, a global consultancy firm, projects that cultivated meat's market
share will reach 35% by 2040. This combined with the Good Food Institute's
estimate that a US $1.8 trillion investment will be required in order to
produce just 10% of the world's protein using this technology, means that we
are on the cusp of a multi-decade flow of capital to build out manufacturing
facilities. Funding in the field of cellular agriculture is accelerating,
however, still, less than US$ 5 billion has been invested worldwide since the
industry's inception in 2016.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014, as it forms part of UK Domestic
Law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the
publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to
be in the public domain.

For further information please contact:

 Agronomics Limited   Beaumont Cornish Limited  Canaccord Genuity Limited       Cavendish Securities Plc  Peterhouse Capital Limited  SEC Newgate
 The Company          Nomad                     Joint Broker                    Joint Broker              Joint Broker                Public Relations
 Richard Reed         Roland Cornish            Andrew Potts                    Giles Balleny             Lucy Williams               Bob Huxford

 Denham Eke           James Biddle              Harry Rees                      Michael Johnson           Charles Goodfellow          George Esmond

                                                Alex Aylen (Head of Equities)                                                         Anthony Hughes

                                                                                                                                      Alice Cho
 +44 (0) 1624 639396  +44 (0) 207 628 3396      +44 (0) 207 523 8000            +44 (0) 207 397 8900      +44 (0) 207 469 0936        agronomics@secnewgate.co.uk

 info@agronomics.im

 

 

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