REG - Molten Ventures PLC - Investor Day

Molten VenturesAnnouncement

12/02/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 7612W  Molten Ventures PLC  12 February 2025

Molten Ventures plc

("Molten", the "Group" or the "Company")

Investor Day: Strategic Priorities Outlined, Share Buy-Back Extended

 

Molten Ventures (LSE: GROW, Euronext Dublin: GRW), a leading venture capital
firm investing in and developing high-growth digital technology businesses, is
today hosting an Investor Day for institutional investors, analysts and other
registered professionals.

The event gathers a number of keynote speakers from across Molten's leadership
team, investment team and its portfolio companies who are at the forefront of
leading technology sub-sectors including enterprise, fintech, climate, health,
consumer, hardware and deeptech.

Ben Wilkinson will also outline his strategic priorities following his
appointment as CEO in October 2024. Following a comprehensive assessment of
the business, these comprise:

·      Refocus on Molten's core business of Series A and B investments.
This is the investment stage in the European venture market where the Molten
investment team's reputation and track record are strongest and where there is
the most compelling need for capital.

·      Create further scale and increased efficiencies by developing
structures to allow institutional capital to co-invest alongside Molten at
Series B. This will build on the strong public company platform and experience
of managing co-invested pools of capital e.g. in the managed EIS/VCT funds.
Additional capital will support high quality dealflow and consistent
deployment in later stage deals.

·      Maintain selective Fund of Funds programme. Molten's Fund of
Funds programme remains an integral part of the platform, providing insights
and opportunity across the breadth of the European ecosystem. Going forward
the Company will concentrate its capital with new commitments to a narrower
cohort of managers.

·      Preserve a strong balance sheet, with a mature portfolio and
pipeline of realisations providing liquidity to use in line with Molten's
capital allocation policy. A strong financial position gives the Company the
ability to quickly capture opportunities and be active in the marketplace. In
light of the expected realisation profile of the portfolio, Molten will not
be seeking to raise capital through equity fundraises for the foreseeable
future.

·      Focus on narrowing the share price discount to NAV, without
compromising Molten's ability to invest. The Board recognises the continued
wide discount to asset value at which the Company is trading and is therefore
committing an additional £15m to the ongoing £5m share repurchase programme.
This goes significantly beyond the 10% of realisation proceeds outlined in our
Capital Allocation Policy, doubling the £15m already committed. The Board
expects, if the discount to net asset value persists, to commit further
capital to the investment opportunity that buying back shares at such wide
discounts represents.

A video of Ben's presentation will be available on the Company's website
tomorrow. No material additional disclosures will be made during the event.

Ben Wilkinson, CEO of Molten Ventures, commented:

"Molten Ventures has a track record of over £1bn invested in European venture
capital, resulting in a mature portfolio with diverse value drivers across
multiple tech sub sectors. We have realised over £150m this financial year
bringing our total realisations to over £640m. We are focused on portfolio
development and facilitating a pipeline of realisations, which puts us in a
fantastic position to continue investing through cycles to create strong
vintage performance.

"We are well positioned to take advantage of the current need for more
investment at Series B in Europe and my strategic priorities aim to deploy our
experienced investment team and strong financial position to the best effect
possible, while always exercising discipline in capital allocation.

"The Board's commitment today to expand the share repurchase programme is in
further recognition of the discount to asset value at which we are trading and
takes advantage of the significant returns we have generated from realisations
this year. Our strong capital position allows us to do this while retaining
firepower to invest at a promising time for value creation."

For further information, please contact:

 

 Molten Ventures plc                            +44 (0)20 7931 8800

 Ben Wilkinson (Chief Executive Officer)        ir@molten.vc (mailto:ir@molten.vc)

 Andy Zimmermann (Chief Financial Officer)

 Deutsche Numis                                 +44 (0)20 7260 1000

 Joint Financial Adviser and Corporate Broker

 Simon Willis

 Jamie Loughborough

 Iqra Amin

 Goodbody Stockbrokers                          +44 (0) 20 3841 6202

 Joint Financial Adviser and Corporate Broker

 Don Harrington

 Tom Nicholson

 William Hall

 Sodali & Co                                    +44 (0)7889 297 217

 Public relations                               molten@sodali.com (mailto:molten@sodali.com)

 Elly Williamson

 Jane Glover

 

About Molten Ventures

 

Molten Ventures is a leading venture capital firm in Europe, developing and
investing in high growth technology companies. It invests across four sectors:
Enterprise & SaaS; Deeptech & Hardware; Consumer Technology; and
Digital Health, with highly experienced partners constantly looking for new
opportunities in each.

 

Listed on the London Stock Exchange and Euronext Dublin, Molten Ventures
provides a unique opportunity for public market investors to access these
fast-growing tech businesses, without having to commit to long term
investments with limited liquidity. Since our IPO in June 2016, it has
deployed over £1bn capital into fast growing tech companies and have realised
over £600m to 30 September 2024.

 

For more information, go to
https://investors.moltenventures.com/investor-relations/plc
(https://investors.moltenventures.com/investor-relations/plc)

 

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