REG-Molten Ventures Plc Molten Ventures Plc: Completion of Acquisition, Admission of New Molten Shares and Total Voting Rights

Molten VenturesAnnouncement

14/03/2024 13:00

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   Molten Ventures Plc (GROW; GRW)
   Molten Ventures Plc: Completion of Acquisition, Admission of New Molten
   Shares and Total Voting Rights

   14-March-2024 / 13:00 GMT/BST

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   NOT FOR  RELEASE,  PUBLICATION  OR  DISTRIBUTION, IN  WHOLE  OR  IN  PART,
   DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN,  INTO OR FROM THE  UNITED STATES OR ANY  OTHER
   JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD  CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE  RELEVANT
   LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION.

   14 March 2024

                          RECOMMENDED ALL-SHARE OFFER

                                      FOR

                     FORWARD PARTNERS GROUP PLC ("FORWARD")

                                       BY

                MOLTEN VENTURES PLC ("MOLTEN" OR THE "COMPANY")

   Completion of Acquisition, Admission of New Molten Shares and Total Voting
                                     Rights

   Molten Ventures plc (LSE: GROW,  Euronext Dublin: GRW), a leading  venture
   capital firm investing  in and developing  high growth digital  technology
   businesses, is  pleased  to announce  the  completion of  its  recommended
   all-share acquisition of Forward (the "Acquisition"). The Acquisition  was
   implemented by way of a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement  (“Scheme”)
   between Forward and  Scheme Shareholders  under Part 26  of the  Companies
   Act.

   Further to the  announcement made  by Forward  and Molten  today that  the
   Scheme had  become  Effective  in  accordance  with  its  terms  following
   delivery of the Court  Order to the  Registrar of Companies,  applications
   have been  made  to  the  Financial Conduct  Authority  and  London  Stock
   Exchange for the 14,785,049 new ordinary shares of £0.01 each ("New Molten
   Shares") issued in relation  to the Scheme to  be admitted to the  premium
   listing segment of the  Official List and to  trading on the London  Stock
   Exchange’s main market for listed securities. An application has also been
   made to Euronext Dublin in respect of a secondary listing on the  Euronext
   Dublin Daily Official List and to  trading on the Euronext Dublin  Market.
   Admission and  commencement  of  dealings  in the  New  Molten  Shares  is
   expected to take place  at or soon  after 8.00 a.m. on  15 March 2024,  at
   which time the Acquisition will complete.

   Martin Davis, Chief Executive Officer, Molten Ventures, commented:

   “The acquisition of Forward Partners will enable us to diversify the blend
   of maturity of  our assets and  provide a broader  pipeline for  follow-on
   investment. It follows soon after our  acquisition of a stake in  Seedcamp
   III, which  also  diversified asset  maturity  but with  the  addition  of
   exposure to high-quality assets with nearer term visibility on realisation
   opportunities. This ongoing expansion of  the platform helps position  the
   business to  capture opportunities  at attractive  valuations in  what  is
   increasingly a buyers’ market for venture capital.”

   Following  Admission,  Molten’s  issued  share  capital  will  consist  of
   189,046,450 ordinary shares of £0.01 with each share carrying the right to
   one vote. Molten holds no shares  in treasury. The total number of  voting
   rights in Molten will therefore be 189,046,450. This figure may be used by
   shareholders as  the  denominator  for calculations  by  which  they  will
   determine if they are  required to notify their  interest, or a change  to
   their  interest,  in  Molten  under  the  Financial  Conduct   Authority's
   Disclosure Guidance and  Transparency Rules  and/or Regulation  20 of  the
   Transparency (Directive 2004/109/EC) Regulations, 2007 (as amended).

   Capitalised terms used but not otherwise defined in this announcement have
   the meanings given to them in the scheme document published in relation to
   the Scheme on 21 December 2023.

   Enquiries

   Molten Ventures plc

   Martin Davis (Chief Executive Officer)               +44 (0)20 7931 8800

   Ben Wilkinson (Chief Financial Officer)
   Numis Securities Limited (trading as Deutsche Numis)

   Lead Financial Adviser, Joint Sponsor (LSE) and
   Joint Corporate Broker

   Simon Willis                                         +44 (0)20 7260 1000

   Jamie Loughborough

   Iqra Amin

   George De Felice
   Goodbody Stockbrokers UC

   Joint Financial Adviser, Joint Sponsor (LSE),
   Sponsor (Euronext Dublin) and Joint Corporate Broker
                                                        +44 (0)20 3841 6202
   Don Harrington

   Dearbhla Gallagher

   William Hall
   Powerscourt (PR)                                      

   Elly Williamson                                      +44 (0)7970 246 725 /

   Ollie Simmonds                                       +44 (0)7817 657 528

    

    

   About Molten Ventures

    

   Molten Ventures is a  leading venture capital  firm in Europe,  developing
   and investing in disruptive, high  growth technology companies. We  inject
   visionary companies  with energy  to help  them transform  and grow.  This
   energy comes  in many  forms -  capital, of  course, but  also  knowledge,
   experience, and relationships. We  believe it is our  role to support  the
   entrepreneurs who will invent the future, and that future is being  built,
   today, in Europe.

    

   As at 30  September 2023,  Molten Ventures  had a  diverse portfolio  with
   shareholdings in 74 companies,  17 of which  represent our Core  Portfolio
   holdings and  account for  62%  of the  Gross  Portfolio Value.  Our  core
   companies include  Thought Machine,  Coachhub,  Form3, Aiven,  Ledger  and
   Aircall. We invest  across four sectors:  Enterprise Technology,  Hardware
   and Deeptech, Consumer Technology, and  Digital Health and Wellness,  with
   highly experienced partners  constantly looking for  new opportunities  in
   each. We look  for high-growth  companies operating in  new markets,  with
   aspirations for  global expansion,  strong  IP, powerful  technology,  and
   strong management teams to  deliver success. We  also look for  businesses
   with the potential to generate strong margins to ensure rapid, sustainable
   growth in substantial addressable markets.

    

   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,
   we have deployed over  £1bn capital into fast  growing tech companies  and
   have realised £520m to 30 September 2023.

    

   For more information, go to  1 https://www.moltenventures.com/

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   Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement that contains inside
   information in accordance with the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR),
   transmitted by EQS Group.
   The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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   ISIN:           GB00BY7QYJ50
   Category Code:  ACQ
   TIDM:           GROW; GRW
   LEI Code:       213800IPCR3SAYJWSW10
   OAM Categories: 2.2. Inside information
                   2.3. Major shareholding notifications
                   2.4. Acquisition or disposal of the issuer's own shares
                   2.5. Total number of voting rights and capital
                   3.1. Additional regulated information required to be
                   disclosed under the laws of a Member State
   Sequence No.:   309805
   EQS News ID:    1859119


    
   End of Announcement EQS News Service

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References

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