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)
Ben Wilkinson (Chief Financial Officer)
|
+44 (0)20 7931 8800
|
Numis Securities Limited (trading as
Deutsche Numis)
Lead Financial Adviser, Joint
Sponsor (LSE) and Joint Corporate Broker
Simon Willis
Jamie Loughborough
Iqra Amin
George De Felice
|
+44 (0)20 7260 1000
|
Goodbody Stockbrokers UC
Joint Financial Adviser, Joint
Sponsor (LSE), Sponsor (Euronext Dublin) and Joint Corporate
Broker
Don Harrington
Dearbhla Gallagher
William Hall
|
+44 (0)20 3841 6202
|
Powerscourt (PR)
Elly Williamson
Ollie Simmonds
|
+44 (0)7970 246 725 /
+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 https://www.moltenventures.com/