British
Smaller Companies VCT2 plc (the "Company")
Issue of
Equity
On 20 September 2023 British Smaller
Companies VCT2 plc and British Smaller Companies VCT plc (together
the "Companies") launched offers for subscription (the "Offers")
seeking to initially raise £65 million in aggregate for the 2023/24
tax year. On 13 December 2023, the Companies confirmed that
the over-allotment facility of £25 million included in the Offers
will be used in full. This increases the maximum amount which
can be raised under the Offers to £90 million in
aggregate.
The Company announces that today, 30
January 2024, it has made the first issue of ordinary shares
pursuant to the Offers by allotting 19,533,372 ordinary shares of
10 pence each, raising gross proceeds of £11.4 million. This
allotment was made in respect of the tax year 2023/2024. In
accordance with the pricing formula set out in the Prospectus, the
new ordinary shares were allotted at offer prices of between 57.76
pence and 60.83 pence per share depending on the adviser charge (if
applicable) and the number of shares issued pertaining to each
application. Applicants received additional New Shares equivalent
to receiving a 3.70 per cent per annum rate of return on funds
awaiting allotment, calculated by reference to the number of days
between the acceptance of an Application (including full receipt of
cleared funds) and the date of allotment.
The net asset value ("NAV") used for
the calculation of the issue price on 30 January 2024 is the last
reported NAV of 56.9 pence per ordinary share, being the unaudited
NAV as at 30 September 2023 of 58.4 pence per ordinary share,
adjusted for the interim dividend of 1.5 pence per ordinary share
paid on 3 November 2023.
Together, the Companies have in
total allotted shares relating to gross proceeds of £30.0 million
under the Offers, of which £11.4 million has been raised by the
Company and £18.6 million has been raised by British Smaller
Companies VCT plc.
In this allotment Barbara Anderson,
non-executive Director of the Company, has been allotted 41,549
ordinary shares of 10 pence in the Company, bringing her aggregate
total holding to 540,196 ordinary shares.
In this allotment Roger McDowell,
non-executive Director of the Company, has been allotted 86,015
ordinary shares of 10 pence in the Company, bringing his aggregate
total holding to 837,259 ordinary shares.
In this allotment the employees and
members of the Manager, YFM Private Equity Limited, have been
allotted 172,030 ordinary shares of 10 pence each in the Company,
bringing their aggregate total holding to 846,605 ordinary
shares.
Applications are now being made by
the Company for the ordinary shares which were allotted on 30
January 2024 to be admitted to the premium segment of the Official
List of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on the London Stock
Exchange's main market for listed securities. Dealings are
expected to commence on or around 13 February 2024.
The Companies have issued a
prospectus relating to the Offers (the "Prospectus"). The proceeds
will be allocated between the Companies in accordance with the
terms set out in the Prospectus.
The Offers remain open, with gross
Applications received to date exceeding £75 million. The deadline
for receipt of Application Forms and cleared funds is 28 March
2024, or earlier if the Offers become fully subscribed. The second
and final allotment of the Offers is expected to take place between
2 - 4 April 2024.
The Prospectus is available from the
Company's website:
www.bscfunds.com
and is also available for inspection
at the National Storage Mechanism, which is located at:
https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism
Following the allotment of
19,533,372 ordinary shares, the Company's issued share capital
consists of 248,292,037 ordinary shares with voting rights ("Voting
Capital") and 21,383,768 shares held in treasury.
The above statement of Voting
Capital may 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 and Transparency
Rules.
30 January 2024
For further information, please
contact:
David
Hall
YFM Private Equity
Limited
Tel: 0113 244 1000
Alex
Collins
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited
Tel: 0207 886 2767