Agronomics Limited Share Buyback Programme announced (2676N)

TIDMANIC

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 announce s that it will execute an on-market Share buyback programme for an aggregate amount of up to GBP3 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    GBP3.0 million 
  to the Programme 
                            --------------------------------------------- 
 Maximum monthly amount      GBP500,000 
  allocated to Programme 
                            --------------------------------------------- 
 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 993,153,870 Ordinary 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 993,153,870 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 Guidance and Transparency Rules.

About Agronomics

Agronomics 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         Beaumont   Canaccord       Cavendish      Peterhouse              SEC Newgate 
         Limited           Cornish     Genuity       Securities       Capital 
                           Limited     Limited          Plc           Limited 
      The Company          Nomad    Joint Broker       Joint       Joint Broker          Public Relations 
                                                       Broker 
                        ==========  ============  =============  ===============  ============================= 
      Richard Reed         Roland      Andrew          Giles       Lucy Williams            Bob Huxford 
       Denham Eke          Cornish      Potts         Balleny         Charles              George Esmond 
                            James    Harry Rees       Michael        Goodfellow            Anthony Hughes 
                           Biddle    Alex Aylen       Johnson                                Alice Cho 
                                      (Head of 
                                      Equities) 
                        ==========  ============  =============  ===============  ============================= 
      +44 (0) 1624        +44 (0)     +44 (0)         +44 (0)         +44 (0) 
         639396            207 628     207 523        207 397         207 469 
   [e-mail]       3396        8000            8900            0936        [e-mail] 
                        ==========  ============  =============  ===============  ============================= 
 

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September 22, 2023 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)