Further to the Company’s publication of a circular to shareholders on 25th July 2024 containing details of a tender offer providing Eligible Shareholders with the opportunity to tender up to 15 per cent. of the issued share capital in the Company (excluding Shares held in treasury), JPMorgan European Discovery Trust plc (LON:JEDT) has announced that applications for a total of 81,976,778 shares were received of which 21,160,028 shares have been validly tendered pursuant to the Tender Offer.
Shareholders who validly tendered a percentage of their Shares equal to or less than their Basic Entitlement shall have all tendered Shares purchased in full under the Tender Offer. Following a scale-back exercise, Shareholders who validly tendered a percentage of Shares greater than their Basic Entitlement will have a number of Shares equal to their Basic Entitlement purchased in full plus approximately 6.3 per cent. of their Excess Applications, in accordance with the process described in the Circular.
The Company’s existing share buyback programme will continue following completion of the Tender Offer.
Tender Price
The Tender Price at which all the Shares accepted in the Tender Offer will be acquired is 493.2671 pence per Share.
The Tender Price has been calculated as a 2 per cent. discount to the unaudited Net Asset Value per Share as at close of business on 3rd September 2024 less the costs and expenses of the Tender Offer divided by the number of Shares successfully tendered, as further described in the Circular.
Settlement of the Tender Offer
As set out in the Circular, proceeds payable to Shareholders whose tendered shares are held through CREST accounts are expected to be made on 10th September 2024. Cheques for certificated Shares purchased under the Tender Offer and balance share certificates in respect of unsold tendered Shares held in certificated form will be despatched on 19th September 2024.
Total Voting Rights
Following the completion of the Tender Offer, JPMorgan European Discovery Trust will have 136,314,903 Shares in issue (with 16,408,075 Shares held in treasury). Therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company will be 119,906,828 and 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 in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
Capitalised terms shall have the meaning attributed to them in the Circular unless otherwise defined in this announcement.
