Portfolio update: Seedrs - Crowdcube merger; an...

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE EU MARKET ABUSE REGULATION 596/2014.

06 October 2020

Augmentum Fintech plc

Portfolio Update

Seedrs and Crowdcube announce merger plans; Tide awarded £25 million grant from the RBS Alternative Remedies Package

Augmentum Fintech plc (LSE: AUGM) (“Augmentum” or “the Company”), the UK’s only publicly listed fintech investment company, welcomes developments at two portfolio companies.

Seedrs, the equity crowdfunding platform, has announced plans to merge with Crowdcube creating one of the world’s largest private equity marketplaces. The merger is subject to approval from, amongst others, the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and both companies’ shareholders. At year end 31 March 2020, Seedrs represented approximately 1.2% of the Company’s portfolio.

Tide, the SME business banking platform, has been awarded a £25 million grant from the RBS Alternative Remedies Package to strengthen the challenge to high street banks, in partnership with ClearBank. This is in addition to Tide’s previous £60 million Pool A Fund grant in February 2019. At year end 31 March 2020, Tide represented approximately 11.5% of the Company’s portfolio.

The Company’s near term qualified pipeline currently contains approximately £120 million of opportunities across all target sectors and geographies, which continues to grow. There remains clear demand for patient capital with a sector focus and expertise in the fintech market, and the Company expects to issue further ordinary shares in due course in order to continue the growth in its portfolio.

Tim Levene CEO of Augmentum Fintech, said: “

Since our IPO in 2018 we have built a balanced portfolio of diversified and differentiated private fintech companies, who have benefited from the pace of digital disruption which has further accelerated in recent months under the shadow of Covid. Our ambition remains to grow the fund to enable us to continue investing across our portfolio companies, and to exploit our access to some of Europe’s exceptional fintech opportunities in both the UK and the wider European market”.

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For further information, please contact:

Augmentum Fintech Tim Levene, Portfolio Manager Nigel Szembel, Investor Relations	[phone] [phone] / [e-mail]
Peel Hunt Liz Yong / Luke Simpson	[phone]
N+1 Singer Harry Gooden / James Moat	[phone]

About Augmentum Fintech plc:

Augmentum invests in fast growing fintech businesses that are disrupting the financial services sector. Augmentum is the UK’s only publicly listed investment company focusing on the fintech sector in the UK and wider Europe, having launched on the main market of the London Stock Exchange in 2018, giving businesses access to patient capital and support, unrestricted by conventional fund timelines and giving public markets investors access to a largely privately held investment sector during its main period of growth