Share Buyback Programme

Intercede Group PLC

25 October 2024

 

25 October 2024

 

INTERCEDE GROUP plc

('Intercede', the 'Company' or the 'Group')

Share Buyback Programme

Intercede, the leading cybersecurity software company specialising in digital identities, today announces the launch of a share buyback programme to acquire ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the capital of the Company ("Ordinary Shares") up to the gross value of £1,000,000 (the "Programme" or the "Buyback").

With the current uncertainty in the AIM market regarding HM's Government Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024, relating to potential changes to Inheritance Tax legislation, the possible removal of Business Property Relief for qualifying companies quoted on AIM and the resultant Company's share price volatility, the Board have decided to commence a Buyback programme.

The Board takes a disciplined approach to investment, returns and the capital efficiency of the Group to maximise shareholder value with a focus on the continued execution of its strategy, combining organic growth with the potential to complement this growth with M&A. Furthermore, the Board believes that the Group's strong balance sheet and cash generation provides the opportunity to take advantage of current market conditions to repurchase shares to hold in treasury for the purpose of satisfying future obligations in relation to its employees' or other share schemes and improve shareholder returns.

The Buyback is in accordance with the terms of the Company's authority to make market purchases of its own ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the capital of the Company granted to it by shareholders on 25 September 2024 (the "Authority"), including that the maximum price paid per Ordinary Share is to be no more than 105 percent. of the average middle market closing price of an Ordinary Share for the five business days preceding the date of any purchase.

The Buyback commences today and will then end on 31 December 2024 (subject to earlier termination in the event the full £1,000,000 is expended). The Company has instructed Cavendish Capital Markets Limited ("Cavendish") to act as sole administrator to execute and manage the Buyback on its behalf and has given irrevocable instructions to Cavendish to make market purchases of Ordinary Shares on its behalf, independently of the Company. Cavendish will make trading decisions in relation to the Ordinary Shares independently of and uninfluenced by the Company with such trading decisions being in line with the terms of the Buyback.

Shareholders should be aware that the Buyback will, insofar as is possible, be conducted in accordance with the safe harbour parameters of MAR (as defined below); however, the Buyback may on any given trading day represent a significant proportion of the daily trading volume in the Ordinary Shares on the London Stock Exchange and could exceed 25 per cent of the average daily trading volume. Accordingly, the Company may not benefit from the exemption contained in Article 5(1) in the UK version of the Market Abuse Regulations (Regulation (EU) No 596/2014) as incorporated into UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR").

Any market purchase of Ordinary Shares pursuant to the Buyback will be announced no later than 7.30am on the business day following the day on which the purchase occurred.

ENQUIRIES

Intercede Group plc	Tel. + 44 (0)1455 558111
Klaas van der Leest	CEO
Nitil Patel	CFO
Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (Nomad & Broker)	Tel. + 44 (0)20 7220 0500
Marc Milmo/Fergus Sullivan/Rory Sale	Corporate Finance
Tim Redfern/Ondraya Swanson	Corporate Broking

About Intercede

Intercede is a cybersecurity software company specialising in digital identities, and its innovative solutions enable organisations to protect themselves against the number one cause of data breach: compromised user credentials.

The Intercede suite of products allows customers to choose the level of security that best fits their needs, from Secure Registration and ID Verification to Password Security Management, One-Time Passwords, FIDO, and PKI. Uniquely, Intercede provides the entire set of authentication options from Passwords to PKI, supporting customers on their journey to passwordless and stronger authentication environments. In addition to developing and supporting Intercede software, the Group offers professional services and custom development capabilities as well as managing the world's largest password breach database.

For over 20 years, global customers in government, aerospace and defence, financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, cloud services and information technology have trusted Intercede solutions and expertise in protecting their mission critical data and systems at the highest level of assurance.

For more information visit: www.intercede.com

The information communicated in this announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.

 

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