THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS
ANNOUNCEMENT IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR PUBLICATION, RELEASE OR
DISTRIBUTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART
IN CANADA, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, THE REPUBLIC OF
SOUTH AFRICA, THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION
WHERE ITS RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IS OR MAY BE
UNLAWFUL.
AVI Japan
Opportunity Trust PLC
(the
"Company")
Result of
General Meeting and Tender Offer
AVI Japan Opportunity Trust plc
announces that, at its general meeting
held earlier today, convened with the purpose of approving the
Tender Offer, the resolution put to shareholders was duly
passed.
Details of the number of votes cast
for, against and withheld in respect of the resolution are set out
below and will also be published on the Company's
website:
|
Resolution
|
Votes For
and Discretionary
|
%
|
Votes
Against
|
%
|
Total
votes cast
|
Issued
share capital voted (%)
|
Votes
withheld
|
|
1 - Authority to make market
purchases of ordinary shares
|
48,874,591
|
99.52%
|
236,401
|
0.48%
|
49,110,992
|
34.87%
|
24,628
|
For the purposes of section 341 of
the Companies Act 2006, the votes validly cast are expressed in the
table above as a percentage of the Company's total voting rights as
at the close of business on 6 December 2024, being the time at
which a shareholder had to be registered in the register of members
in order to vote at the General Meeting. A vote "withheld" is not a
vote in law and has not been counted as a vote "for" or "against"
the resolution.
The full text of the resolution can
be found in the notice of General Meeting contained in the
Company's circular to shareholders dated 15 November 2024 (the
"Circular").
Tender Offer
On 15 November 2024, the Company
announced that it would offer Shareholders the opportunity to
tender some or all of their Shares for sale. The Company has
received applications from eligible shareholders to tender in
aggregate 3,637,759 Shares, equivalent to 2.58 per cent. of the
Company's issued share capital. In accordance with the process
described in the Circular, the Company intends therefore to
complete the Tender Offer by purchasing 3,637,759 Shares at the
Tender Price of 152.37 pence, being equal to a 2 per cent discount
to the NAV per Share at the Calculation Date less any transaction
costs directly associated with realising assets to satisfy
elections under the Tender Offer.
As previously announced, the
proceeds payable to Shareholders whose tendered Ordinary Shares are
held through CREST accounts are expected to be made on 18
December 2024 and that cheques and balance share certificates
for the certificated Ordinary Shares purchased under the Tender
Offer will be despatched by 23 December 2024.
Norman Crighton, Chairman,
commented:
"We are pleased to see the positive reaction from shareholders
in response to our full exit opportunity (which in light of our
continued focus on good governance will now be offered on an annual
basis) as demonstrated by approximately 2.6% of shareholders
electing to tender their shares.
The Board firmly believes that the opportunities available to
the Company are now even more attractive than they were when the
Company was launched in 2018, and the Company's strong performance
is a testament to the Investment Manager's constructive approach to
active engagement and the rich opportunity set for long-term
orientated investors in an inefficient, overlooked and unresearched
market."
Annual Exit Opportunity
As announced on 14 October 2024, the
Board will offer the Exit Opportunity to Shareholders on an annual
basis, with the next Exit Opportunity being made available to
Shareholders in October 2025, and every twelve months
thereafter.
The Board has an active discount
management policy, and monitors its discount/premium situation
closely, seeking to ensure that Shareholders are protected from the
downside of a widening discount while also taking advantage of any
premium at which the shares may trade to grow the Company. The
Board expects the annual Exit Opportunity to enhance its existing
approach to discount management, providing a strong platform for
future growth of the Company.
Total Voting Rights
Following the completion of the
Tender Offer, the Company will have 137,198,943 Ordinary Shares in
issue, with 825,716 Ordinary Shares held in treasury. Therefore,
the total number of voting rights in the Company will be
136,373,227 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.
Defined terms used in this
announcement have the meanings given in the Circular unless the
context otherwise requires.
10 December 2024
LEI: 894500IJ5QQD7FPT3J73