31 March 2022

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, JAPAN, ANY MEMBER STATE OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA OR ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH IT WOULD BE UNLAWFUL TO DO SO.

LEI: 254900WYO35S1T334A28

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION REGARDING ADVANCEDADVT LIMITED. NOTHING IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT OR THE PROSPECTUS CONSTITUTES AN OFFER TO SELL OR A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY ANY SECURITIES IN ANY TERRITORY.

AdvancedAdvT Limited

(the "Company")

Readmission of the Ordinary Shares to the Official List (by way of a Standard Listing under Chapter 14 of the Listing Rules) and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market for listed securities

Prospectus publication and expected date of Readmission

The Company announces that it has today published a prospectus (the "Prospectus") approved by the FCA in connection with the readmission of its ordinary shares of no par value in the Company (the "Ordinary Shares") to the standard segment of the Official List of the FCA and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market for listed securities ("Readmission").

Readmission (including the recommencement of trading in the Ordinary Shares) is expected to occur at 8.00 a.m. on 5 April 2022.

Background to Readmission

The Company's acquisition of 12 million ordinary shares of 1p each in the capital of M&C Saatchi plc ("M&C Saatchi")  at a price of £2 per share on 5 January 2022 (the "M&C Saatchi Investment") amounted to a reverse takeover for the purposes of the Listing Rules and the Ordinary Shares were suspended on 7 January 2022 pending the Company's application for Readmission. The Prospectus has therefore been published for the purposes of Readmission.

Confirmations related to the Proposed M&C Saatchi Merger

In addition to the M&C Saatchi Investment, the Company has made proposals to acquire all of the ordinary shares of M&C Saatchi, as described in the Company announcements dated 7 January 2022 and 24 January 2022 and the announcements by M&C Saatchi dated 3 February 2022, 3 March 2022 and 31 March 2022 (the "Proposed M&C Saatchi Merger"). The Company is treated as being in contemplation of a reverse takeover for the purposes of Listing Rule 5.6.6R following its announcement of the Proposed M&C Saatchi Merger. The Company makes the confirmations set out in the paragraph below relating to M&C Saatchi.

The Company confirms that: (i) M&C Saatchi plc has complied with the disclosure requirements applicable on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange; (ii) information disclosed pursuant to those requirements can be obtained at https://mcsaatchi.com/; and (iii) there are no material differences between those disclosure requirements and the disclosure requirements under the Disclosure Requirements and Transparency Rules of the FCA to which the Company is subject.

Prospectus availability

A copy of the Prospectus will be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly thereafter be available for inspection at: https://www.fca.org.uk/markets/primary-markets/regulatory-disclosures/national-storage-mechanism as well as at the offices of the Company at 11 Buckingham Street, London WC2N 6DF and on the Company's website at https://advancedadvt.com/investors/shareholder-documents/2022/. Neither the content of the Company's website, nor the content on any website accessible from hyperlinks on its website for any other website, is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement nor, unless previously published by means of a recognised information service, should any such content be relied upon in reaching a decision as to whether or not to acquire, continue to hold, or dispose of, securities in the Company. 

Strategic Overview

The Company was formed to seek and identify situations where a merger of management expertise, improving operating performance, freeing up cashflow for investment and implementation of focused investment and M&A strategy can unlock growth in their core markets and often into new territories and adjacent sectors.

The Company's objective is to generate attractive long term returns for shareholders and to enhance value by supporting sustainable growth, acquisitions and performance improvements within the acquired companies.

Over the last 25 years companies across all sectors have increasingly adopted new digital technologies to optimise business processes and operations. Implementing these new technologies has become central to driving cost efficiencies and gaining a competitive advantage in a digital world, where sectors and businesses with the highest level of digitalisation display the largest productivity growth.

Despite the opportunities presented by digitalisation, pre-Covid-19 adoption of new technologies by businesses and consumers was in part restricted by the reticence of companies to invest in digital strategies and adopt new systems and technologies.

The global restrictions caused by Covid-19 have helped to break down these barriers and forced businesses to become more agile which has considerably accelerated digitalisation. Despite businesses cutting costs because of the Covid-19 pandemic, spending on digital transformation has increased as organisations rapidly adapt their business models. A McKinsey study^[1] found that the pandemic had sped up the adoption of digital technologies by several years, and that most companies will need to build new digital businesses to stay economically viable.

We therefore believe there is significant opportunity to invest in companies that are positioned to take advantage of the structural change arising from an unprecedented acceleration of digitalisation brought about by the current macroeconomic environment, affecting the way people live, work and consume, and the way businesses operate, engage and sell to customers.

Total voting rights

Following Readmission the total issued share capital of the Company will remain unchanged at 133,200,000 Ordinary Shares and two non-voting Sponsor Shares. There are no Ordinary Shares held in treasury. Therefore, following Readmission, this figure of 133,200,000 should be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculation by which they determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the Disclosure Requirements and Transparency Rules of the FCA.

Footnotes:

^[1] https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-new-digital-edge-rethinking-strategy-for-the-postpandemic-era

Enquiries:  

Capitalised terms used but not otherwise defined herein shall have the same meanings as set out in the Prospectus.

END