JANUS HENDERSON FUND MANAGEMENT UK LIMITED

THE EUROPEAN SMALLER COMPANIES TRUST PLC

Legal Entity Identifier:  213800N1B1HCQG2W4V90

23 December 2024

THE EUROPEAN SMALLER COMPANIES TRUST PLC

('ESCT' or the 'Company')

Initial response to the requisition for a General Meeting

ESCT's Board of Directors (the 'Board') has reviewed the requisition notice (the 'Requisition') issued by Saba Capital Management, L.P. ('Saba') on 18 December 2024 and, having taken legal advice, the Company deems the Requisition to be valid.

The Board does not believe there to be any merit in Saba's proposals and will be recommending that shareholders vote against the proposed resolutions.

The Company has delivered outperformance against the benchmark over the medium and long-term; as outlined in Saba's own statement, ESCT's total shareholder return has outperformed the benchmark by 11% over the past three years.

Furthermore, the Board operates to the highest levels of corporate governance, is fully independent and comprised of highly qualified individuals with a mix of experience and backgrounds.

ESCT will make a further announcement in early January 2025 in relation to the posting of a notice convening a General Meeting and a circular in which the Board will lay out its response in full. The Board advises shareholders to take no action at this time.

James Williams, Chairman of The European Smaller Companies Trust PLC, said:

"ESCT's successful track record speaks for itself, and the claims of underperformance are inaccurate. In addition, we believe that Saba's proposed actions threaten the governance of the Company and are not in the best interests of all shareholders."

Enquiries:

Janus Henderson Secretarial Services UK Limited

Corporate Secretary to The European Smaller Companies Trust PLC

+44 (0)20 7818 1818

Dan Howe

Head of Investment Trusts, Janus Henderson Investors

+44 (0)20 7818 4458

Winterflood Securities Limited

Corporate Broker

Neil Langford/ Rose Ramsden

+44 (0)20 3100 0000

Edelman Smithfield

John Kiely/ Latika Shah

+44 (0)7785 275665 / +44 (0)7950 671 948