Arden Partner : Arden Partners

Arden Partners announces strong trading in FY21 with four client wins and several

successful transactions including seven oversubscribed equity fundraises

Wednesday, 21 April 2021, London - Arden Partners plc ('Arden' or 'the Company'), the AIM listed institutional stockbroking company (AIM: ARDN.L), is delighted to announce that the strong performance achieved in the second half of last year has continued into the current financial year, with all areas of the business performing well.

The client wins and deal flow exemplify Arden Partners' strong and diverse sector expertise, the quality of corporate finance advice it provides to clients, its highly regarded analyst research and the voice in the market of its sales and trading teams. Furthermore, Arden's ability to successfully access the equity markets and create new investor demand for its clients has been underlined by the level of oversubscription in each of the deals it has undertaken.

New client wins

On 26 November 2020, Arden was appointed as Nominated Adviser and Broker to Serinus Energy Plc (Serinus), an international upstream oil and gas exploration and production company that owns and operates projects in Tunisia and Romania.

Additionally, on 3 December 2020, Arden was appointed as Broker to Westminster Group Plc (Westminster), a leading supplier of managed services and technology-based security solutions worldwide.

On 9 December 2020, Arden was appointed joint Broker to Simec Atlantis Energy Limited, a global developer, owner and operator of sustainable energy projects with a diverse portfolio of assets in various stages of development.

On 4 January 2021, Maestrano Group plc, the Artificial Intelligence platform for transport corridor analytics, appointed Arden as Nominated Advisor and Broker.

Finally, on 19 April 2021 Arden was appointed as Nominated Advisor and Broker to Tricorn Group plc, the niche developer and manufacturer of pipe and tubing assemblies to the global energy and transport sectors.

Fundraisings

Since the start of the current financial year, which started on 1 November, Arden is proud to have helped seven clients access the equity markets to provide new funds to support their growth and development.

In addition to the deals completed in calendar 2020 on behalf of Melody VR Group plc, Serinus and Westminster Group plc, Arden has had a busy start to calendar 2021 with the successful completion of four more secondary equity fundraises.

Arden acted as Nominated Advisor and Joint Broker to Dekel Agri-Vision plc, in an oversubscribed fundraising, which secured £3.5m of new money to acquire a further interest in cashew nut processing at Tiebissou in Cote d'Ivoire and to fund working capital in support of the processing project.

Following its appointment as Nominated Advisor to Maestrano, Arden also acted as Broker on its oversubscribed £2m fundraising. The proceeds will be used to fund Maestrano's exciting growth opportunities in the UK, USA and Australia.

On 17 March 2021, Arden acted as Bookrunner and joint broker for Jersey Oil & Gas in its oversubscribed £15m placing and subscription. Jersey Oil & Gas, an independent upstream

oil and gas company focused on the UK Continental Shelf ("UKCS") region of the North Sea, will use the funds to develop its GBA project and progress its recently launched farm-out process.

The most recent fundraise was announced on 18 March 2021, in which Arden acted as Nominated Advisor and Joint Broker for Plant Health Care plc in a placing and subscription to raise US$10m. The fundraise was oversubscribed and the net proceeds of the fundraising will be used to invest in PREtec product development, accelerate new product launches, support accelerated growth and new market entry including into Europe and strengthen the balance sheet.

M&A transactions

The Arden corporate finance team has also seen an increase in activities levels with a number of public and private M&A transactions completed so far this year.

Most recently, Arden acted for its client, AssetCo Plc, in a tender offer to return £26.9 million to shareholders in December 2020 and then in January 2021 the 29.8% acquisition of shares by a new investor group, bringing about change of strategy resulting in an AIM Rule 14 readmission of the shares in March 2021.

On 18 March 2021, Waterford Finance and Investment Limited announced an unconditional mandatory cash offer for Arden's client, Gulfsands Petroleum Plc. Arden has acted as Rule 3 advisor to the Company.

Whether acting as a sole or joint broker Arden has continued to demonstrate its ability to find new investors and raise new funds for its clients. By creating strong demand and healthy levels of oversubscription Arden will always focus on ensuring its clients have the funds they need to grow and develop.

Chief Executive Officer, Donald Brown, comments:

"We continue to demonstrate our ability to raise new funds for our clients and with a strong pipeline of deals, including IPOs, I remain optimistic for the rest of the Fy21. From the corporate finance team to the research analysts and the sales team our reputation as market leaders in our chosen segments is underlined by the breadth and scale of the deals we have completed."

-ENDS-

Media contact:

Newgate Communications

Alistair Kellie, Clotilde Gros, Tom Carnegie

[e-mail]

About Arden Partners plc

Arden Partners was formed in 2002. The business was based on the pillars of quality research, market making and agency stockbroking. Following several years of impressive growth, Arden floated on AIM in 2006, with a significant amount of equity being held by the firm's directors and senior employees.

The absolute core of the business is to best represent our significant base of corporate clients, and their relationships with existing and potential shareholders. This relationship is a function of the quality of corporate finance advice provided to corporate clients, the high quality of

industry research and the voice in the market that the sales and trading teams have. It has offices in London and Birmingham and employs approximately 50 people.