The following announcement is BEING made pursuant to the requirements of RuleS 19.6(B) and 19.6(C) of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (the "Code").
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
27 July 2026
Benchmark Holdings Limited
Rule 19.6(b) update and Rule 19.6(c) confirmation with respect to the stated post-offer intentions made by the Concert Party with regard to the Company
Benchmark Holdings Limited ("Benchmark" or the "Company"), announces that, further to the completion of its tender offer on 24 July 2025 (the "Tender Offer"), each of Kverva Finans AS ("Kverva"), the JNE Funds ("JNE") and FERD AS ("FERD") (together, the "Concert Party") has duly confirmed in writing to The Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, in accordance with the requirements of Rule 19.6(c) of the Code, that, subject to the matter detailed below, the Concert Party has complied with its post-offer statements of intent made pursuant to Rule 24.2 of the Code, as detailed in the circular published by Benchmark on 23 May 2025 (the "Circular").
The Circular stated that Benchmark's board of directors would comprise Kristian Eikre, Yngve Myhre, Torgeir Svae, Marie Danielson and Jonathan Esfandi following completion of the transaction. However, on 31 August 2025, each member of the Concert Party changed their representative appointed to the Company's board, as set out below:
· Torgeir Svae resigned as a director and was replaced by Frode Sandmark as Kverva's board representative;
· Jonathan Esfandi resigned as a director and was replaced by Michael Zhang as JNE's board representative; and
· Kristian Eikre resigned as a director and was replaced by Frida Lillebøe as FERD's board representative.
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Enquiries:
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Benchmark Holdings Limited |
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Investor Relations |
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Strand Hanson Limited (Financial Adviser to Benchmark) |
+44 (0) 207 409 3494 |
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James Dance Christopher Raggett Matthew Chandler
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Rob Patrick |
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Capitalised terms used in this announcement (unless otherwise defined) have the meanings set out in the Circular.
Disclaimers
This announcement is not intended to and does not constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to subscribe for or sell or an invitation to purchase or subscribe for any securities. The release, publication or distribution of this announcement in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in, into or from certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law and therefore persons in such jurisdictions should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions.
Strand Hanson Limited ("Strand Hanson"), which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA, is acting as financial adviser to Benchmark and no one else in connection with the matters detailed in this announcement and will not regard any other person as its client in relation thereto and will not be responsible to anyone other than Benchmark for providing the protections afforded to clients of Strand Hanson, nor for providing advice in relation to any matter referred to herein. Neither Strand Hanson nor any of its affiliates (nor any of their respective directors, officers, employees or agents) owes or accepts any duty, liability or responsibility whatsoever (whether direct or indirect, whether in contract, in tort, under statute or otherwise) to any person who is not a client of Strand Hanson in connection with the matters referred to in this announcement, any statement contained herein or otherwise.