Mercia Asset Regulatory News (MERC)

RNS 3 November 2020

Mercia Asset Management PLC

("Mercia", "the Group" or the "Company")

Board Appointment

Mercia Asset Management PLC (AIM: MERC), the proactive, regionally focused, specialist asset manager with c.£800million of assets under management, today announces that Diane Seymour-Williams has been appointed as a Non-executive Director of the Company with immediate effect.

Diane is a non-executive director of Standard Life Private Equity Trust plc, PraxisIFM Group Limited and SEI Investments (Europe) Ltd and is a director of Acorn Capital Advisers Limited. Most recently Diane was also a non-executive director of Brooks Macdonald Group Plc, serving a nine-year tenure. Diane has significant industry experience, having worked at Deutsche Asset Management Group (previously Morgan Grenfell) for over 23 years where she held various senior positions, including CIO and CEO for Asia. Diane subsequently spent nine years at LGM Investments Limited, a specialist global emerging and frontier markets equities manager, where she was global head of relationship management. Her non-executive experience spans the quoted wealth and asset management, global equity, private equity, investment services and VCT sectors. She is a pro-bono member of the Investment Committees of Newnham College, Cambridge and the Canal & River Trust.

Ian Metcalfe, Non-executive Chair of Mercia Asset Management PLC, said: 

"I am delighted to welcome Diane to our Board. She has longstanding and deep experience in the funds and asset management space, and she has a very good understanding of the sectors in which we operate, notably Venture Capital Trusts and other closed-end funds. I have no doubt that she will make a strong contribution to our Board debates as Mercia continues to prove out its model and we work towards fulfilling its strategic objectives. I also believe that Diane will broaden the diversity of the Board's thinking and prove to be an excellent addition to Mercia Asset Management."

Pursuant to Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies, Diane Seymour-Williams (née Wilson) (aged 61) has held the following directorships and partnerships in the past five years:

Current (as at 3 November 2020)

· Acorn Capital Advisers Limited

· DSW Advisory Partners Limited

· DSW Capital Partners Limited

· PraxisIFM Group Limited

· SEI Investments (Europe) Ltd

· Standard Life Private Equity Trust plc

Previous (last five years)

· Baillie Gifford China Growth Trust Plc (previously Witan Pacific Investment Trust Plc)

· BMO Investments (Ireland) Public Limited Company

· BMO Investments (Ireland) II Public Limited Company

· Brooks Macdonald Group Plc

· Calculus VCT Plc

· LG China Fund Public Limited Company

· LGM Investments Limited

· Neptune-Calculus Income and Growth VCT Plc

Diane Seymour-Williams does not hold any shares in the Company.

There is no further information required to be disclosed in respect of the above appointment pursuant to Rule 17 and Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies.

For further information, please contact

About Mercia Asset Management PLC

Mercia is a proactive, specialist asset manager focused on supporting regional SMEs to achieve their growth aspirations. Mercia provides capital across its four asset classes of balance sheet, venture, private equity and debt capital: the Group's 'Complete Connected Capital'. The Group initially nurtures businesses via its third-party funds under management, then over time Mercia can provide further funding to the most promising companies, by deploying direct investment follow-on capital from its own balance sheet.

The Group has a strong UK footprint through its regional offices, 19 university partnerships and extensive personal networks, providing it with access to high-quality deal flow. Mercia currently has c.£800million of assets under management and, since its IPO in December 2014, has invested over £96million into its direct investment portfolio.