MERI.L Regulatory News (MERI)

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Merian Chrysalis Investment Company Limited

13 May 2020

Merian Chrysalis Investment Company Limited (the "Company")

Portfolio Update

· Investment in Featurespace Limited

· Completion of follow-on investments in Embark Group Limited and Secret Escapes Limited

· Update on portfolio composition

Investment in Featurespace Limited

The Company is pleased to announce an investment of £20 million as part of a £30 million funding round conducted by Featurespace Limited ("Featurespace"), alongside other existing investors in the round including Highland Europe, MissionOG, TTV Capital and IP Group.

Featurespace is a world leader in financial crime risk management for fraud and anti-money laundering ("AML"). Featurespace invented adaptive behavioural analytics and created the ARIC Risk Hub platform, which utilises real-time machine learning software that risk scores events in more than 180 countries to prevent fraud and financial crime.

ARIC Risk Hub uses advanced, explainable anomaly detection to enable financial institutions to automatically identify risk, catch new fraud attacks and identify suspicious activity in real-time. This differs from most other fraud/AML systems that are based on discrete rules that are non-adaptive to emerging threats, and thus require continual retraining to ensure optimisation. More than 30 major global financial institutions are using ARIC Risk Hub to protect their business and customers, including four of the five largest banks in the UK. Customers include HSBC, TSYS, Worldpay, RBS NatWest Group, Contis, Danske Bank, ClearBank, Permanent TSB and Betfair.

Richard Watts, portfolio manager, comments:

"Featurespace has developed truly innovative technology and provides financial institutions with a world-class solution in the fast growing fraud detection and prevention market. We are delighted to announce this fantastic addition to the Merian Chrysalis portfolio and we look forward to supporting the Featurespace team as they continue to grow and develop the business."

Completion of follow-on investments in Embark Group Limited and Secret Escapes Limited

The Company also confirms that its follow-on investment of £12.2 million (announced November 2019) has now completed, enabling Embark to close its acquisition of Sterling ISA Managers Limited and Zurich Investment Services Limited.

As part of a wider funding round, the Company has also made a £2.6 million follow-on investment in Secret Escapes Limited. This funding will ensure the business is well placed to navigate the Covid-19 environment and focus on long-term value generation.

Update on portfolio composition

As a result of its investments in Featurespace, Embark Group Limited and Secret Escapes Limited, the Company's capital is approximately 88% per cent invested.

Nick Williamson, portfolio manager, comments:

"Merian Chrysalis entered 2020 well capitalised. This position has given us the opportunity to invest in Featurespace, an asset we've been tracking for over a year, while preserving adequate flexibility to support our existing portfolio assets across a range of probable Covid-19 related trading scenarios. As well as being a tremendously exciting asset in its own right, Featurespace's software model continues to diversify the portfolio's thematic exposure, an ambition that we set out at IPO."

LEI: 213800F9SQ753JQHSW24

A copy of this announcement will be available on the Company's website at https://www.merian.com/chrysalis/. 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.

This announcement may include "forward-looking statements". All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this announcement, including, without limitation, those regarding the Company's financial position, business strategy, plans and objectives of management for future operations (including development plans and objectives relating to the Company's products and services) are forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and accordingly the Company's actual future financial results and operational performance may differ materially from the results and performance expressed in, or implied by, the statements. These factors include but are not limited to those described in the formal Prospectus. These forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this announcement. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect actual results or any change in the assumptions, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based unless required to do so by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the Listing Rules or Prospectus Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority or other applicable laws, regulations or rules.