M P Evans Regulatory News (MPE)

M. P. EVANS GROUP PLC

("THE GROUP") ACQUISITION OF ADDITIONAL 2,750 PLANTED HECTARES

M.P. Evans Group PLC, a producer of sustainable Indonesian palm oil, is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, PT Evans Indonesia, has signed a conditional share purchase agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of two Indonesian plantation companies, PT Setara Kilau Mas Adicita ("SKMA") and PT Sumber Bumi Serasi ("SBS"). Their two respective plantations are located close to the Group's Bumi Mas estate and mill. Gross consideration is expected to be approximately US$34.2 million, funded from existing resources, plus a final adjustment to allow for other assets and liabilities on completion and is subject to the finalisation of certain legal, regulatory and other formalities in Indonesia, with completion likely to take place in the third quarter of 2025.

The acquisition is entirely in line with the Group's stated strategy to add further planted hectarage close to its existing operations. SKMA and SBS both own oil-palm plantations in East Kalimantan, with a total planted hectarage of 2,750 hectares under direct ownership and a further 250 hectares managed on behalf of associated smallholder co-operatives. The total crop from the areas being acquired was 50,300 tonnes in the year to 30 June 2024. Those areas are relatively young, having all been planted since 2016, and so the Group expects yields to increase in future years. Following completion of the acquisition, SKMA and SBS will be managed as part of the Bumi Mas estate, and all the crop from both acquired properties will be sent for processing in the Bumi Mas mill.

The Group is acquiring SKMA and SBS from PT Golden Land Gemilang, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Golden Land Berhad, a listed Malaysian company with subsidiaries in the Indonesian oil-palm sector, as well as from Jeffrey Lachmandas Mahtani and Maurice Maulana Situmorang, the respective minority shareholders of SKMA and SBS. The acquisition will be funded from existing cash resources and the purchase price equates to US$12,500 per Group-owned planted hectare. It is expected that the acquisition will be earnings enhancing for shareholders. Following the transaction, the Group will continue to have a strong, net cash, balance sheet, enabling it to continue to review opportunities for further growth.

As a responsible producer, and consistent with its approach to other acquisitions, the Group will work to include the acquired area as part of its registration with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil ("RSPO") in line with its commitment to continue increasing the proportion of its output that is certifiably sustainable.

M.P. Evans chairman, Peter Hadsley-Chaplin, commented: "Adding the planted areas at SKMA and SBS will bring the total Group-managed area at Bumi Mas to almost 12,000 hectares, enabling the Group to make a significant difference to the profitable utilisation of the on-site mill. This is another step forward in the Group's growth strategy, after which it will manage almost 70,000 planted hectares across its Indonesian projects."

This announcement contains information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.

Enquiries:

Peter Hadsley-Chaplin, chairman Matthew Coulson, chief executive Luke Shaw, chief financial officer

Matt Goode, George Lawson (Corporate finance)

Tim Redfern, Harriet Ward (ECM)

Charlie Jack, Francis Kerrigan, Francesca Rosser