SHWE.L Regulatory News (SHWE)

13 December 2021

Asia Strategic Holdings Ltd.

("Asia Strategic" or the "Company")

Issuance of Shares in lieu of bonuses and Total Voting Rights

Asia Strategic Holdings Ltd. (LSE: SHWE), the independent developer and operator of consumer businesses located in emerging South-East Asia, today announces that, in lieu of cash payments, all annual bonuses payable to the Company's senior employees (including certain executive directors of the Company) relating to the financial period ended 30 September 2021 will be satisfied entirely through the issuance of new ordinary shares in the Company. The Company's results for the 12-month period to 30 September 2021 will be published by 31 January 2022.

The Company's management acknowledges the performance and contributions of its employees during the period. Considering the strain on financial resources imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, all annual bonuses for the period will be paid entirely through the issuance of new shares in the Company.

Taking into consideration the recommendations of the Remuneration Committee of the Company, the Directors propose annual bonuses for a cumulative value of US$640,000 to be satisfied through the issue of 80,000 new ordinary shares in the Company at a price of US$8 per share (being the Company's closing bid price as at 10 December 2021).

Admission and Total Voting Rights

Pursuant to the above, the Company has today issued 80,000 new ordinary shares (the "2021 Bonus Shares") of no-par value (representing 2.7% of the Company's existing issued share capital) to certain directors and PDMRs of the Company as follows:

Further information is set out in the PDMR disclosure tables below.

An application is expected to be made shortly for the 2021 Bonus Shares to be listed on the standard segment of the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities ("Admission"). It is expected that Admission will become effective and that dealings in the 2021 Bonus Shares will commence at 8.00 a.m. on 20 December 2021.

Following Admission, the Company will have a total of 2,925,920 ordinary shares in issue. The above figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

For more information please visit www.asia-strategic.com or contact:

Notes to editors

Asia Strategic Holdings Ltd.

Asia Strategic Holdings Ltd. (LSE: SHWE) is an independent developer and manager of consumer businesses in Vietnam and Myanmar, two of the fastest growing economies in the world over the last decade. The Company's portfolio currently focuses on Education, Services and Hospitality with the view to expand within the broader consumer sector. 

Education sector: the Company currently has exclusive development and franchising agreements with Wall Street English for ten English language centres across Myanmar over the course of a ten-year agreement. Two centres were opened in 2017, a third in August 2018, and a fourth in February 2020. As of September 2021, Wall Street English Myanmar served ca 1,300 students.

In July 2020, the Company completed the acquisition of the Wall Street English business in Vietnam. Founded in 2013, the WSE Vietnam business operates through seven centres in Ho Chi Minh and Binh Dhuong serving ca. 2,600 students.

The Company also operates a joint venture with Auston Institute of Management to develop and operate the Auston College Myanmar. The private school opened in May 2018 offering diplomas in Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering and Networking, Information Systems, and Security. English language learning is also provided by the Company's nearby Wall Street English centre. In February 2020, the Company announced a partnership with Liverpool John Moores University to provide high quality engineering training programmes for young, working professionals in Myanmar, to be taught by Auston College Myanmar's teaching staff at its Junction Square complex in Yangon.

In August 2019 the Company launched its first private K-12 international school, the Yangon American International School ("Yangon American") in Yangon. In July 2021 Yangon American has been recognised as an official International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme ("IB PYP") school by the International Baccalaureate Organization.

Services sector: through its acquisition of EXERA, the Company offers security, risk management and secure logistics services, including cash-in-transit. Founded in 2013, EXERA employs approximately 1,600 well-trained and high-quality security officers making it one of the largest security services providers in Myanmar.

Hospitality sector: through its portfolio, the Company currently manages over 470 beds across four boutique hotels in three core tourist locations across Myanmar, operating under the award winning Ostello Bello budget hospitality brand. MSH operates an asset light strategy, entering into long-term operating and management agreements with local hotel owners.

Vietnam and Myanmar were among the fastest growing economies in Asia in 2017-2020 (Source: Asian Development Bank). In 2021 and 2022, Vietnam's annual GDP growth is expected to be 3.8% and 6.5% respectively (Source: Asian Development Bank).

MSH is well positioned to provide investors early exposure to Myanmar's and Vietnam's strong economic fundamentals enhanced by ASEAN's wider growth prospects. 

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