Regulatory announcements

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (LSE: BMY), the leading independent publisher, is pleased to announce the successful completion of the non-pre-emptive placing of ordinary shares in the capital of the Company announced earlier today (the "Placing").

A total of 3,766,428 Placing Shares, representing 5.0 per cent. of the existing issued share capital of the Company, have been placed by Investec Bank plc ("Investec") at a price of 223.25p per share, raising gross proceeds of £8.4m. The Placing Price of 223.25p represents a discount of 5.0 per cent. to the mid-market closing price of 235p on 16 April 2020 (being the latest practicable date prior the date of this announcement).

Applications have been made to the Financial Conduct Authority (the "FCA") and the London Stock Exchange plc (the "LSE") respectively for the admission of the Placing Shares to the premium listing segment of the Official List of the FCA and to trading on the main market for listed securities of the LSE (together, "Admission"). It is expected that Admission will become effective on or before 8.00 a.m. on 21 April 2020. The Placing is conditional upon, amongst other things, Admission becoming effective and upon the placing agreement between Investec and the Company not being terminated in accordance with its terms.

The Placing Shares, when issued, will be fully paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with each other and with the existing ordinary shares of the Company, including, without limitation, the right to receive all dividends and other distributions declared, made or paid after the date of issue.

Total voting rights

Following Admission, the Company will have 79,094,998 Ordinary Shares in issue. There are no Ordinary Shares held in treasury. Therefore, the Company hereby confirms that the total number of voting rights in the Company will, following Admission, be 79,094,998. This figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

Capitalised terms used have the meanings given to them in the Announcement released this morning, unless the context provides otherwise.

This announcement is released by Bloomsbury Publishing plc and contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 (MAR), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.

For the purposes of MAR and Article 2 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1055, the person responsible for releasing this announcement is Maya Abu-Deeb, General Counsel and Company Secretary of Bloomsbury.

For further information, please contact:

Notes to Editors

About Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Bloomsbury is a leading independent publisher of fiction, non-fiction, children's, specialist, academic and professional titles. The company's mission is to be an entrepreneurial, independent publisher of works of excellence and originality to a worldwide audience. Bloomsbury's ambitions growth story has seen the Group become a significant global publisher with offices in the UK, US, Australia and India.

IMPORTANT NOTICES

This Announcement and the information contained in it (the "Announcement") is not for publication, release, transmission distribution or forwarding, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Japan or New Zealand or any other jurisdiction in which publication, release or distribution would be unlawful. This Announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or issue, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, acquire or subscribe for shares in the capital of the Company in the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Japan or New Zealand or any other state or jurisdiction. This Announcement has not been approved by the London Stock Exchange. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of such jurisdictions.

The Placing Shares have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") or with any securities regulatory authority of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States and may not be offered, sold, pledged, taken up, exercised, resold, renounced, transferred or delivered, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States absent registration under the Securities Act, except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and in compliance with any applicable securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States. The Placing Shares have not been approved, disapproved or recommended by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, any state securities commission in the United States or any other U.S. regulatory authority, nor have any of the foregoing authorities passed upon or endorsed the merits of the offering of the Placing Shares. Subject to certain exceptions, the securities referred to herein may not be offered or sold in the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Japan or New Zealand or to, or for the account or benefit of, any national, resident or citizen of the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Japan or New Zealand.

No public offering of the Placing Shares is being made in the United States, United Kingdom or elsewhere. All offers of the Placing Shares will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Prospectus Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (as supplemented by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/980 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/979 (the "Prospectus Regulation") from the requirement to produce a prospectus. This Announcement is being distributed to persons in the United Kingdom only in circumstances in which section 21(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended ("FSMA") does not apply. 

No prospectus will be made available in connection with the matters contained in this Announcement and no such prospectus is required (in accordance with the Prospectus Regulation) to be published. This Announcement and the terms and conditions set out herein are for information purposes only and are directed only at persons who are: (a) persons in Member States of the European Economic Area who are qualified investors (within the meaning of article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation ("Qualified Investors"); and (b) in the United Kingdom, Qualified Investors who fall within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the "Order"), or are persons who fall within article 49(2)(a) to (d) ("high net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc") of the Order; or (c) persons to whom it may otherwise be lawfully communicated; (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). This Announcement and the terms and conditions set out herein must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not relevant persons. Persons distributing this Announcement must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so. Any investment or investment activity to which this Announcement and the terms and conditions set out herein relates is available only to relevant persons and will be engaged in only with relevant persons. 

This Announcement has been issued by, and is the sole responsibility of, the Company. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by the Investec, or by any of its or their respective affiliates or agents as to or in relation to, the accuracy or completeness of this Announcement or any other written or oral information made available to or publicly available to any interested party or its advisers, and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed. 

Investec Bank plc is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.

Investec is acting solely for the Company and no one else in connection with the Placing and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients nor for providing advice in relation to the Placing and/or any other matter referred to in this Announcement. Apart from the responsibilities and liabilities, if any, which may be imposed on the Investec by FSMA or by the regulatory regime established under it, none of the Investec nor any of their respective affiliates accepts any responsibility whatsoever for the contents of the information contained in this Announcement or for any other statement made or purported to be made by or on behalf of the Investec or any of their respective affiliates in connection with the Company, the Placing Shares or the Placing. The Investec and each of their respective affiliates accordingly disclaim all and any responsibility and liability whatsoever, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise (save as referred to above) in respect of any statements or other information contained in this Announcement and no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made by the Investec or any of their respective affiliates as to the accuracy, completeness or sufficiency of the information contained in this Announcement. 

The distribution of this Announcement and/or the offering of the Placing Shares in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. No action has been taken by the Company or the Investec or any of their respective affiliates that would, or which is intended to, permit an offering of the Placing Shares in any jurisdiction or result in the possession or distribution of this Announcement or any other offering or publicity material relating to Placing Shares in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required.

Persons distributing any part of this Announcement must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so. Persons (including, without limitation, nominees and trustees) who have a contractual or other legal obligation to forward a copy of this Announcement should seek appropriate advice before taking any such action. Persons into whose possession this Announcement comes are required by the Company and the Investec to inform themselves about, and to observe, such restrictions. 

This Announcement contains (or may contain) certain forward-looking statements with respect to certain of the Company's current expectations and projections about future events. These statements, which sometimes use words such as "aim", "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "plan", "estimate", "expect" and words of similar meaning, reflect the directors' beliefs and expectations and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions which may occur in the future, are beyond the Company's control and could cause actual results and performance to differ materially from any expected future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking statement. Statements contained in this Announcement regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. The information contained in this Announcement is subject to change without notice and, except as required by applicable law, the Company does not assume any responsibility or obligation to update publicly or review any of the forward-looking statements contained in it, nor do they intend to. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Announcement. No statement in this Announcement is or is intended to be a profit forecast or profit estimate or to imply that the earnings of the Company for the current or future financial years will necessarily match or exceed the historical or published earnings of the Company.  As a result of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the recipient should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results or otherwise. 

This Announcement does not identify or suggest, or purport to identify or suggest, the risks (direct or indirect) that may be associated with an investment in the Placing Shares. Any investment decision to buy Placing Shares in the Placing must be made solely on the basis of publicly available information, which has not been independently verified by the Investec.

The information in this Announcement may not be forwarded or distributed to any other person and may not be reproduced in any manner whatsoever. Any forwarding, distribution, reproduction or disclosure of this information in whole or in part is unauthorised. Failure to comply with this directive may result in a violation of the Securities Act or the applicable laws of other jurisdictions. 

This Announcement does not constitute an invitation to underwrite, subscribe for or otherwise acquire or dispose of any securities in any jurisdiction. This Announcement does not constitute a recommendation concerning any investor's option with respect to the Placing. Each investor or prospective investor should conduct his, her or its own investigation, analysis and evaluation of the business and data described in this Announcement and publicly available information. The price and value of securities can go down as well as up. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. 

The Placing Shares to be issued or sold pursuant to the Placing will not be admitted to trading on any stock exchange other than on the Premium Segment of the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange.

References in this Announcement to other reports or materials, such as a website address, have been provided to direct the reader to other sources of information on the Company which may be of interest. Neither the content of the Company's website nor any website accessible by hyperlinks on the Company's website nor any additional materials contained or accessible thereon, are incorporated in, or form part of, this Announcement. 

Solely for the purposes of the product governance requirements contained within: (a) EU Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments, as amended ("MiFID II"); (b) Articles 9 and 10 of Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2017/593 supplementing MiFID II; and (c) local implementing measures (together, the "MiFID II Product Governance Requirements"), and disclaiming all and any liability, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise, which any "manufacturer" (for the purposes of the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements) may otherwise have with respect thereto, the Placing Shares have been subject to a product approval process, which has determined that the Placing Shares are: (i) compatible with an end target market of retail investors and investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties, each as defined in MiFID II; and (ii) eligible for distribution through all distribution channels as are permitted by MiFID II (the "Target Market Assessment"). Notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, distributors should note that: the price of the Placing Shares may decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment; the Placing Shares offer no guaranteed income and no capital protection; and an investment in the Placing Shares is compatible only with investors who do not need a guaranteed income or capital protection, who (either alone or in conjunction with an appropriate financial or other adviser) are capable of evaluating the merits and risks of such an investment and who have sufficient resources to be able to bear any losses that may result therefrom. The Target Market Assessment is without prejudice to the requirements of any contractual, legal or regulatory selling restrictions in relation to the Offer. Furthermore, it is noted that, notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, Investec will only procure investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Target Market Assessment does not constitute: (a) an assessment of suitability or appropriateness for the purposes of MiFID II; or (b) a recommendation to any investor or group of investors to invest in, or purchase, or take any other action whatsoever with respect to the Placing Shares.

Each distributor is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the Placing Shares and determining appropriate distribution channels.

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