Performance-linked tender test satisfied & renewed
Aberdeen Asia Focus plc
11 August 2026
Aberdeen Asia Focus PLC (the "Company")
Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): 5493000FBZP1J92OQY70
11 August 2026
Performance-linked tender test satisfied and renewed
The Board of Aberdeen Asia Focus PLC (the "Company") is pleased to announce that its performance has exceeded the trigger benchmark of the five-year performance-linked conditional tender test, introduced in August 2021 as part of its commitment to discount control and delivering shareholder value. No tender offer is therefore required.
The Company's performance has significantly exceeded the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index (the "Index") by 29.4%. Over the five-year measurement period from 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2026, the Company's NAV total return per share (Basic) was 67.2%, compared to the Index total return of 37.8%.
The Board believes that performance delivered over this period and the longer term demonstrates the strength of the Company's differentiated, high-conviction approach to investing in smaller companies with long-term growth prospects across Asia, many of which are overlooked by broader market indices and mainstream funds but are nevertheless local or global leaders in their field. The Board also believes the outcome demonstrates the benefits of the Company's disciplined investment process and remains focused on delivering attractive long-term returns for shareholders.
The Board intends to renew the performance-linked conditional tender mechanism for a further five-year assessment period on materially the same terms. Under the renewed mechanism, if the Company's NAV total return fails to equal or exceed the total return of the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index (in GBP terms) over the new assessment period, the Board would put forward proposals to enable shareholders to realise a proportion of their holdings for cash at a level close to NAV, less the costs of the tender offer, capped at 25 per cent. of the Company's then issued share capital.
In order to mitigate for the potential effect of volatility at the final calculation date, performance over the measurement period will be measured using the Company's average of the five-year NAV total return over each of the trading days in the final month of the period, being July 2031, against the average total return of the benchmark over the same period.
Krishna Shanmuganathan, Chair of Aberdeen Asia Focus, commented:
"We provide investors with a unique investment proposition: access to a compelling and diversified portfolio of market leading but relatively smaller Asian businesses, very different to any comparative benchmark. These companies, often overlooked by passive funds, are hand-picked through a rigorous bottom-up stock selection process. Since these businesses are often under-researched by the wider market and attractively priced, our Manager, supported by a team of 36 investment professionals focussed on Asian equities and based throughout Asia, is able to uncover hidden gems. These are the next generation of market leaders capitalising on accelerating structural growth trends in their economies, which are themselves growing at pace. We are confident of AAS' ability to continue performing well and to deliver value for shareholders."
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