Issue of Equity

STRATEGIC EQUITY CAPITAL PLC

Issue of Equity

19 July 2005

The Board of Strategic Equity Capital plc ('the Company') announces that the
placing sponsored by Close Brothers Securities raised gross proceeds of £70.4
million.

The Company's share capital will comprise 70,400,000 ordinary shares of 10p
each which were today admitted to the official list of the Financial Services
Authority (the 'Official List') and to trading on the Stock Exchange's market
for listed securities.

The Company is a new investment trust managed by SVG Investment Managers
Limited (the 'Manager'), a subsidiary of the London listed FTSE 250 private
equity investor and fund management company, SVG Capital plc. The Company's
investment objective is to achieve absolute returns over a medium-term period,
principally through capital growth. It will invest primarily in securities
listed on the Official List that the Manager believes are undervalued and could
benefit from strategic, operational or management initiatives.

For further information, please contact:

Alice Todhunter/ Tony Dalwood/ Adam Steiner

SVG Advisers

Tel: [phone]

David Benda/ Nathan Brown

Close Brothers Securities

Tel: [phone]

Emma Thorpe/ Will Bowen

Penrose Financial

Tel: [phone]

Note: Close Brothers Securities, a division of Winterflood Securities Limited
which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial
Services Authority, is acting for Strategic Equity Capital plc in relation to
its issue of shares and for no other person and will not be responsible to any
other person other than these companies for providing the protections offered
to customers of Close Brothers Securities or for providing advice in relation
to the issue.