Issue of shares under ATM-like facility

Connecting Excellence Group PLC

05 October 2026

 

5 October 2026

Connecting Excellence Group Plc

(“Connecting Excellence Group”, “XCE”, the “Group” or the “Company”)

Issue of shares under ATM-like facility

Connecting Excellence Group Plc (AQSE: XCE / OTCQB: XCELF), the international executive and specialist recruitment group with a long-term Bitcoin (BTC) treasury strategy, announces that it has issued 800,000 new ordinary shares of £0.000001 each (“Ordinary Shares”) at a price of 2.22 pence per Ordinary Share (the “APA Shares”) under its Accelerated Placing Agreement with Allenby Capital Limited (the “APA”), raising gross proceeds of £17,760.

The APA, described in the Company’s admission document of 10 December 2025, is an ATM-like facility that allows the Company to issue new Ordinary Shares to meet demand in the market as liquidity allows. Ordinary Shares may be issued under the APA at a price of not less than the closing mid-market price on the previous business day and above the bid price at the time of each trade. Up to 21,000,000 Ordinary Shares may be issued under the APA, of which 800,000 have now been issued. The Board retains full discretion over whether and when the APA is used.

The net proceeds will be applied in line with the Group’s strategy, including its Bitcoin treasury, acquisition and hiring strategies.

The APA Shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the Company’s existing Ordinary Shares.

The Company has today released a separate announcement regarding completion of the acquisition of James Gray Recruitment Limited and James Gray Engineering Limited.

Scott Ellam, Chief Executive Officer of Connecting Excellence Group, commented:

“XCE is an operating business first, and our priority is growing recruitment revenue. The completion of our first acquisition, announced separately today, is that priority in practice.

“Like our recent subscriptions, this issue was priced at a premium to the value of the Bitcoin behind each share. That is what a business with a fully integrated Bitcoin treasury and capital markets capability should be able to do, and we have prepared XCE to act on it when market conditions support it.

“The APA has been available to us since our admission in December 2025, and this is the first time we have used it, because liquidity in our shares now allows us to meet demand in a measured way, at or above the previous day’s closing price. We will continue to use it only selectively and responsibly, where we believe it creates value for our long-term shareholders.”

Admission and Total Voting Rights

An application will be made for the admission of the APA Shares to trading on the Aquis Stock Exchange Growth Market (“Admission”). Admission is expected to occur on or around 8 October 2026.

Following Admission, the Company will have 507,298,952 Ordinary Shares in issue, each carrying one voting right. The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury. Therefore, following Admission, the total number of voting rights in the Company will be 507,298,952, and that figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they determine whether they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

Connecting Excellence Group (“XCE”) Scott Ellam, Chief Executive Officer Angus Gladish, Chief Financial Officer	[e-mail] Tel: [phone]
AlbR Capital Limited (Aquis Corporate Adviser and Joint Broker) David Coffman Daniel Harris	Tel: [phone]
Allenby Capital (Joint Broker) Matt Butlin (Head of Equities) Nick Harriss (Corporate Finance)	Tel: [phone]
Yellow Jersey PR (Financial PR) Charles Goodwin Annabelle Wills	[e-mail] Tel: [phone]

The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.

About Connecting Excellence Group Plc (“XCE”):

XCE is an international executive and specialist recruitment group with a long-term Bitcoin treasury strategy. The Group acquires, owns and grows profitable specialist recruitment businesses, which it holds permanently and which retain their brands, management and day-to-day independence.

XCE acquires executive and specialist recruitment businesses across sectors and geographies. It holds Bitcoin as a long-term reserve asset, designed to strengthen its balance sheet and support the growth of the Group.

Website: xce.io

Follow on X: XCE - Connecting Excellence Group

Follow on Linkedin: XCE - Connecting Excellence Group

Important Notice:

Connecting Excellence Group PLC holds treasury reserves and surplus cash in Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a type of digital asset. Whilst the Board of Directors of the Company considers holding Bitcoin to be in the best interests of the Company, the Board remains aware that the financial regulator in the UK (the Financial Conduct Authority or FCA) considers investment in Bitcoin to be high risk.

At the outset, it is important to note that an investment in the Company is not an investment in Bitcoin, either directly or by proxy. However, the Board of Directors of the Company consider Bitcoin to be an appropriate store of value and growth for the Company’s reserves and, accordingly, the Company is materially exposed to Bitcoin. Such an approach is innovative, and the Board of Directors of the Company wish to be clear and transparent with prospective and actual investors in the Company on the Company’s position in this regard.

The Company is neither authorised nor regulated by the FCA. And Bitcoin is unregulated in the UK. As with most other investments, the value of Bitcoin can go down as well as up, and therefore the value of the Company’s Bitcoin holdings can fluctuate. The Company may not be able to realise its Bitcoin exposure for the same value as it paid in the first place or even for the value the Company ascribes to its Bitcoin positions due to these market movements. And because Bitcoin is unregulated, the Company is not protected by the UK’s Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

However, Bitcoin is formally recognised as personal property in the UK under the new Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025, which received Royal Assent on December 2, 2025. This legislation has removed previous legal uncertainty by establishing a new, third category of personal property to accommodate digital assets that do not fit traditional definitions.

The Board of Directors of the Company with a history of a Bitcoin treasury prior to becoming a public company, has taken the decision to invest in Bitcoin, and in doing so is mindful of the special risks Bitcoin presents to the Company’s financial position. These risks include (but are not limited to): (i) the value of Bitcoin can be highly volatile, with value dropping as quickly as it can rise; (ii) the Bitcoin market is largely unregulated - there is a risk of losing money due to risks such as cyber-attacks, financial crime and counterparty failure; (iii) the Company may not be able to sell its Bitcoin at will - the ability to sell Bitcoin depends on various factors, including the supply and demand in the market at the relevant time, with operational failings such as technology outages, cyber-attacks and comingling of funds potentially causing unwanted delay. The Board of Directors of the Company does not subscribe to such a negative view, and therefore ascribes to the 'Bitcoin, not crypto' mantra and has a 'Bitcoin only ethos'. However, prospective investors in the Company are encouraged to do their own research and verify before investing.

 

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