Publication of Scheme Document
Bentley Park (UK) Limited has published the scheme document for its recommended cash acquisition of Time Finance PLC, to be implemented via a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement. Time Finance now expects to release its audited annual results for the year ended May 31, 2026, in November 2026. The Time Finance Directors, advised by Cavendish, unanimously recommend the acquisition, and have irrevocably undertaken to vote in favour of the scheme in respect of their 2.36% holding. The scheme is expected to become effective in the fourth quarter of 2026, leading to the cancellation of trading in Time Finance shares on AIM.
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(the parent company of Ultimate Finance Group Limited)
PUBLICATION OF SCHEME DOCUMENT
AND
UPDATED NOTICE OF RESULTS
On 17 August 2026, the boards of Bentley Park (UK) Limited ("Bentley Park") and Time Finance plc ("Time Finance") announced that they had agreed the terms of a recommended cash acquisition of Time Finance by Bentley Park (the parent company of Ultimate Finance Group Limited ("Ultimate Finance")) pursuant to which Bentley Park will acquire the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Time Finance (the "Acquisition"). The Acquisition is being implemented by means of a Court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006 (the "Scheme").
Publication of Scheme Document
Time Finance and Bentley Park are pleased to announce that the scheme document relating to the Acquisition (the "Scheme Document"), together with the associated Forms of Proxy for use in connection with the Court Meeting and the General Meeting, are today being published and sent, or made available, to Time Finance Shareholders and, for information only, to persons with information rights, and participants in the Time Finance Share Plan.
Notice of Results
As a result of the Acquisition and the Scheme, Time Finance now expects to publish its audited annual results for the year ended 31 May 2026 during November 2026.
Background to the Acquisition
Following an initial approach from a third party in Q3 2025, the Time Finance Board concluded that it was then appropriate to engage with independent advisers to undertake a broad and comprehensive competitive process to explore the possible value that could be achieved for shareholders in the event of the sale of the Time Finance Group. This extensive process commenced in Q4 2025 and saw a range of potential interested parties expressing a non-binding interest in the Time Finance Group in multiple rounds, culminating in the Acquisition being announced by Time Finance and Bentley Park (the parent company of Ultimate Finance) on 17 August 2026, which is unanimously recommended by the Time Finance Board.
Scheme Document
The Scheme Document contains, among other things, a letter from the Chair of Time Finance, an explanatory statement pursuant to section 897 of the Companies Act 2006, the full terms and Conditions of the Scheme and the Acquisition, an expected timetable of principal events, notices of the Court Meeting and General Meeting and details of the actions to be taken by Time Finance Shareholders.
A copy of the Scheme Document will be made available, subject to certain restrictions relating to persons resident in Restricted Jurisdictions, on Ultimate Finance's website at https://ultimatefinance.co.uk/investor-relations and Time Finance's website at https://investors.timefinance.com by no later than 12 noon on 3 September 2026.
Unless otherwise defined, all capitalised terms in this announcement shall have the meaning given to them in the Scheme Document. All references to times are to London, UK, times unless otherwise stated.
Action required
As further detailed in the Scheme Document, to become Effective, the Scheme requires, amongst other things, the approval of a majority in number of the Scheme Shareholders present and voting (in person or by proxy) at the Court Meeting representing not less than 75 per cent. in value of the relevant Scheme Shares voted, and the passing of the Resolution at the General Meeting. The Scheme must also be sanctioned by the Court. The Scheme is also subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the Conditions and further terms that are set out in the Scheme Document.
Notices convening the Court Meeting and the General Meeting for 10.00 a.m. and 10.15 a.m. (or as soon thereafter as the Court Meeting concludes or is adjourned), respectively, on 1 October 2026, to be held at the offices of Simmons & Simmons LLP, CityPoint, One Ropemaker Street, London, EC2Y 9SS are set out in Parts 8 and 9 of the Scheme Document.
It is important that, for the Court Meeting in particular, as many votes as possible are cast so that the Court may be satisfied that there is a fair and reasonable representation of the opinion of Scheme Shareholders. Time Finance Shareholders are therefore strongly urged to submit their Forms of Proxy (or, if they hold their Time Finance Shares in uncertificated form, through CREST) as soon as possible and, in any event, by no later than 10.00 a.m. on 29 September 2026 in the case of the Court Meeting, and 10.15 a.m. on 29 September 2026, in the case of the General Meeting in accordance with the instructions for doing so set out in the section headed "Action to be taken" on pages 9 to 11 of the Scheme Document.
Expected timetable of principal events
The Scheme Document contains an expected timetable of principal events relating to the Scheme, which is also set out below.
Subject to obtaining the approval of the requisite majority of Scheme Shareholders at the Court Meeting and the requisite majority of Time Finance Shareholders at the General Meeting, the sanction of the Court and the satisfaction or, where applicable, waiver of the other Conditions (as set out in Part 3 of the Scheme Document), the Scheme is expected to become effective during the fourth quarter of 2026. The times and dates given in the expected timetable of principal events are based on Time Finance's and Bentley Park's current expectations and may be subject to change. If any of the times and dates set out in the expected timetable change, Time Finance will give notice of this change by issuing an announcement through a Regulatory Information Service.
It is intended that dealings in Time Finance Shares will be suspended on or shortly before the Effective Date at the time set out in the Scheme Document. It is further intended that an application will be made to the London Stock Exchange to cancel trading in Time Finance Shares on AIM, with effect from or shortly after the Effective Date.
The last day of dealings in Time Finance Shares on AIM is currently expected to be the Business Day immediately prior to the Effective Date and it is currently intended that no transfers will be registered after 6.00 p.m. (London time) on that date.
Upon the Scheme becoming Effective, share certificates in respect of Time Finance Shares will cease to be valid and should be destroyed. Once the Scheme has become Effective entitlements held within CREST to Time Finance Shares will be cancelled.
Recommendation
The Time Finance Directors, who have been so advised by Cavendish as to the financial terms of the Acquisition, unanimously consider the terms of the Acquisition to be fair and reasonable. In providing its advice to the Time Finance Directors, Cavendish has taken into account the commercial assessments of the Time Finance Directors. Cavendish is providing independent financial advice to the Time Finance Directors for the purposes of Rule 3 of the Takeover Code.
Accordingly, the Time Finance Directors recommend unanimously that Scheme Shareholders vote (or procure votes) in favour of the Scheme at the Court Meeting and Time Finance Shareholders vote (or procure votes) in favour of the Resolution at the General Meeting (or, in the event that the Acquisition is implemented by way of a Takeover Offer, that Time Finance Shareholders accept or procure acceptance of the Takeover Offer), as they have irrevocably undertaken to do in respect of their own beneficial holdings of, in aggregate, 2,190,838 Time Finance Shares representing approximately 2.36 per cent. of the issued ordinary share capital of Time Finance as at the Latest Practicable Date.
Dickson Minto LLP is acting as legal adviser to Bentley Park.
Simmons & Simmons LLP is acting as legal adviser to Time Finance.
EXPECTED TIMETABLE OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS
| Event | Expected time/date (1) |
| Publication of the Scheme Document | 2 September 2026 |
Latest time for lodging Forms of Proxy or for submitting proxy instructions via the CREST electronic proxy appointment service for the:
| Court Meeting (blue Form of Proxy) | 10.00 a.m. on 29 September 2026 (2) |
| General Meeting (white Form of Proxy) | 10.15 a.m. on 29 September 2026 (3) |
| Voting Record Time | 6.00 p.m. on 29 September 2026 (4) |
| Court Meeting | 10.00 a.m. on 1 October 2026 |
| General Meeting | 10.15 a.m. on 1 October 2026 (5) |
The following dates are indicative only and are subject to change (6)
| Scheme Sanction Hearing | A date expected to be in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to the satisfaction (or, where applicable, waiver) of the relevant Conditions ( D ) (7) |
| Last day of dealings in, and for registration of transfers of, and disablement of CREST for, Time Finance Shares | D + 1 Business Day |
| Scheme Record Time | 6.00 p.m. on D + 1 Business Day |
| Suspension of dealings in Time Finance Shares | 7.30 a.m. on D + 2 Business Days |
| Expected Effective Date of the Scheme (8) | D + 2 Business Days |
| Cancellation of admission of Time Finance Shares to trading on AIM | By 7.00 a.m. on D + 3 Business Days |
| Latest date for dispatch of cheques and crediting of CREST accounts with the cash consideration due under the Scheme | Within 14 days of the Effective Date |
| Long Stop Date | 11.59 p.m. on 28 February 2027 (9) |
Notes
(1) All times set out in this timetable refer to London time unless otherwise stated. The dates and times given are indicative only and are based on the Company's current expectations and may be subject to change. If any of the expected times and/or dates above change, the revised times and/or dates will be notified to Time Finance Shareholders by announcement through a Regulatory Information Service with such announcement being made available on Ultimate Finance's website at https://ultimatefinance.co.uk/investor-relations and the Company's website at https://investors.timefinance.com and, if required by the Panel, the Company will send notice of the change(s) to Time Finance Shareholders and other persons with information rights and, for information only, the warrant holder and to the holders of options under the Time Finance Share Plan.
- It is requested that blue Forms of Proxy for the Court Meeting be lodged no later than 10.00 a.m. on 29 September 2026 or, in the case of an adjourned meeting, 48 hours (excluding any part of a day that is not a Business Day) before the time fixed for the adjourned Court Meeting. Blue Forms of Proxy not so lodged may be completed and handed to the Chair of the Court Meeting or a representative of Neville Registrars at any time before the start of the Court Meeting.
- White Forms of Proxy for the General Meeting must be lodged no later than 10.15 a.m. on 29 September 2026 or, in the case of an adjourned meeting, 48 hours (excluding any part of a day that is not a Business Day) before the time fixed for the adjourned General Meeting.
- If either the Court Meeting or the General Meeting is adjourned, the Voting Record Time for the relevant adjourned meeting will be 6.00 p.m. on the date falling two Business Days before the date of the adjourned meeting.
- Or as soon thereafter as the Court Meeting concludes or is adjourned.
- These dates are indicative only and will depend, among other things, on the date upon which: (i) the Conditions (including the FCA Regulatory Condition) are satisfied or (if capable of waiver) waived; (ii) the Court sanctions the Scheme; and (iii) the Court Order is delivered to the Registrar of Companies.
- The Scheme Sanction Hearing is to be held on a date to be determined following the satisfaction (or, if applicable, waiver) of the Conditions (other than Conditions 2(c)(i) and 2(c)(iii)), as set out in Section 1 of Part 3 of the Scheme Document.
- The Scheme will become Effective pursuant to its terms upon the Court Order being delivered to the Registrar of Companies.
- The latest date by which the Scheme may become Effective (or such later date (if any) as (a) the Company and Bentley Park may agree in writing or (b) set at the direction of the Panel under the Note on Section 3 of Appendix 7 to the Takeover Code, and in each case as the Court may approve (if such approval is required)).
The statements contained in this announcement and the Scheme Document are made as at the date of this announcement or the Scheme Document (as applicable), unless some other time is specified in relation to them, and the release of this announcement shall not give rise to any implication that there has been no change in the facts set out in this announcement since such date. This announcement does not constitute a prospectus or a prospectus equivalent document.
Publication on websites
Requesting hard copy documents
Information relating to Time Finance Shareholders
Please be aware that addresses, electronic addresses and certain other information provided by Time Finance Shareholders, persons with information rights and other relevant persons for the receipt of communications from Time Finance may be provided to Bentley Park during the Offer Period as required under section 4 of Appendix 4 to the Code.
Time
All times referred to in this announcement and the Scheme Document are London times, unless otherwise stated.
Cleaned text: letterheads, contacts and legal notices removed. View the original announcement ↗ · Company filings. Not investment advice.