NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART IN, INTO OR
FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE
RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Benchmark Holdings plc
("Benchmark" or the "Company")

Rule 2.9 Announcement

In accordance with Rule 2.9 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (the
"Code"), the Company confirms that as at the date and time of this announcement,
it had in issue 739,489,843 ordinary shares of £0.001 each in issue and admitted
to trading on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. The International
Securities Identification Number for Benchmark's ordinary shares is
GB00BGHPT808.
Enquiries:

For further information please contact:

Benchmark Holdings Plc		Tel: 0114 240 9939
Ivonne Cantu, Investor Relations		
Evercore (Financial Adviser to Benchmark)		Tel: 020 7653 6000
Simon Elliott, Julian Oakley, Julien Baril, Parul Seth
Rabobank (Financial Adviser to Benchmark)
Reinier Henneman, Anders Rasmussen, Hans Pronk, Benny Vossen		
Tel: +31 30 7122755
Deutsche Numis (Broker and NOMAD to Benchmark)		Tel: 020 7260 1000
Freddie Barnfield, Duncan Monteith, Sher Shah		
Person responsible
The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement on behalf
of Benchmark is Jennifer Haddouk, Company Secretary & Group Legal Counsel. 
Rule 26.1

In accordance with Rule 26.1 of the Code, a copy of this announcement will be
available on the Company's website at https://www.benchmarkplc.com/. The content
of the website referred to in this announcement is not incorporated into and
does not form part of this announcement. 

Important Notice
Evercore Partners International LLP ("Evercore"), which is authorised and
regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") in the UK, is acting
exclusively as financial adviser to Benchmark and no one else in connection with
the matters described in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone
other than Benchmark for providing the protections afforded to clients of
Evercore nor for providing advice in connection with the matters referred to
herein.  Neither Evercore nor any of its subsidiaries, branches or affiliates
owes or accepts any duty, liability or responsibility whatsoever (whether direct
or indirect, whether in contract, in tort, under statute or otherwise) to any
person who is not a client of Evercore in connection with this announcement, any
statement contained herein, any offer or otherwise.  Apart from the
responsibilities and liabilities, if any, which may be imposed on Evercore by
the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, or the regulatory regime
established thereunder, or under the regulatory regime of any jurisdiction where
exclusion of liability under the relevant regulatory regime would be illegal,
void or unenforceable, neither Evercore nor any of its affiliates accepts any
responsibility or liability whatsoever for the contents of this announcement,
and no representation, express or implied, is made by it, or purported to be
made on its behalf, in relation to the contents of this announcement, including
its accuracy, completeness or verification of any other statement made or
purported to be made by it, or on its behalf, in connection with Benchmark or
the matters described in this document.  To the fullest extent permitted by
applicable law, Evercore and its affiliates accordingly disclaim all and any
responsibility or liability whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise (save
as referred to above) which they might otherwise have in respect of this
announcement, or any statement contained herein.

Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., acting through its Corporate Finance Advisory M&A
department, is supervised by the European Central Bank (ECB) and is acting as
exclusive financial adviser to Benchmark and to no other party in relation to
the matters described in this announcement. Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A. is not
responsible or liable to any other person in relation to the matters described
in this announcement and third parties shall have no (direct or indirect) rights
against Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A.

Numis Securities Limited (which is trading for these purposes as Deutsche Numis)
("Deutsche Numis"), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct
Authority in the United Kingdom, is acting as corporate broker and NOMAD
exclusively for Benchmark and for no one else and will not be responsible to
anyone other than Benchmark for providing the protections afforded to its
clients or for providing advice in relation to the matters referred to in this
announcement. Neither Deutsche Numis, nor any of its affiliates, owes or accepts
any duty, liability or responsibility whatsoever (whether direct or indirect,
whether in contract, in tort, under statute or otherwise) to any person who is
not a client of Deutsche Numis in connection with this announcement, any
statement contained herein or otherwise.

Disclosure requirements of the Code

Under Rule 8.3(a) of the Code, any person who is interested in 1% or more of any
class of relevant securities of an offeree company or of any securities exchange
offeror (being any offeror other than an offeror in respect of which it has been
announced that its offer is, or is likely to be, solely in cash) must make an
Opening Position Disclosure following the commencement of the offer period and,
if later, following the announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is
first identified. An Opening Position Disclosure must contain details of the
person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any
relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities
exchange offeror(s). An Opening Position Disclosure by a person to whom Rule
8.3(a) applies must be made by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the 10th
business day following the commencement of the offer period and, if appropriate,
by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the 10th business day following the
announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is first identified.
Relevant persons who deal in the relevant securities of the offeree company or
of a securities exchange offeror prior to the deadline for making an Opening
Position Disclosure must instead make a Dealing Disclosure.

Under Rule 8.3(b) of the Code, any person who is, or becomes, interested in 1%
or more of any class of relevant securities of the offeree company or of any
securities exchange offeror must make a Dealing Disclosure if the person deals
in any relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange
offeror. A Dealing Disclosure must contain details of the dealing concerned and
of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for,
any relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any
securities exchange offeror(s), save to the extent that these details have
previously been disclosed under Rule 8. A Dealing Disclosure by a person to whom
Rule 8.3(b) applies must be made by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the
business day following the date of the relevant dealing.

If two or more persons act together pursuant to an agreement or understanding,
whether formal or informal, to acquire or control an interest in relevant
securities of an offeree company or a securities exchange offeror, they will be
deemed to be a single person for the purpose of Rule 8.3.

Opening Position Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company and by any
offeror and Dealing Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company, by any
offeror and by any persons acting in concert with any of them (see Rules 8.1,
8.2 and 8.4).

Details of the offeree and offeror companies in respect of whose relevant
securities Opening Position Disclosures and Dealing Disclosures must be made can
be found in the Disclosure Table on the Takeover Panel's website at
www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk, including details of the number of relevant
securities in issue, when the offer period commenced and when any offeror was
first identified. You should contact the Panel's Market Surveillance Unit on +44
(0)20 7638 0129 if you are in any doubt as to whether you are required to make
an Opening Position Disclosure or a Dealing Disclosure.