Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies : Holding(s) in Company

TR-1i: NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTERESTS IN SHARESi

1.         Identity of the issuer or the underlying issuer of existing shares to which voting rights are attached:ii

Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies Investment Trust PLC

2.         Reason for the notification(please state Yes/No):

An acquisition or disposal of voting rights: Yes

An acquisition or disposal of qualifying financial instruments which may result in the acquisition of shares already issued to which voting rights are attached: No

An acquisition or disposal of instruments with similar economic effect to qualifying financial instruments: No

An event changing the breakdown of voting rights: No

Other: No

3.         Full name of person(s) subject to the notification obligation:iii

Prudential plc group of companies

4.         Full name of shareholder(s)(if different from 3.):iv

Registered Holder                                                                             Holding

Prudential plc                                                                                        2,046,854

M&G Group Limited                                                                            2,046,854

M&G Investment Management Limited                                             2,039,936

M&G Limited                                                                                        2,046,854

The Prudential Assurance Company Limited                                   2,039,936

5.         Date of the transaction and date on which the threshold is crossed or  reached:v

13 January 2012

6.         Date on which issuer notified:

16 January 2012

7.         Threshold(s) that is/are crossed or reached:vi, vii

See item 13

8.         Notified details:

A: Voting rights attached to shares viii, ix

Situation previous to the Triggering transaction
Class/type of shares if possible using the ISIN CODE	Number of shares	Number of voting rights
GB0000100767	2,109,354	2,109,354

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction (vii)

Class/type of shares if possible using the ISIN CODE	Number of shares	Number of voting rights		% of voting rightsx
		Direct	Indirect xi	Direct	Indirect
GB0006048770	2,046,854	2,046,854		5.85%

B: Qualifying Financial Instruments

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Type of financial instrument	Expiration Date xiii	Exercise/Conversion Period/ Date xiv	Number of voting rights that may be acquired if the instrument is exercised/ converted.	% of voting rights

C: Financial Instruments with similar economic effect to Qualifying Financial Instruments xv, xvi

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Type of financial instrument	Exercise price	Expiration Date xvii	Exercise/Conversion Period xviii	Number of voting rights instrument refers to	% of voting rights xix, xx
					Nominal	Delta

Total (A+B+C)

Number of voting rights 2,046,854

% of voting rights 5.85%

9.         Chain of controlled undertakings through which the voting rights and/or the financial instruments are effectively held, if applicable (xv):

Prudential plc (parent Company)

M&G Group Limited (wholly owned subsidiary of Prudential plc)

M&G Limited (wholly owned subsidiary of M&G Group Limited)

M&G Investment Management Limited (wholly owned subsidiary of M&G Limited)

The Prudential Assurance Company Limited (wholly owned subsidiary of Prudential plc)

Proxy Voting:

10.       Name of the proxy holder:

n/a

11.       Number of voting rights proxy holder will cease to hold:

n/a

12.       Date on which proxy holder will cease to hold voting rights:

n/a

13.       Additional information:

As per DTR 5.1.2, the non-exempt holdings for Prudential Plc have moved from 6% - 5% triggering this notification.

14.       Contact name:

Charles Mearns, Aberdeen Asset Managers Ltd

15.       Contact telephone number:

            0131 528 4132