10th Apr 2006 09:50
Laird Group PLC10 April 2006 LAIRD SECURES 98 PER CENT ACCEPTANCE OF RIGHTS ISSUE The Laird Group Public Limited Company (the "Company") today announces that ithas received valid acceptances in respect of 36,875,208 New Ordinary Shares,representing 98.07% of the total number of New Ordinary Shares offered toShareholders pursuant to the 4 for 17 fully underwritten Rights Issue announcedby the Company on 16 March 2006 (the "Rights Issue"). A total of 37,602,512 New Ordinary Shares were offered to Shareholders in theRights Issue, which closed at 11.00 a.m. on 7 April 2006. The remaining 727,304 New Ordinary Shares, for which valid acceptances were notreceived, have been placed by JP Morgan Cazenove with institutions at a price of464.5 pence per share. The net proceeds from the sale of these shares, after the deduction of the IssuePrice of 325 pence per New Ordinary Share and relevant costs, will be paid toshareholders who have not taken up their entitlements, pro rata to their lapsedprovisional allotments. Net proceeds of less than £5 per holding will not be sopaid but will be aggregated and retained for the benefit of the Company. Definitions used in the Prospectus dated 16 March 2006 shall have the samemeanings when used in this announcement, unless the context requires otherwise. For enquiries: The Laird Group PLC The Maitland Consultancy Peter Hill, Chief Executive Brian Hudspith Jonathan Silver, Finance Director Charlotte Barker Tel: 020 7468 4040 Tel: 020 7379 5151 JP Morgan Cazenove NM Rothschild & Sons Julian Cazalet Tim Hancock Robert Constant Anselm Frost Tel: 020 7588 2828 Tel: 020 7280 5000 JPMorgan Cazenove Limited, which is regulated in the United Kingdom by theFinancial Services Authority, is acting exclusively for Laird and for no oneelse in relation to the Rights Issue and will not be responsible to anyone otherthan Laird for providing the protections afforded to customers of JPMorganCazenove or for providing in relation to the Rights Issue or the contents ofthis announcement or any other matters referred to in this announcement. J.P. Morgan Securities Ltd., which is regulated in the United Kingdom by theFinancial Services Authority, is acting exclusively for Laird and for no oneelse in relation to the Rights Issue and will not be responsible to anyone otherthan Laird for providing the protections afforded to customers of J.P. MorganSecurities Ltd. or for providing advice in relation to the Rights Issue or thecontents of this announcement or any other matters referred to in thisannouncement. N M Rothschild & Sons Limited, which is regulated in the United Kingdom by theFinancial Services Authority, is acting exclusively for Laird and for no oneelse in relation to the Rights Issue and will not be responsible to anyone otherthan Laird for providing the protections afforded to customers of N M Rothschild& Sons Limited or for providing advice in relation to the Rights Issue or thecontents of this announcement or any other matters referred to in thisannouncement. The release, publication or distribution of this announcement in certainjurisdictions may be restricted by law and therefore persons in suchjurisdictions into which this announcement is released, published or distributedshould inform themselves about and observe such restrictions. This announcement does not constitute, or form part of an offer to sell, or thesolicitation of an offer to subscribe for or buy any of the New Ordinary Sharesto be issued or sold in connection with the Rights Issue. Any decision to investin the New Ordinary Shares will be made solely on the basis of information inthe prospectus published on 16 March 2006. This announcement is not for distribution or transmission, directly orindirectly, in or into the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan or theRepublic of South Africa and does not constitute, or form part of, an offer tosell or the solicitation of an offer to subscribe for or buy any securities inthe Company ("Securities"), nor the solicitation of any vote or approval in anyjurisdiction, nor shall there be any sale, issue or transfer of the Securitiesreferred to in this announcement in any jurisdiction in contravention ofapplicable law. The Securities have not been and will not be registered under the United StatesSecurities Act 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and may not be offered orsold in the United States unless registered under the Securities Act or anexemption from such registration is available. No public offering of Securitiesof Laird is being made in the United States. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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