8th Mar 2006 07:04
Pendragon PLC08 March 2006 Not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or part, in, into or from the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 8 March 2006 MANDATORY UNCONDITIONAL RECOMMENDED INCREASED CASH OFFER (THE "MANDATORY OFFER") by CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS LIMITED on behalf of PENDRAGON PLC ("PENDRAGON") for REG VARDY PLC ("REG VARDY") Level of Acceptances and Compulsory acquisition of Reg Vardy Shares 1. Detailed level of acceptances As at 1.00 p.m. (London time) on 7 March 2006, valid acceptances of theMandatory Offer had been received in respect of a total of 18,039,442 Reg VardyShares, representing approximately 32.1 per cent. of Reg Vardy's issued sharecapital. None of these acceptances were received from persons acting in concertwith Pendragon. As at 1.00 p.m. (London time) on 7 March 2006, Pendragon owned, in aggregate,36,008,595 Reg Vardy Shares, representing approximately 64.0 per cent. of RegVardy's total issued share capital. Accordingly, as at 1.00 p.m. (London time) on 7 March 2006, Pendragon eitherowned or had received valid acceptances of the Mandatory Offer in respect of atotal of 54,048,037 Reg Vardy Shares, representing approximately 96.1 per cent.of Reg Vardy's total issued share capital. 2. Compulsory Acquisition of Reg Vardy Shares Pendragon has now acquired or contracted to acquire not less than 90 per cent.of the Reg Vardy Shares to which the Mandatory Offer relates and consequentlyannounces its intention to apply the provisions of sections 428-430F of theCompanies Act 1985 (as amended) (the "Act") to compulsorily acquire theremaining Reg Vardy Shares, as detailed in the offer document sent to Reg VardyShareholders in connection with the Mandatory Offer on 14 February 2006 (the "Revised Offer Document"). Pendragon expects to despatch notices under section 429(4) of the Act tonon-assenting Reg Vardy Shareholders today. Reg Vardy Shareholders should be aware that they may still accept the MandatoryOffer rather than wait for their Reg Vardy Shares to be compulsorily acquired byPendragon. The Mandatory Offer will remain open for acceptance until 19 April2006, whereupon it will close. Terms defined in the Revised Offer Document have the same meaning in thisannouncement save where the context requires otherwise. ENQUIRIES Pendragon PLC Tel: 01623 725 114Trevor Finn, Chief ExecutiveDavid Forsyth, Finance Director Citigroup Global Markets Limited Tel: 020 7986 4000Philip Robert-TissotSam SmallChris Zeal (Corporate Broking) Finsbury Group Tel: 020 7251 3801Rupert YoungerGordon Simpson This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
PDG.L