2nd Aug 2005 07:00
Numis Corporation PLC02 August 2005 EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE - TUESDAY 2 AUGUST 2005 at 7.00AM Numis Corporation Plc ("Numis" or the "Company") Disposal of interest in Squaregain Limited (formerly called comdirect Limited) On 12 May 2005 the Company announced that it had entered into a contingentagreement to sell its 26.3% interest in Squaregain Limited and that it had,together with other shareholders in Execution Services Group Limited ("ESGL"),the holding company of Squaregain Limited, entered into an arrangement of putand call options in respect of their interest in ESGL with Boursorama SA ("Boursorama"), France's largest online retail broker. Numis announces thatyesterday, on 1 August 2005, it disposed of its entire interest in ESGL toBoursorama. Boursorama SA have exercised their option to purchase the entire issued sharecapital of ESGL for £51 million, and the exercise of this option has receivedthe requisite approvals from the FSA. Numis will receive approximately £13.7 million in cash, in respect of itsholding in ESGL with a current book value of £4.5m, thereby realising anestimated exceptional pretax profit after costs of £8.6 million. All proceedsfrom the disposal will be used in the development of Numis' core business. Numis and Squaregain Limited will continue their mutually profitable tradingrelationship, with Numis continuing to provide its Retail Service Provider (RSP)facilities to Squaregain Limited. 2 August 2005 END Contacts: Numis Corporation PlcOliver Hemsley, Chief Executive 020 7776 1500Bill Trent, Chief Financial Officer BrunswickGill Ackers 020 7396 5382Rachel Quigley 020 7396 3507 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
NUM.L