4th Jul 2005 14:00
Allied Domecq PLC04 July 2005 Not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, in or into orfrom Australia, Canada or Japan 4 July 2005 ALLIED DOMECQ COURT MEETING AND EGM Speaking to shareholders at the Court Meeting and Extraordinary General Meetingof Allied Domecq PLC today to approve the Scheme of Arrangement, through whichit is proposed that the recommended Offer by Pernod Ricard ("the Offer") will beeffected, Chairman Sir Gerry Robinson said: "On 21 April 2005 the Board of Allied Domecq announced that it had reached anagreement on the terms of a recommended Offer by Pernod Ricard to acquire theentire share capital of Allied Domecq. It is intended that the Offer beimplemented by way of a Scheme of Arrangement under section 425 of the CompaniesAct. Under the basic terms of the Offer, Allied Domecq shareholders will receive 545pence in cash and 0.0158 of a New Pernod Ricard Share for every Allied DomecqShare. Consolidation has been a focus for speculation and comment in the wines andspirits sector for several years. Over the past five years Allied Domecq hasdelivered high levels of organic growth in a buoyant spirits sector. However,more recently, while the Group has continued to outperform and has deliveredconsistently strong earnings growth, this has been achieved against much moredifficult trading conditions in many markets. In these increasingly challenging market conditions, your Board considers thatthe need for further consolidation in the distilled spirits industry has becomeincreasingly apparent. The recommended Offer from Pernod Ricard provides Allied Domecq Shareholderswith the ability to crystallise the value that has been achieved and thepossibility of continuing to participate in the future success of AlliedDomecq's brands within an enlarged Pernod Ricard business. On 13 May 2005 Allied Domecq announced that it had received an indicativeproposal regarding a potential Offer by a Consortium consisting of ConstellationBrands Inc, Brown-Forman Corporation, Lion Capital and Blackstone Group ("theConsortium"). Your Board continued to work with and to discuss this indicativeproposal with the Consortium to ascertain whether the proposal was capable oftranslating into a firm offer for Allied Domecq. However, on 17 June 2005, theConsortium issued an announcement confirming that after careful considerationfollowing due diligence it had decided not to pursue an offer for AlliedDomecq." A further announcement containing the results of the Court Meeting and theExtraordinary General Meeting will be made in due course. ENDS Enquiries: Media enquiries:Stephen Whitehead, Director of Group Corporate Affairs Tel: +44(0) 20 7009 3927 Mob: +44 (0) 7880 783 532 Cardew GroupAnthony Cardew Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7930 0777 Mob: +44 (0) 7770 720 389 Investor enquiries: Peter Durman, Director of Investor Relations Tel: +44 (0) 117 978 5753 Mob: +44 (0) 7771 974 817 Photography: Original media photography available at www.newscast.co.uk This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of anoffer to subscribe for or buy any security, nor shall there be any sale,issuance or transfer of the securities referred to in this announcement in anyjurisdiction in contravention of applicable law. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Princes (wi)