3rd Oct 2006 11:45
Great Portland Estates PLC03 October 2006 3 October 2006 Great Portland Estates plc ("GPE") The Board of GPE confirms that it is engaged in preliminary discussions withLondon Merchant Securities plc ("London Merchant Securities") concerning apotential merger. GPE anticipates that any merger transaction would involve ashare for share offer by GPE for London Merchant Securities. There can howeverbe no certainty that any transaction will be forthcoming. A further announcement will be made when appropriate. In accordance with Rule 2.10 of the Takeover Code (the "Code"), GPE announcesthat its issued share capital consists of 163,432,872 ordinary shares of 12.5peach. It also has £54,530,000 outstanding of 5.25% convertible bonds 2008. The International Securities Identification Number for GPE ordinary shares isGB00B01FLL16 and for GPE 5.25% convertible bonds 2008 is GB0002479938 (forregistered bonds) and XS0084560209 (for bearer bonds). Enquiries Great Portland Estates plc Tel: +44 (0)20 7647 3000Toby CourtauldTimon Drakesmith Lazard (Financial Adviser to GPE) Tel: +44 (0)20 7187 2000William RuckerPatrick Long Credit Suisse (Corporate Broker to GPE) Tel: +44 (0)20 7888 8888James Leigh-PembertonNick Bowers Finsbury Tel: +44 (0)20 7251 3801James MurgatroydGordon Simpson Dealing Disclosure Requirements Under the provisions of Rule 8.3 of the Code, if any person is, or becomes,"interested" (directly or indirectly) in 1% or more of any class of "relevantsecurities" of GPE or of London Merchant Securities, all "dealings" in any"relevant securities" of that company (including by means of an option inrespect of, or a derivative referenced to, any such "relevant securities") mustbe publicly disclosed by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the Londonbusiness day following the date of the relevant transaction. This requirementwill continue until the date on which the offer becomes, or is declared,unconditional as to acceptances, lapses or is otherwise withdrawn or on whichthe "offer period" otherwise ends. If two or more persons act together pursuantto an agreement or understanding, whether formal or informal, to acquire an"interest" in "relevant securities" of GPE or London Merchant Securities, theywill be deemed to be a single person for the purpose of Rule 8.3. Under the provisions of Rule 8.1 of the Code, all "dealings" in "relevantsecurities" of GPE or of London Merchant Securities by GPE or London MerchantSecurities, or by any of their respective "associates", must be disclosed by nolater than 12.00 noon (London time) on the London business day following thedate of the relevant transaction. A disclosure table, giving details of thecompanies in whose "relevant securities" "dealings" should be disclosed, and thenumber of such securities in issue, can be found on the Takeover Panel's websiteat http://www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk/new/. "Interests in securities" arise, in summary, when a person has long economicexposure, whether conditional or absolute, to changes in the price ofsecurities. In particular, a person will be treated as having an "interest" byvirtue of the ownership or control of securities, or by virtue of any option inrespect of, or derivative referenced to, securities. Terms in quotation marks are defined in the Code, which can also be found on thePanel's website. If you are in any doubt as to whether or not you are requiredto disclose a "dealing" under Rule 8, you should consult the Panel. Lazard & Co., Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the FinancialServices Authority in the United Kingdom, is acting for GPE and no one else inrelation to the matters referred to in this announcement and will not beresponsible to anyone other than GPE for providing the protections afforded toclients of Lazard & Co., Limited nor for providing advice in relation to thematters referred to in this announcement. Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited, which is authorised and regulated bythe Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom, is acting as corporatebroker to GPE and no one else in connection with this announcement and will notbe responsible to anyone other than GPE for providing the protections affordedto clients of Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited nor for providing advicein relation to this announcement. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
GPOR.L