26th Apr 2021 11:00
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION (IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY) IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
26 April 2021
RECOMMENDED CASH ACQUISITION
of
Signature Aviation plc
by
brown Bidco Limited(a newly formed company to be indirectly owned by joint offerors (i) Blackstone Infrastructure and Blackstone Core Equity, (ii) Global Infrastructure Partners and (iii) Cascade)to be effected by means of a Scheme of Arrangement underPart 26 of the Companies Act 2006
UPDATE ON OFFER-RELATED AGREEMENT
On 5 February 2021, the boards of directors of Brown Bidco Limited ("Bidco") and Signature Aviation plc ("Signature") announced that they had reached agreement on the terms and conditions of a recommended cash acquisition by Bidco of the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Signature other than Signature Shares owned or controlled by Cascade and BMGFT (the "Acquisition") to be effected by means of a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006 (the "Scheme"). Capitalised terms in this announcement, unless otherwise defined, have the same meanings given to them in the scheme circular published on 22 February 2021 (the "Scheme Document").
Bidco announces that the Consortium, Signature and Signature Aviation Pension Trustees Limited (the "Trustee"), as sole trustee of the BBA Income and Protection Plan (the "Plan"), of which Signature is the principal employer, have entered into a memorandum of understanding (the "Memorandum of Understanding") as to the appropriate future funding of the Plan from the Effective Date.
A copy of the Memorandum of Understanding is available on Signature's website at https://www.signatureaviation.com/investors/possible-offers-for-signature-aviation and on Bidco's website at https://posting-of-documents.co.uk/.
Enquiries:
Blackstone | ||
Stephen Lewis | +44 (0) 77 8005-7345 | |
Paula Chirhart | +1 347 463 5453 | |
Global Infrastructure Partners | +44 (0) 20 7798 0400 | |
Michael McGhee | ||
Philip Iley | ||
CascadeCharles V. Zehren, Rubenstein, PR advisor to Cascade | +1 212 843 8590 | |
Gleacher Shacklock (Financial Adviser to Bidco) Dominic Lee Martin Falkner Lewis Robinson | +44 (0) 207 484 1150 | |
RBC Capital Markets (Financial Adviser to Bidco) Mark Preston Sam Jackson |
| |
UBS (Financial Adviser to Bidco) | +44 (0) 20 7567 8000 | |
Philippe Chryssicopoulos | ||
Ian Hart | ||
James Donovan |
Important notices
Gleacher Shacklock LLP ("Gleacher Shacklock"), which is authorised and regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom, is acting exclusively as financial adviser to Bidco and no one else in connection with the matters set out in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Bidco for providing the protections afforded to clients of Gleacher Shacklock or for providing advice in connection with the subject matter of this announcement or any other matter referred to herein.
RBC Europe Limited (trading as "RBC Capital Markets"), which is authorised by the PRA and regulated by the FCA and the PRA in the United Kingdom, is acting exclusively for Bidco and for no one else in connection with the subject matter of this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Bidco for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in connection with the subject matter of this announcement.
UBS AG London Branch is authorised and regulated by the Financial Market Supervisory Authority in Switzerland. It is authorised by the PRA and subject to regulation by the FCA and limited regulation by the PRA in the United Kingdom. UBS AG London Branch and UBS Securities LLC (collectively "UBS") are acting exclusively for GIP and Bidco and no one else in connection with the matters set out in this announcement. In connection with such matters, UBS, its affiliates, and its or their respective directors, officers, employees and agents will not regard any other person as its client, nor will it be responsible to any other person for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in relation to the contents of this announcement or any other matter referred to herein.
Further information
This Announcement is for information purposes only and is not intended to, and does not, constitute or form part of any offer, invitation or solicitation of an offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, sell or otherwise dispose of, any securities, or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction, pursuant to the Acquisition or otherwise nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of securities of Signature in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law. The Acquisition will be made solely pursuant to the terms of the Scheme Document (or, if the Acquisition is implemented by way of a Takeover Offer, the offer document), which contains the full terms and conditions of the Acquisition, including details of how to vote in respect of the Acquisition. Any decision in respect of the Scheme (or, if applicable, the Takeover Offer), or other response in relation to, the Acquisition should be made only on the basis of the information contained in the Scheme Document (or, if the Acquisition is implemented by way of a Takeover Offer, the offer document). Each Signature Shareholder is strongly advised to consult his independent professional adviser immediately regarding the tax consequences of the Acquisition applicable to him.
This Announcement does not constitute a prospectus or prospectus equivalent document.
Dealing and Opening Position Disclosure Requirements of the City Code
Under Rule 8.3(a) of the Code, any person who is interested in 1% or more of any class of relevant securities of an Offeree company or of any securities exchange Offeror (being any Offeror other than an Offeror in respect of which it has been announced that its offer is, or is likely to be, solely in cash) must make an Opening Position Disclosure following the commencement of the offer period and, if later, following the Announcement in which any securities exchange Offeror is first identified. An Opening Position Disclosure must contain details of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the Offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange Offeror(s). An Opening Position Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(a) of the Code applies must be made by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the 10th business day following the commencement of the offer period and, if appropriate, by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the 10th business day following the Announcement in which any securities exchange Offeror is first identified. Relevant persons who deal in the relevant securities of the Offeree company or of a securities exchange Offeror prior to the deadline for making an Opening Position Disclosure must instead make a Dealing Disclosure.
Under Rule 8.3(b) of the Code, any person who is, or becomes, interested in 1% or more of any class of relevant securities of the Offeree company or of any securities exchange Offeror must make a Dealing Disclosure if the person deals in any relevant securities of the Offeree company or of any securities exchange Offeror. A Dealing Disclosure must contain details of the dealing concerned and of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the Offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange Offeror(s), save to the extent that these details have previously been disclosed under Rule 8 of the Code. A Dealing Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(b) applies must be made by no later than 3.30 pm on the business day following the date of the relevant dealing.
If two or more persons act together pursuant to an agreement or understanding, whether formal or informal, to acquire or control an interest in relevant securities of an Offeree company or a securities exchange Offeror, they will be deemed to be a single person for the purpose of Rule 8.3 of the Code.
Opening Position Disclosures must also be made by the Offeree company and by any Offeror and Dealing Disclosures must also be made by the Offeree company, by any Offeror and by any persons acting in concert with any of them (see Rules 8.1, 8.2 and 8.4 of the Code).
Details of the Offeree and Offeror companies in respect of whose relevant securities Opening Position Disclosures and Dealing Disclosures must be made can be found in the Disclosure Table on the Takeover Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk, including details of the number of relevant securities in issue, when the offer period commenced and when any Offeror was first identified. You should contact the Panel's Market Surveillance Unit on +44 (0)20 7638 0129 if you are in any doubt as to whether you are required to make an Opening Position Disclosure or a Dealing Disclosure.
Publication on website
This Announcement will be made available, subject to any applicable restrictions relating to persons resident in Restricted Jurisdictions, on Signature's website at https://www.signatureaviation.com/investors/possible-offers-for-signature-aviation and on Bidco's website at https://posting-of-documents.co.uk/ by no later than 12:00 p.m. on the Business Day following date of publication of this Announcement. For the avoidance of doubt, save as expressly referred to in this Announcement, the contents of those websites are not incorporated into and do not form part of this Announcement.
Related Shares:
SIG.L