18th Aug 2005 07:58
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC18 August 2005 THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE,PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA ORTHE UNITED STATES FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Statement by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc ("RBS") regarding the placingof ordinary shares in Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.A. ("Santander") by RBS RBS announces that Merrill Lynch International has been instructed to place, onits behalf, up to 135,142,302 shares of €0.50 each in Santander withinstitutional investors. The shares being placed represent up to approximately2.2 per cent. of the issued share capital of Santander, and after the placingRBS will no longer have a holding in Santander. A further announcement will bemade in due course on completion of the placing. Enquiries: RBS: Richard O'Connor +44 (0)20 7672 1758 Merrill Lynch: Oliver Greaves +44 (0)20 7996 1200 The information herein is restricted and not for publication or release in orinto Australia, Canada or Japan, South Africa or the United States This announcement is for information only and does not constitute an offer orinvitation to acquire or dispose of any securities, in the United States or inany other jurisdiction. The securities referred to herein have not been and willnot be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the"Securities Act") and may not be offered or sold in the United States absentregistration under the Securities Act or an applicable exemption fromregistration. No public offering of the securities will be made in the UnitedStates, the United Kingdom or elsewhere. Merrill Lynch International is acting for RBS in connection with the placing andno one else and will not be responsible to anyone other than the RBS forproviding the protections offered to its clients nor for providing advice inrelation to the above transaction. No representation or warranty, express orimplied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility orliability is or will be accepted by Merrill Lynch International or by any of itsaffiliates or agents as to or in relation to the accuracy or completeness ofthis release, or any other written or oral information made available to orpublicly available to any interested party or its advisers and any liabilitytherefor is hereby expressly disclaimed. Any investment decision to buy securities in the placing must be made solely onthe basis of publicly available information, which has not been independentlyverified by the RBS or Merrill Lynch International. The distribution of this announcement and the offering or sale of the securitiesin certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. No action has been taken bythe RBS or Merrill Lynch International or any of their respective affiliatesthat would permit an offering of the securities or possession or distribution ofthis announcement or any other offering or publicity material relating to suchsecurities in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required.Persons into whose possession this announcement comes are required by the RBSand Merrill Lynch International to inform themselves about and to observe anysuch restrictions. Merrill Lynch International is authorised and regulated by the UK FinancialServices Authority. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
RBS.LBanco Santander