Publication of Prospectus

PUBLICATION OF PROSPECTUS

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO, THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN.

This announcement is an advertisement and not a prospectus and investors should not purchase or subscribe for any ordinary shares referred to in this announcement except on the basis of information in the prospectus published by the Company in connection with the admission of its ordinary shares to the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange Plc ("Admission").

20 March 2013

Countrywide plc

Documents available for inspection: Prospectus

The prospectus of Countrywide plc (the "Company" or "Countrywide" and together with other members of its group, the "Group") dated 20 March 2013 (the "Prospectus") relating to its initial public offering (the "Offer") has been published and submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM. 

In addition, the Prospectus will shortly be available to view on the website of Countrywide plc, www.countrywide.co.uk/ipo.

The Prospectus relates to the admission of the Company's ordinary shares (the "Shares") to the premium listing segment of the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange Plc.

For further information, please contact

Important notice

Neither this announcement nor any copy of it may be taken or transmitted, directly or indirectly, into the United States, Australia, Canada or Japan or to any persons in any of those jurisdictions or any other jurisdictions where to do so would constitute a violation of the relevant securities laws of such jurisdiction. 

This announcement does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation to sell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for any shares or other securities nor shall it (or any part of it) or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract therefore. The Offer and the distribution of this announcement and other information in connection with the listing and Offer in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law and persons into whose possession this announcement, any document or other information referred to herein comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restriction. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any jurisdiction. In particular, these materials are not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities proposed to be offered by the Group have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 (as amended) (the "Securities Act") or under any securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. There will be no public offering of securities in the United States.

Any purchase or subscription of Shares in the proposed Offer or other securities should be made solely on the basis of the information contained in the Prospectus. No reliance may or should be placed by any person for any purpose whatsoever on the information contained in this announcement or on its completeness, accuracy or fairness. The information in this announcement is subject to change. However, Countrywide does not undertake to provide the recipient of this announcement with any additional information, or to update this announcement or to correct any inaccuracies, and the distribution of this announcement shall not be deemed to be any form of commitment on the part of Countrywide to proceed with the Offer or any transaction or arrangement referred to herein. This announcement has not been approved by any competent regulatory authority.

This announcement does not constitute a recommendation concerning the Offer. The price and value of securities can go down as well as up. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. Information in this announcement or any of the documents relating to the Offer cannot be relied upon as a guide to future performance. Potential investors should consult a professional advisor as to the suitability of the Offer for the person concerned.

Goldman Sachs International, Jefferies International Limited and Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited (the "Banks"), each of which is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Services Authority (or any successor bodies), are acting exclusively for the Group and no one else in connection with the Offer and will not regard any other person as its client in relation to the Offer and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Group for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients or for giving advice in relation to the Offer or the contents of this announcement or any transaction, arrangement or other matter referred to herein.

In connection with the Offer, the Banks or any of their respective affiliates, acting as investors for their own accounts, may subscribe for or purchase Shares and in that capacity may retain, purchase, sell, offer to sell or otherwise deal for their own accounts in such Shares and other securities of Countrywide or related investments in connection with the Offer or otherwise. Accordingly, references in the Prospectus, once published, to the Shares being issued, offered, subscribed, acquired, placed or otherwise dealt in should be read as including any issue or offer to, or subscription, acquisition, placing or dealing by, the Banks or any of their respective affiliates acting as investors for their own accounts. The Banks or any of their respective affiliates do not intend to disclose the extent of any such investment or transactions otherwise than in accordance with any legal or regulatory obligations to do so.

None of the Banks, nor any of their respective subsidiary undertakings, affiliates or any of their respective directors, officers, employees, advisers, agents or any other person accepts any responsibility or liability whatsoever for, or makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the truth, accuracy, completeness or fairness of the information or opinions in this announcement (or whether any information has been omitted from the announcement) or any other information relating to Countrywide, its subsidiaries or associated companies, whether written, oral or in a visual or electronic form, and howsoever transmitted or made available or for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this announcement or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith.

In connection with the Offer, Goldman Sachs International (the "Stabilising Manager"), or any of its agents, may (but will be under no obligation to), to the extent permitted by applicable law, over-allot Shares or effect other transactions with a view to supporting the market price of the Shares at a higher level than that which might otherwise prevail in the open market. The Stabilising Manager may, for stabilisation purposes or otherwise, over-allot Shares up to a maximum additional 10 per cent of the total number of Shares comprised in the Offer. The Stabilising Manager will not be required to enter into such transactions and such transactions may be effected on any stock, market, over-the-counter market, stock exchange or otherwise and may be undertaken at any time during the period commencing on the date of the commencement of conditional dealings of the Shares on the London Stock Exchange and ending no later than 30 calendar days thereafter. However, there will be no obligation on the Stabilising Manager or any of its agents to effect stabilising transactions and there is no assurance that stabilising transactions will be undertaken. Such stabilising measures, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time without prior notice. In no event will measures be taken to stabilise the market price of the Shares above the offer price. Save as required by law or regulation, neither the Stabilising Manager nor any of its agents intends to disclose the extent of any over-allotments made and/or stabilisation transactions conducted in relation to the Offer.