29th Jul 2005 07:00
Ashtead Group PLC29 July 2005 Ashtead Group plc NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART IN OR INTO THEUNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, FRANCE, JAPAN OR NEW ZEALAND Ashtead Group plc RESULTS OF OPEN OFFER On 7 July 2005, Ashtead announced the conditional placing of 73,350,352 NewOrdinary Shares at an issue price of 95.5p each, of which 54,350,352 NewOrdinary Shares were subject to clawback by way of the Open Offer to existingShareholders on the basis of one New Ordinary Share for every six ExistingOrdinary Shares. Of the 54,350,352 New Ordinary Shares available for take up under the OpenOffer, valid applications had been received by the close of the Open Offer at3.00 p.m. on 28 July 2005 for 39,181,620 New Ordinary Shares. This representsapproximately 72.1% of the New Ordinary Shares offered under the Open Offer. The15,168,732 New Ordinary Shares not being taken up under the Open Offer and the19,000,000 New Ordinary Shares not subject to clawback by Shareholders under theOpen Offer will be taken up in accordance with the terms of the Placing and OpenOffer Agreement. The Placing and the Open Offer remain conditional upon, among other things: (i)the passing of certain Resolutions at the Extraordinary General Meeting; (ii)the concurrent Debt Issue becoming unconditional; and (iii) Admission. It isexpected that Admission will take place, and that dealings in the New OrdinaryShares will commence, on 3 August 2005 (immediately following the completion ofthe Debt Issue). Terms used in this Announcement shall have the same meanings as set out in theProspectus dated 7 July 2005. ENQUIRIES: Ashtead Group plcGeorge Burnett, Chief Executive OfficerIan Robson, Chief Finance Officer +44 (0)1372 362300 JPMorgan Cazenove Limited(Sponsor, financial adviser, joint broker and joint bookrunner)Julian OakleyDermot McKechnie +44 (0)20 7588 2828 Evolution Securities Limited(Joint broker, joint bookrunner and joint underwriter)Steve RobertsStuart Andrew +44 (0)20 7071 4300 The Maitland Consultancy(Public relations adviser)Brian Hudspith +44 (0)20 7379 5151 JPMorgan Cazenove, which is regulated in the United Kingdom by the FinancialServices Authority, is acting as sponsor, financial adviser, joint broker andjoint bookrunner for Ashtead and no one else in connection with the Placing andthe Open Offer and will not be responsible to anyone other than Ashtead forproviding the protections afforded to its customers or for providing advice inrelation to the Placing and the Open Offer. J.P. Morgan Securities (acting through JPMorgan Cazenove) is acting as jointunderwriter of the Placing and the Open Offer. Evolution, which is regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial ServicesAuthority, is acting as joint broker, joint bookrunner and joint underwriter forAshtead and no one else in connection with the Placing and the Open Offer andwill not be responsible to anyone other than Ashtead for providing theprotections afforded to its customers or for providing advice in relation to thePlacing and the Open Offer. This Announcement has been issued by Ashtead and is the sole responsibility ofAshtead. It has not been independently verified by JPMorgan Cazenove, Evolutionor any other person. None of the New Ordinary Shares has been, nor will be, registered in the UnitedStates under the United States Securities Act 1933, as amended (the "SecuritiesAct"), or under the securities laws of Australia, Canada, France, Japan or NewZealand and they may not, subject to certain exceptions, be offered, sold,delivered or transferred, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States,Australia, Canada, France, Japan or New Zealand or any other jurisdiction wherethe extension or availability of the Placing and the Open Offer would breach anyapplicable law (together, the "Excluded Territories") or to, or for the accountor benefit of, any national, citizen or resident of any of the ExcludedTerritories. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absentregistration or an exemption from registration under the Securities Act. Thereis no public offer of the New Ordinary Shares in the United States. This Announcement shall not constitute or form any part of any offer orinvitation to subscribe for, underwrite or otherwise acquire, or anysolicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for, securities including inthe United States. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Ashtead Group