28th Apr 2005 16:36
Man Financial Limited28 April 2005 Date Of Disclosure: 28/04/05 Fax to 020 7256 9386 (Take Over Panel) and 020 7588 6057 (RNS) FORM 8.1/8.3 Lodge with a RIS or Newstrack and the Takeover Panel. Use separate form for each class of securities in which dealings have been made. DISCLOSURE UNDER RULES 8.1(a), 8.1(b)(i) AND 8.3 OF THE CITY CODE ON TAKEOVERS AND MERGERS Date of dealing 27/04/05 (1) Name of Company Dealing in Easyscreen Class of securities ORDINARY SHARES (2) Amount Bought Amount Sold Price (GBP) 1300000 0.1544 690000 0.1575 200000 0.1525 In addition, Man Financial Ltd have entered into CFD and Spread Betting arrangements with its clients which are detailed below. (3) Resultant total of the same class owned or controlled and percentage of class 10,813,500 11.33% (4) Party making disclosure MAN FINANCIAL LIMITED (5) Name of purchaser/vendor (Note1) MAN FINANCIAL LIMITED (6) Reason for disclosure (Note 2) (a) Associate of (i) offeror (Note 3) - NO (b) (i) offeree Company - NO Specify which category or categories of associate (1-8 overleaf) If category (8), explain Rule 8.3 (i.e. disclosure because of ownership or control of 1% or more of the class of relevant securities dealt in) - YES Signed, for and on behalf of the party named in (4) above Stewart Horner Telephone and extension number 020-7144-4201 Note1. Specify owner, not nominee or vehicle company. If relevant, alsoidentify controller of owner, e.g. where an owner normally acts oninstructions of a controller. Note 2. Disclosure might be made for more than one reason; if so, state allreasons. Note 3. Specify which offeror if there is more than one. Note 4. When an arrangement exists with any offeror, with the offeree companyor with an associate of any offeror or of the offeree company in relation torelevant securities, details of such arrangement must be disclosed, as requiredby Note 6 on Rule 8. Note 5. It may be necessary, particularly when disclosing derivativetransactions, to append a sheet to this disclosure form so that all relevantinformation can be given. Note 6. In the case of an average price bargain, each underlying trade shouldbe disclosed For full details of disclosure requirements, see Rule 8 of theCode. If in doubt, contact the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, MonitoringSection, Tel. No: 020 7638 0129. E-mail:[email protected] NOTES REGARDING DISCLOSURE Man Financial Ltd ("MAN") is the beneficial owner of 10,813,500 OrdinaryShares in the above company which are held to hedge CFD & Spread Bettingpositions (see below) established between MAN and its clients. A Contract forDifference or CFD is an agreement between two parties to exchange, at the closeof the contract, the difference between the opening price and the closingprice, multiplied by the number of reference shares specified within the contract. The 'reference shares' are the underlying shares specified in theCFD. The economic performance of the CFD is determined by the performance ofthe underlying reference shares. Although CFDs replicate the price movement ofthe underlying reference shares, they convey no right or requirement to acquireor deliver the physical shares. The contract value of a CFD is defined as the number of reference sharesspecified in the contract, multiplied by the price of the underlying referenceshare. If a client of Man takes a long position, the client will make a profitif the contract value increases. Conversely, if a client of Man takes a short position, the client will benefitif the contract value falls. The CFD contracts detailed below are open-ended and without predeterminedexpiry/close value A Spread Bet is a product whereby the client to whom theproduct is sold can realise a gain or a loss depending on whether the price ofthe underlying security increases above or falls below the reference price. Aclient's Spread bet position is described the client's "stake". A "stake" isexpressed in pounds (sterling) per "point" and a "point" is the price in penceof the underlying shares. A client with a "stake" of £100 per point will makea gain of £100 for every penny increase in the underlying shares and theclient has an exposure equivalent to 10,000 shares. DEFINITION OF ASSOCIATE It is not practicable to define associate in terms which would cover all thedifferent relationships which may exist in an offer. The term associate isintended to cover all persons (whether or not acting in concert) who directly orindirectly own or deal in the shares of an offeror or the offeree company inan offer and who have (in addition to their normal interests as shareholders)an interest or potential interest, whether commercial, financial or personal,in the outcome of the offer Without prejudice to the generality of theforegoing, the term associate will normally include the following:- (1) an offeror's or the offeree company's parent, subsidiaries and fellowsubsidiaries, and their associated companies, and companies of which suchcompanies are associated companies (for this purpose ownership or control of 20% or more of the equity share capital of a company is regarded as the test ofassociated company status); (2) banks and financial and other professional advisers (includingstockbrokers)* to an offeror, the offeree company or any company covered in(1), including persons controlling#, controlled by or under the same control assuch banks, financial and other professional advisers; (3) the directors (together with their close relatives & related trusts) of anofferor, the offeree company or any company covered in (1); (4) the pension funds of an offeror, the offeree company or any companycovered in (1); (5) any investment company, unit trust or other person whose investments anassociate manages on a discretionary basis, in respect of the relevantinvestment accounts; (6) a person who owns or controls 5% or more of any class of relevantsecurities (as defined in paragraphs (a) to (d) in Note 2 on Rule 8) issued byan offeror or an offeree company, including a person who as a result of anytransaction owns or controls 5% or more. When two or more persons act pursuantto an agreement or understanding (formal or informal) to acquire or controlsuch securities, they will be deemed to be a single person for the purpose ofthis paragraph. Such securities managed on a discretionary basis by aninvestment management group will, unless otherwise agreed by the Panel, also bedeemed to be those of a single person (see Note 8 on Rule 8); and (7) a company having a material trading arrangement with an offeror or theofferee company. Paragraphs (1)-(7) are typical cases. Paragraph (8) below is acategory to cover associate status not within (1)-(7). (8) Other. CFDs CLOSED OUT PRODUCT NAME POS. OPEN OPEN DATE CLOSE Easyscreen SHORT CFD 25000 0.1975 12/10/04 0.1575 Easyscreen SHORT CFD 31500 0.2200 10/08/04 0.1525 Easyscreen SHORT CFD 100000 0.1825 22/11/04 0.1575 Easyscreen SHORT CFD 168500 0.2200 10/08/04 0.1525 Easyscreen SHORT CFD 200000 0.2900 09/07/04 0.1544 Easyscreen SHORT CFD 250000 0.1650 02/08/04 0.1544 Easyscreen SHORT CFD 250000 0.2075 28/07/04 0.1544 Easyscreen SHORT CFD 265000 0.1925 28/09/04 0.1575 Easyscreen SHORT CFD 300000 0.1825 13/12/04 0.1575 Easyscreen SHORT CFD 600000 0.2200 10/08/04 0.1544 CFD OPEN INTEREST PRODUCT NAME EXECUTED MAN FIN LTD Ref Shares PRICE (GBP) Easyscreen LONG CFD 25/04/05 SALE 150,000 0.1550 Easyscreen LONG CFD 22/04/05 SALE 100,000 0.1575 Easyscreen LONG CFD 11/04/05 SALE 200,000 0.1525 Easyscreen LONG CFD 23/03/05 SALE 250,000 0.1575 Easyscreen LONG CFD 07/02/05 SALE 205,000 0.1525 Easyscreen LONG CFD 07/02/05 SALE 100,000 0.1525 Easyscreen LONG CFD 02/02/05 SALE 25,000 0.1500 Easyscreen LONG CFD 25/01/05 SALE 75,000 0.1475 Easyscreen LONG CFD 30/12/04 SALE 25,000 0.1500 Easyscreen LONG CFD 13/12/04 SALE 200,000 0.1825 Easyscreen LONG CFD 02/12/04 SALE 875,000 0.1825 Easyscreen LONG CFD 25/11/04 SALE 350,000 0.1900 Easyscreen LONG CFD 23/11/04 SALE 200,000 0.1900 Easyscreen LONG CFD 12/11/04 SALE 250,000 0.1900 Easyscreen LONG CFD 11/11/04 SALE 125,000 0.1900 Easyscreen LONG CFD 08/11/04 SALE 250,000 0.1850 Easyscreen LONG CFD 05/11/04 SALE 1,925,000 0.1850 Easyscreen LONG CFD 05/11/04 SALE 50,000 0.1800 Easyscreen LONG CFD 03/11/04 SALE 200,000 0.1800 Easyscreen LONG CFD 03/11/04 SALE 100,000 0.1800 Easyscreen LONG CFD 02/11/04 SALE 650,000 0.1800 Easyscreen LONG CFD 01/11/04 SALE 175,000 0.1900 Easyscreen LONG CFD 20/10/04 SALE 50,000 0.1950 Easyscreen LONG CFD 19/10/04 SALE 100,000 0.1950 Easyscreen LONG CFD 07/10/04 SALE 100,000 0.1800 Easyscreen LONG CFD 05/10/04 SALE 250,000 0.1850 Easyscreen LONG CFD 15/09/04 SALE 450,000 0.2100 Easyscreen LONG CFD 17/08/04 SALE 1,250,000 0.2300 Easyscreen LONG CFD 12/08/04 SALE 250,000 0.2250 Easyscreen LONG CFD 10/08/04 SALE 718,500 0.2200 Easyscreen LONG CFD 13/07/04 SALE 200,000 0.2875 Easyscreen LONG CFD 04/03/04 SALE 750,000 0.3400 Easyscreen LONG CFD 11/02/04 SALE 40,000 0.3438 Easyscreen LONG CFD 04/02/04 SALE 150,000 0.2950 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
EAS.L