TIDMANTP
RNS Number : 3811V
ANT plc
11 January 2013
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 or
regulations of such jurisdiction.
11 January 2013
Recommended cash acquisition of
ANT plc ("ANT")
by
Espial (UK) Limited ("Espial UK"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Espial Group Inc. ("Espial")
Result of Court Meeting and General Meeting
ANT announces that at the Court Meeting and the General Meeting
held earlier today, all resolutions were duly passed by the
requisite majorities in respect of the proposed acquisition of the
entire issued and to be issued share capital of ANT by Espial,
which is being effected by means of a Court-sanctioned scheme of
arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006 (the
"Proposal"). A circular containing, amongst other things, the
required explanatory statement was posted to ANT shareholders on 17
December 2012 (the "Scheme Document").
Court Meeting
At the Court Meeting, a majority in number of Scheme
Shareholders who voted (either in person or by proxy), representing
99.99 per cent. by value of those Scheme Shares voted, voted in
favour of the resolution to approve the Scheme. The resolution
proposed at the Court Meeting was decided on a poll. Details of the
votes cast are as follows:
Number Percentage Number Percentage Number of
of Scheme of Scheme of Scheme of Scheme Scheme Shares
Shares Shares Shareholders Shareholders voted as
voted voted who voted voting a percentage
(%) (%) of the total
number of
Scheme Shares
held by
Scheme Shareholders
entitled
to vote
on the resolution
(%)
FOR 18,114,823 99.99 29 96.67 74.58
AGAINST 1,058 0.01 1 3.33 0.01
Accordingly, the resolution proposed at the Court Meeting was
duly passed on a poll vote.
General Meeting
At the General Meeting the Special Resolution approving, amongst
other things, the Scheme, the Capital Reduction and certain
amendments to the articles of association of the Company, was duly
passed on a poll vote. Details of the votes cast (either in person
or by proxy) were as follows:
Number of Scheme Shares Percentage of Scheme
voted Shares voted
FOR 18,114,823 99.99
AGAINST 1,058 0.01
WITHHELD * 23,000 N/A
*A vote 'withheld' is not a vote in law and is not counted in
the calculations of votes 'FOR' or 'AGAINST' a resolution.
Timetable and next steps
The implementation of the Proposal remains conditional on the
satisfaction or waiver of the remaining Conditions set out in the
Scheme Document, including the sanction of the Scheme and the
confirmation of the Capital Reduction by the Court. The date of the
hearing to sanction the Scheme, is expected to be 30 January 2013
and the hearing to confirm the Capital Reduction is expected to be
1 February 2013. If the Court sanctions the Scheme and confirms the
Capital Reduction, it is expected that the Scheme will become
effective on 4 February 2013.
The last day of dealings in, and for registration of transfers
of, ANT Shares and disablement in CREST of ANT Shares will take
place on 31 January 2013. Dealings in ANT Shares will be suspended
with effect from 7.30 a.m. on 1 February 2013 and cancellation of
admission to trading of ANT Shares on AIM will take place with
effect from 7.00 a.m. on 4 February 2013.
The dates stated above are indicative only and will depend,
among other things, on the dates upon which the Court sanctions the
Scheme and confirms the Capital Reduction, and the date on which
the Conditions are satisfied or (if capable of waiver) waived. If
the expected dates change, the Company will give notice of the
changes in an announcement through a Regulatory Information
Service.
Other
Capitalised terms used, but not defined, in this announcement
shall have the same meaning as set out in the Scheme Document.
Unless otherwise stated, all references to times in this
document are to London times.
Enquiries:
ANT Plc Tel: +44 1223
716400
Royston Hoggarth, Non-Executive Chairman
Westhouse Securities (financial adviser, nominated Tel: +44 20 7601
adviser and broker to ANT plc) 6100
Tom Griffiths
Paul Gillam
Newgate Threadneedle (public relations adviser Tel: +44 20 7653
to ANT plc) 9850
Caroline Evans-Jones
Fiona Conroy
Notices
Responsibility
The ANT Directors take responsibility for the information
contained in this announcement. To the best of the knowledge and
belief of the ANT Directors who have taken all reasonable care to
ensure that such is the case, the information contained in this
announcement is in accordance with the facts.
Westhouse Securities, which is authorised and regulated in the
United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority, is acting
exclusively for ANT and no one else in connection with the matters
referred to in this announcement and the Scheme Document and will
not be responsible to anyone other than ANT for providing the
protections afforded to customers of Westhouse Securities nor for
providing advice in relation to the matters referred to in this
announcement.
Further Information
This announcement does not constitute an offer or invitation to
purchase or subscribe for any securities or a solicitation of an
offer to buy any securities pursuant to this document and otherwise
in any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is
unlawful. ANT Shareholders are advised to read carefully the formal
documentation relating to the Proposal. The Proposal is made solely
through the Scheme Document and Forms of Proxy which contain the
full terms and conditions of the Scheme.
Overseas Jurisdictions
This announcement has been prepared for the purposes of
complying with the laws of England and Wales and the City Code, and
the information disclosed herein or therein may not be the same as
that which would have been disclosed if these documents had been
prepared in accordance with the laws of any other jurisdiction.
The distribution of this announcement in jurisdictions other
than the United Kingdom may be restricted by the laws of those
jurisdictions and therefore persons into whose possession this
announcement comes should inform themselves about, and observe,
such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions
may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such
jurisdiction.
Publication on website
A copy of this announcement will be available, subject to
certain restrictions relating to persons resident in any Restricted
Jurisdictions, on www.antplc.com by no later than 12:00 noon
(London time) on 14 January 2013 (being the Business Day following
the date of this announcement) in accordance with Rule 30.4 of the
Code.
The contents of ANT's website are not incorporated into and do
not form part of this announcement.
Dealing Disclosure Requirements
Under Rule 8.3(a) of the Takeover Code, any person who is
interested in one per cent or more of any class of relevant
securities of an offeree company or of any paper 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 paper 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 paper offeror(s). An Opening Position Disclosure by a
person to whom Rule 8.3(a) applies must be made by no later than
3.30 p.m. (London time) on the 10th business day following the
commencement of the Offer Period and, if appropriate, by no later
than 3.30 p.m. (London time) on the 10th business day following the
announcement in which any paper offeror is first identified.
Relevant persons who deal in the relevant securities of the offeree
company or of a paper offeror prior to the deadline for making an
Opening Position Disclosure must instead make a Dealing
Disclosure.
Under Rule 8.3(b) of the Takeover Code, any person who is, or
becomes, interested in one per cent or more of any class of
relevant securities of the offeree company or of any paper offeror
must make a Dealing Disclosure if the person deals in any relevant
securities of the offeree company or of any paper 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 paper offeror, save to the extent that these
details have previously been disclosed under Rule 8. A Dealing
Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(b) applies must be made by
no later than 3.30 p.m. (London time) 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 paper
offeror, they will be deemed to be a single person for the purpose
of Rule 8.3.
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).
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.
If you are in any doubt as to whether you are required to make
an Opening Position Disclosure or a Dealing Disclosure, you should
contact the Panel's Market Surveillance Unit on +44 (0)20 7638
0129.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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