LONDON (Alliance News) - Clear Leisure PLC saw its shares rise Thursday after saying it will pay a special dividend worth GBP4 million if the Italian courts allow its Mediapolis SpA subsidiary to complete a proposed debt restructuring, allowing Clear Leisure to sell its stake in the unit to one of two bidders.
Clear Leisure said back in November that Milan-based building contractor Generali Investimenti Holidng had made an unsunsolicited, but binding and fully-financed, bid for its stake in Mediapolis. It then got another identical bid from Fornest Ltd, a UK investment company which manages the interests of certain Italian investors, in January. The only difference was that the second offer expires at the end of September, while the first offer expires at the end of April.
However, the proposed deals were complicated by Mediapolis's debt structure, and in mid-January it applied to a tribunal in Italy for clearance of a debt restructuring proposal.
Thursday, Clear leisure said the tribunal has asked for more information about the proposal because of its complexity, and it will reconvene after the March 21 deadline for that new information to be submitted.
"In case of a positive outcome of the Mediapolis court hearing, and the expected subsequent sale of the company?s stake in Mediapolis, the board is proposing to pay a special dividend equivalent to GBP4 million, or approximately 2.0p per share, based on the current actual number of Clear Leisure ordinary shares outstanding," Clear Leisure said in a statement.
It also said it has decided to reconsider a listing on AIM Italia due to the potential sale of the Mediapolis stake as well as the potential sale of another Italian asset, which would reduce the need for a dual listing. It said it also want to wait to make a decision on the AIM Italia listing until it has appointed a new Chief Executive, which it expects to do sometime in 2014.
Clear Leisure shares were up 7.7% at 2.10 pence Thursday morning, one of the biggest rises on AIM.
By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @stevemcgrath1
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