ACE.L Regulatory News (ACE)

28 Sep 2006 07:02

Accident Exchange Group PLC28 September 2006 THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT FOR PUBLICATION, RELEASE OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR THE UNITED STATES FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 28 September 2006 Accident Exchange Group Plc SHARE PLACING TO RAISE £13 MILLION AND PROPOSED MOVE TO THE OFFICIAL LIST Accident Exchange Group Plc ("Accident Exchange", the "Group" or the "Company")today announces a placing of new ordinary shares and its intention to move tothe Official List of the United Kingdom Listing Authority ("the UKLA"). PLACING Accident Exchange is placing 4,000,000 new ordinary shares (the "PlacingShares") at 325p per share to raise £13 million (gross) (approximately £12.5million, net of expenses). The placing has been fully underwritten by NumisSecurities Ltd. Reasons for the placing The placing will strengthen the Group's balance sheet and increase flexibility to pursue the Group's stated growth strategy. The net proceeds of the placing will be applied to reduce the net borrowings of the Company and for general corporate purposes. Application has been made for admission to trading on AIM of the Placing Shares.Admission is expected to become effective on 4 October 2006. Current trading Since the start of the current financial year, in addition to other account wins, new two-year contracts have been announced with two major motor dealerships which have an aggregate of 143 dealer locations, 16 bodyshops and 450,000 customers. In addition, the Group has announced a manufacturer relationship with Audi for credit hire. These recent dealership account wins will help the Group expand into the larger 'mainstream' market for credit hire. The Board regards its business as being seasonal with the October to March period historically being the strongest trading months of the year. Accordingly, a strong uplift in hire starts is expected in the second half of the current financial year when compared with the anticipated activity for the first half of the current financial year as the seasonal effect is experienced across the existing referral base and as referral volumes originate from recently won referring partners. In that context, the Board is pleased to report that in the three months to July 2006, both hire starts and rental days grew by 12 per cent when compared with the three months to 30 April 2006, historically a strong trading quarter for the Group. Further, July 2006 was a record trading month in a traditionally quiet period. PROPOSED ADMISSION TO THE OFFICIAL LIST The Board announced on 14 June 2006, in the preliminary statement of results for the year ended 30 April 2006, that it regards a move to the Official List apart of the next phase of the Company's corporate evolution. The Board ispleased to announce today that the Company intends to apply for admission of the Company's issued ordinary share capital to the Official List of the UKLA and to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. The Company has grown rapidly since its admission to AIM in April 2004 and as such its Directors believe that a move to the senior market of the London Stock Exchange is now appropriate. In addition, the Directors believe that due to the higher number of institutional investors who regularly trade in companies admitted to the Official List and the higher profile of such companies, the Company will be better placed to achieve improved liquidity in its shares when they are admitted to the Official List and to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. Pursuant to Rule 41 of the AIM Rules, the Company hereby gives notice of the intended cancellation of trading of the Company's issued ordinary share capital on AIM. It is expected that the Company's ordinary shares will be simultaneously cancelled on AIM and admitted to the Official List of the UKLA and to trading onthe London Stock Exchange's market for listed securities in late October 2006, subject to the receipt of the necessary approvals from the UKLA. Steve Evans, Chief Executive, stated: "This fundraising gives Accident Exchange the financial resources to focus all its efforts on delivering continued growth. The Board is confident of achievinga material increase in full year trading volumes with a bias expected towards the seasonally stronger second half of the year." CONTACTS: Accident Exchange Group PlcSteve Evans, Chief Executive 08700-116 719Martin Andrews, Group Finance Director 08700-053 649 Numis Securities Ltd 020-7776-1500Chris Wilkinson, Corporate BrokingLee Aston, Corporate Finance Bankside 020-7367-8888Steve Liebmann or Simon Bloomfield About Accident Exchange Based in Coleshill, West Midlands, Accident Exchange delivers accident management and other solutions to automotive and insurance related sectors. Quoted on AIM, the stock code is LSE: ACE. Numis Securities Ltd ("Numis"), which is authorised and regulated by the FSA, isacting for Accident Exchange in connection with the matters contemplated by thisannouncement and no one else and will not be responsible to anyone other thanAccident Exchange for providing the protections afforded to clients of Numis norfor providing advice in relation to the matters contemplated by thisannouncement. END This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange