Admiral Regulatory News (ADM)

17 Jan 2005 10:12

Admiral Group PLC17 January 2005 THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR PUBLICATION,DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE IN OR INTO AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA ORTHE UNITED STATES. 17 January 2005 ADMIRAL GROUP PLC ESOT Placing of Ordinary Shares in Admiral Group plc Admiral Group plc ("Admiral", or "the Company") today announces that theEmployee Share Ownership Trust (the "ESOT") has sold 5,202,266 ordinary sharesin the Company (the "Shares") pursuant to a placing of Shares (the "Placing")arranged by Merrill Lynch International ("Merrill Lynch") and Citigroup GlobalMarkets U.K. Equity Limited ("Citigroup"). Merrill Lynch and Citigroup placed the Shares with institutional investors on 17January 2005 at a price of 325p. Following completion of the Placing, theremaining 5,091,789 shares previously held in ESOT and not sold in the Placingare now held directly by the employee shareholders. Admiral's Director shareholders did not participate in the Placing. The Shares sold through the Placing represent 2.01% of Admiral's issued sharecapital of 258,595,400 shares. The Placing was conducted to ensure the orderlytransfer of Shares into the secondary market following the expiry on 15 January2005 of the ESOT lock-up restrictions imposed on shares received by certain ofthe Company's employees put in place at the time of the initial public offering("IPO") in September 2004. For further information, please contact: Admiral 029 2043 4224Louisa ScaddenJustin Beddows Financial Dynamics 020 7269 7200Robert BailhacheCaroline Ledosquet www.admiralgroup.co.uk This announcement is not for publication or distribution, directly orindirectly, in or into the United States of America (including its territoriesand possessions, any state of the United States and the District of Columbia).This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale into the United States.The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered underthe U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold inthe United States, except pursuant to an applicable exemption from registration.No public offering of securities is being made in the United States. Merrill Lynch International and Citigroup Capital Markets U.K. Equity Limitedacted for ESOT and no one else in relation to the Placing, and will not beresponsible to anyone other than ESOT for providing the protections offered totheir respective clients nor for providing advice in relation to the Placing. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange