AMBR.L Regulatory News (AMBR)

21 Mar 2007 08:01

Ambrian Capital PLC21 March 2007 21 March 2007 Ambrian Capital plc Major Hong Kong Financial Institution to Acquire Stake in Ambrian Capital Change of Directors Firms Will Develop Cooperative Activities LONDON - 21 March 2007- Ambrian Capital plc ("Ambrian Capital" or "the Company"), the investment bank, announced today the purchase by Sun Hung Kai & Co Limited ("SHK") (0086.hk) of Ambrian Capital ordinary shares from certaindirectors, a proposed change in the composition of the Board of Directors ofAmbrian Capital, and a commitment to business cooperation between the twoorganisations. At the forthcoming Annual General Meeting ("AGM"), Malcolm Burne and RichardLockwood will step down from the Board of Ambrian Capital. Mr. Burne willcontinue to consult on principal investments and asset management strategieswhilst also remaining as Ambrian's representative on principal investee companyboards, including Golden Prospect Precious Metals Limited, Jubilee Platinum plcand Commodity Watch plc. Malcolm Burne, Chairman of Ambrian Capital, said, "After 10 years as ExecutiveChairman and now dictated to by advancing years, it is now opportune for me tostand down from full time executive duties in favour of a group investmentadvisory role. Richard Lockwood who founded the Company with me will also beretiring at the AGM as a non-executive director to concentrate on his rapidlygrowing New City Investment Managers Ltd. As a result of these changes, bothRichard and I have decided to place the majority of our holdings of AmbrianCapital shares with Sun Hung Kai Financial, one of Hong Kong's largest and mostprominent financial groups." Mr. Burne went on to say, "Our CEO, Tom Gaffney, has assembled a highly talentedgroup of dedicated young professionals who together with SHK can now take thisrobust and exciting investment banking entity to a more mature role on theinternational stage." Effective on the date of the AGM Lawrence Banks, CBE, will be appointednon-executive Chairman of Ambrian Capital. Mr. Banks is currently anon-executive director of Ambrian Capital and Chairman of Ambrian PartnersLimited, the corporate finance and stockbroking subsidiary. Mr. Banks waspreviously Deputy Chairman of Robert Fleming Holdings Limited. At the AGM it will be proposed that Lee Seng Huang and Charles Crick beappointed as non-executive directors of Ambrian Capital. Mr. Lee is ExecutiveChairman of SHK. Mr. Crick is currently a non-executive director of AmbrianPartners Limited. He trained as a solicitor with Allen & Overy and from 1996 toDecember 2004 Mr. Crick was Head of Corporate Finance and a main board directorof Numis Corporation PLC. Under the agreement SHK will purchase a total of 9,806,250 Ambrian Capitalordinary shares at a price of 60p per share from Lombard Odier (5,356,250) andthe following directors of Ambrian Capital: Malcolm Burne (2,000,000), RichardLockwood (1,200,000) and Tom Gaffney (1,250,000). After the share purchase, SHKwill own 9.10% of Ambrian Capital's outstanding ordinary share capital(excluding shares held in Treasury) and Mr. Gaffney will hold 3,170,053 ordinaryshares and 5,500,000 share options. Ambrian Capital and SHK have agreed to develop cooperative activities, includingthe following: 1. Capital Raising Ambrian will work closely with SHK to raise capital for Asian companies in theEuropean capital markets with a particular focus on AIM listings. 2. Commodities It is the intention for both organisations to work together to offer Asianindustrial and institutional clients access to Ambrian's London Metal Exchangetrading/broking expertise as well as to provide broker-dealer services in othercommodities. SHK has a joint-venture with Yongan Futures, one of China's largestcommodities brokers. 3. Fund Management Ambrian and SHK plan to develop together value-added investment fund productsthat can be offered to clients of SHK in Asia, as well as investment productswith an Asian focus managed by SHK that can be offered by Ambrian to Europeaninvestors. Tom Gaffney, Chief Executive Officer of Ambrian Capital, said "We view our linkwith SHK as an important opportunity to participate in the rapid growthoccurring in Asia. As the Chinese economy further industrialises, the demand fornatural resources will continue to grow and this will be matched by expansion inconsumer wealth. We plan to play a role together with SHK in managing the flowof international investment into China as well as the international deploymentof capital by Chinese companies." Mr. Gaffney went on to say, "We welcome SHK as a shareholder and look forward tobuilding our ties with them. The planned joint business initiatives willaccelerate the growth of Ambrian Capital." Lee Seng Huang, Executive Chairman of Sun Hung Kai & Co Limited, said "We arelooking forward to working with Ambrian Capital. We recognise the strongreputation the Group has built in the resources sector and we are confident thatwe will be able to apply this skill base in Asia". Mr. Lee added, "We believethe benefits of today's agreement to both organisations and their shareholderswill be significant". _____________________________________________________________________ Ambrian Capital plc, formerly Golden Prospect plc, is an independent investmentbank quoted on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange(Ticker: AMBR) which has three wholly-owned subsidiaries: Ambrian PartnersLimited, a corporate finance advisor and stockbroker; Ambrian CommoditiesLimited, an Associate Member of The London Metal Exchange and a broker-dealer ofLME traded metals and precious metals; and Ambrian Asset Management Limited, aspecialist investment management business. Further information about the Groupis available on Ambrian Capital's website: www.ambrian.com _____________________________________________________________________ With its foundation dating back to 1969, Sun Hung Kai & Co. Limited, whichtrades under the brand Sun Hung Kai Financial, is the leading non-bank financialinstitution in Hong Kong. SHK currently has approximately HK$30 billion (£2billion) in assets under management and/or advice, and about HK$7 billion inshareholders' equity. Its core areas of focus include wealth management/brokerage, asset management, corporate finance, consumer finance as well asprincipal investments. SHK employs over 1,300 dedicated professionals and has anextensive branch and office network in 50 locations in Hong Kong, Macau andChina. Further information about the Group is available on SHK's website:www.shkco.com _____________________________________________________________________ Enquiries Malcolm Burne Tel: +44 (0) 20 7395 1933Chairman, Ambrian Capital plc Tom Gaffney Tel: +44 (0) 20 7776 6400Chief Executive, Ambrian Capital plc Simon Atkinson Tel: +44 (0) 20 7523 8306Collins Stewart Cathy Malins / Annabel Leather Tel: +44 (0) 20 7581 7480Parkgreen Communications This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange