Ashmore Regulatory News (ASHM)

12 Sep 2007 07:05

Ashmore Group PLC12 September 2007 Not for release, publication or distribution in or into the United States,Canada, Japan, France, New Zealand or the Republic of Ireland ASHMORE GROUP PLC ("Ashmore" or the "Company") Launch of Placing in Ashmore Shares Ashmore today announces a secondary placing of up to 26,575,450 ordinary sharesof 0.01p in Ashmore (the "Ashmore Shares") by an Ashmore non-executive directorand certain Ashmore employees and their related interests (the "Placing"). ThePlacing, which will be undertaken by way of an accelerated bookbuild process toinstitutional investors, represents up to 3.7% of the outstanding issued sharecapital of Ashmore. Goldman Sachs International ("Goldman Sachs") and UBS Limited ("UBS") are actingas joint global co-ordinators and bookrunners for the Placing. The sale price will be determined and announced after closing of the Placing.The timing of closing of the Placing will be determined in due course by GoldmanSachs and UBS. Immediately prior to the launch of the Placing, Ashmore's directors, employeesand their related interests were interested, in aggregate, in 514,315,101Ashmore Shares representing approximately 72.5% of Ashmore's issued sharecapital of which 514,048,900 Ashmore Shares (72.5%) were covered by lock-inarrangements entered into at the time of the Company's IPO in October 2006 (the"Lock-in Arrangements"). Assuming the Placing is completed in full, Ashmore'sdirectors and employees and their related interests will be interested in, inaggregate, 487,739,651 Ashmore Shares representing approximately 68.8% ofAshmore's issued share capital, of which 342,699,267 Ashmore Shares (48.3%) willcontinue to be governed by the Lock-in Arrangements on a reducing basis untilthe release of the Company's results for the twelve month period to 30th June2009. Dealings in Ashmore Shares by Ashmore directors and employees are alsogoverned by Ashmore's code for dealing in securities. Enquiries Goldman SachsJoshua Critchley +44 20 7774 3109 UBSAdrian Lewis +44 20 7568 2240 Penrose FinancialGay Collins +44 20 7786 4888 Members of the public are not eligible to take part in the Placing. In theUnited Kingdom, this announcement, in so far as it constitutes an invitation orinducement to participate in the Placing, is directed exclusively at personswhose ordinary activities involve them in acquiring, holding managing, anddisposing of investments (as principal or agent) for the purposes of theirbusiness and who have professional experience in matters relating to investmentsand who are qualified investors as defined in section 86(7) of the FinancialServices and Markets Act 2000 ("FSMA") or are persons falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act (Financial Promotion) Order 2005,as amended (the "Order") or persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) "High net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc") of the order (allsuch persons being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). This announcement, in sofar as it constitutes an invitation or inducement to participate in the Placing,must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not Relevant Persons. Anyinvestment or investment activity to which this announcements relates isavailable only to Relevant Persons and will be engaged in only with RelevantPersons. As regards all persons other than Relevant Persons, the details of thePlacing set out in this announcement are for information purposes only. Goldman Sachs and UBS do not accept any responsibility whatsoever for thecontents of this announcement or for any statement made or purported to be madeby either of them or on their behalf in connection with the Placing. Each ofGoldman Sachs and UBS accordingly disclaims all and any liability whetherarising in tort, contract or otherwise which either of them might otherwise havein respect of this announcement or any such statement. Goldman Sachs and UBSare acting as joint global co-ordinators and bookrunners to Ashmore in relationto for the Placing and no-one else and will not be responsible to anyone otherthan Ashmore for providing the protections offered to clients of Goldman Sachsand UBS or for providing advice in relation to the Placing or the contents ofthis announcement. This announcement does not constitute an offer for sale of the Ashmore Shares inthe United States, and the Ashmore Shares may not be sold in the United Statesabsent registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. SecuritiesAct of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). The Ashmore Shares being sold inthe Placing have not and will not be registered under the Securities Act orunder the laws of any state of the United States. This announcement is not for distribution directly or indirectly in or into theUnited States, Canada, Australia, Japan, France, New Zealand or the Republic ofIreland. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or issue or thesolicitation of an offer to buy or acquire Ashmore Shares in Canada, Australia,Japan, France, New Zealand or the Republic of Ireland or any jurisdiction inwhich such an offer or solicitation is unlawful. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange