AVN.L Regulatory News (AVN)

29 Dec 2009 07:30



Date: 29 December 2009

On behalf of: Avanti Communications Group plc ("Avanti", "the Group" or "the Company")

Avanti Communications Group plc

(AIM:AVN), ("Avanti" or the "Company")

Further re Placing

Further to the announcement on 21 December 2009 detailing the conditional placing of Avanti ordinary shares raising £86 million and the £194 million debt facilities to fund the proposed HYLAS 2 satellite launch, Avanti is pleased to announce a further conditional placing of an additional 750,000 ordinary shares of 1p each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") at a placing price of 400 pence ("Additional Placing Shares"), which will be subject to the passing of certain resolutions at the general meeting to be held at 10:30am on 6 January 2010 ("Additional Placing"). The total gross placing proceeds will now be £89 million.

The Additional Placing Shares have been placed with an existing institutional investor in the Company to accommodate specific investor circumstances and will provide additional headroom for Avanti.

The Placing Agreement with Cenkos Securities plc ("Cenkos") entered into on 20 December 2009 has been amended to take account of the placing of these Additional Placing Shares.

Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the 750,000 Additional Placing Shares to be issued pursuant to the enlarged placing to be admitted to trading on AIM. It is expected that Admission will become effective and that dealings in the Additional Placing Shares will commence on AIM at 8.00 a.m. on 7 January 2010. The aggregate new shares issues as a result of this placing and the general meeting matters will account for 34.6% of the enlarged share capital of the Company. 

Enquiries to:

Legal Notice 

Cenkos Securities plc ("Cenkos"), which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FSA, is acting for the Company as Nominated Adviser and Broker for the purposes of the AIM Rules in connection with the Additional Placing and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to customers of Cenkos or for providing advice in relation to the Additional Placing and the other arrangements described in this announcement.

The release, publication or distribution of this announcement in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law and therefore persons in such jurisdictions into which this announcement is released, published or distributed should inform themselves about and observe such restrictions.

This announcement is not an invitation nor is it intended to be an inducement to engage in investment activity for the purpose of section 21 of FSMA. The Additional Placing Shares are in any event being placed only with (i) persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments and who are investment professionals within the meaning of Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 of the United Kingdom (the "Financial Promotion Order") or (ii) persons who fall within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) ("high net worth companies, unincorporated associations etc.") of the Financial Promotion Order (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). Any investment or investment activity to which this announcement relates is available only to relevant persons and will be engaged in only with relevant persons. Anyone other than a relevant person must not rely on this announcement. 

The Additional Placing Shares have not been, and nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 as amended (the "Securities Act") or qualified for sale under the laws of any state of the United States or under the applicable laws of any of Canada, Australia, the Republic of South Africa, the Republic of Ireland or Japan and, subject to certain exceptions, may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, US persons (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act) or to any national or resident of Canada, Australia, the Republic of South Africa, the Republic of Ireland or Japan.