Conduit Hldg Regulatory News (CRE)

15 May 2006 07:01

Creston PLC15 May 2006 Creston Plc ("Creston" or the "Company")Result of Placing and Open Offer On 20 April 2006, Creston, the diversified marketing services group, announcedthe proposed acquisitions of ICM Research Limited ("ICM"), Tullo Marshall WarrenLimited and Colombus Communications Limited ("TMW Group") together with aPlacing and Open Offer of 9,132,306 New Ordinary Shares at a price of 165 penceper New Ordinary Share to raise approximately £14.15 million (net of expenses). The Board is pleased to announce that, following the closing of the Open Offerat 3.00 p.m on 12 May 2006 valid applications have been received from QualifyingShareholders for 914,528 New Ordinary Shares available for take up under theOpen Offer by Qualifying Shareholders. This amount includes applications fromcertain existing shareholders for 39,729 Open Offer Shares in excess of theirpro rata entitlement. All such applications will be settled in full. The remaining 2,217,778 Open Offer Shares not subscribed under the Open Offerwill be subscribed, together with the Placing Shares, by institutional investorspursuant to the Placing. The Acquisitions and the Placing and Open Offer remain conditional, inter alia,upon the approval of the Company's Shareholders. The extraordinary generalmeeting, at which resolutions will be proposed inter alia to approve theAcquisitions and the Placing and Open Offer, is to be held today, 15 May 2006,at 11:00 a.m. The New Ordinary Shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the existingOrdinary Shares and will rank in full for dividends and other distributionsdeclared, made or paid after Admission. Application has been made to the UKListing Authority for the New Ordinary Shares to be admitted to the OfficialList of the UK Listing Authority and to the London Stock Exchange plc for theNew Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange'smarket for listed securities. Subject to Shareholder approval at the EGM latertoday, it is expected that Admission will take place and dealings will commencein the New Ordinary Shares on Wednesday, 17 May 2006. Completion of theacquisitions of ICM and the TMW Group remains conditional upon Admission of theNew Ordinary Shares becoming effective and is expected to take place on 17 May2006. The definitions used in this announcement shall have the same meaning given tothem in the Prospectus dated 20 April 2006. Enquiries Creston Plc 020 7930 9757Don Elgie, Chief ExecutiveBarrie Brien, COO & CFO Charles Stanley & Co. Limited 020 7953 2000Mark Taylor Redleaf Communications 020 7955 1410Emma Kane Notes to Editors About Creston plc • Creston's strategy is to build a diversified international marketingservices group through a combination of organic growth and selectiveacquisitions. The Board's aim is to identify synergistic benefits betweencurrently independent marketing services companies offering premium servicessuch as market research, direct marketing, customer relationship marketing,advertising and other areas of marketing communications. About ICM Research Limited ("ICM") • The ICM Group is one of the UK's leading independent market researchagencies. It has a diverse range of national and international clientsincluding Vodafone, Wanadoo, Norwich Union, NOP, Dixon Store Group, Saga, BTMobile, O2, Orange and Yorkshire Bank. The ICM Group is divided into dedicatedsector and product teams including Technology, Retail and Financial as well asproduct teams such as Polling, Omnibus and Government and Social; • For the year ended 30 June 2005 ICM's turnover was £14.0 million andpre tax profits were £2.48 million; About Tullo Marshall Warren Limited and Colombus Communications Limited ("TMWGroup") • The TMW Group is one of the largest independent direct marketingagencies in the UK. It has a diverse range of national and internationalclients across a number of sectors that includes British Airways, Diageo, COI,Lloyds TSB, Nissan, T-Mobile and Unilever. The TMW Group provides a range ofdirect market marketing services for its clients including strategic planning,creative and brand development and implementation of IT system design and build,with specialist expertise in growth areas such as digital marketing, datamanagement and IT solutions; • For the year ended 31 December 2005, the TMW Group had aggregateturnover of £23.1 million and aggregate pre tax profit of £3.37 million. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange