EAS.L Regulatory News (EAS)

9 May 2005 11:01

Man Financial Limited09 May 2005 Date Of Disclosure: 09/05/05 Fax to 020 7256 9386 (Take Over Panel) and 020 7588 6057 (RNS) FORM 8.1/8.3 Lodge with a RIS or Newstrack and the Takeover Panel. Use separate form for each class of securities in which dealings have been made. DISCLOSURE UNDER RULES 8.1(a), 8.1(b)(i) AND 8.3 OF THE CITY CODE ON TAKEOVERS AND MERGERS Date of dealing 06/05/05 (1) Name of Company Dealing in EasyScreen Plc Class of securities ORDINARY SHARES (2) Amount Bought Amount Sold Price (GBP) 1925000 0.1544 250000 0.1575 In addition, Man Financial Ltd have entered into CFD and Spread Betting arrangements with its clients which are detailed below. (3) Resultant total of the same class owned or controlled and percentage of class 6,218,500 6.52% (4) Party making disclosure MAN FINANCIAL LIMITED (5) Name of purchaser/vendor (Note1) MAN FINANCIAL LIMITED (6) Reason for disclosure (Note 2) (a) Associate of (i) offeror (Note 3) - NO (b) (i) offeree Company - NO Specify which category or categories of associate (1-8 overleaf) If category (8), explain Rule 8.3 (i.e. disclosure because of ownership or control of 1% or more of the class of relevant securities dealt in) - YES Signed, for and on behalf of the party named in (4) above Stewart Horner Telephone and extension number 020-7144-4201 Note1. Specify owner, not nominee or vehicle company. If relevant, alsoidentify controller of owner, e.g. where an owner normally acts oninstructions of a controller. Note 2. Disclosure might be made for more than one reason; if so, state allreasons. Note 3. Specify which offeror if there is more than one. Note 4. When an arrangement exists with any offeror, with the offeree companyor with an associate of any offeror or of the offeree company in relation torelevant securities, details of such arrangement must be disclosed, as required by Note 6 on Rule 8. Note 5. It may be necessary, particularly when disclosing derivativetransactions, to append a sheet to this disclosure form so that all relevantinformation can be given. Note 6. In the case of an average price bargain, each underlying trade shouldbe disclosed For full details of disclosure requirements, see Rule 8 of theCode. If in doubt, contact the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, MonitoringSection, Tel. No: 020 7638 0129. E-mail:monitoring@disclosure.org.uk NOTES REGARDING DISCLOSURE Man Financial Ltd ("MAN") is the beneficial owner of 6,218,500 Ordinary Sharesin the above company which are held to hedge CFD & Spread Betting positions(see below) established between MAN and its clients. A Contract for Difference or CFD is an agreement between two parties toexchange, at the close of the contract, the difference between the openingprice and the closing price, multiplied by the number of reference sharesspecified within the contract. The 'reference shares' are the underlyingshares specified in the CFD. The economic performance of the CFD is determinedby the performance of the underlying reference shares. Although CFDs replicatethe price movement of the underlying reference shares, they convey no right orrequirement to acquire or deliver the physical shares. The contract value of a CFD is defined as the number of reference sharesspecified in the contract, multiplied by the price of the underlying referenceshare. If a client of Man takes a long position, the client will make a profitif the contract value increases. Conversely, if a client of Man takes a short position, the client will benefitif the contract value falls. The CFD contracts detailed below are open-ended and without predeterminedexpiry/close value A Spread Bet is a product whereby the client to whom theproduct is sold can realise a gain or a loss depending on whether the priceof the underlying security increases above or falls below the reference price. Aclient's Spread bet position is described the client's stake. A stake isexpressed in pounds (sterling) per point and a point is the price in pence ofthe underlying shares. A client with a stake of £100 per point will make again of £100 for every penny increase in the underlying shares and the clienthas an exposure equivalent to 10,000 shares. DEFINITION OF ASSOCIATE It is not practicable to define associate in terms which would cover all thedifferent relationships which may exist in an offer. The term associate is intended to cover all persons (whether or not acting inconcert) who directly or indirectly own or deal in the shares of an offeror orthe offeree company in an offer and who have (in addition to their normalinterests as shareholders) an interest or potential interest, whethercommercial, financial or personal, in the outcome of the offer. Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the term associate willnormally include the following:- (1) an offeror's or the offeree company's parent, subsidiaries and fellowsubsidiaries, and their associated companies, and companies of which suchcompanies are associated companies (for this purpose ownership or control of 20% or more of the equity share capital of a company is regarded as the test ofassociated company status); (2) banks and financial and other professional advisers (includingstockbrokers)* to an offeror, the offeree company or any company covered in(1), including persons controlling#, controlled by or under the same control assuch banks, financial and other professional advisers; (3) the directors (together with their close relatives & related trusts) of anofferor, the offeree company or any company covered in (1); (4) the pension funds of an offeror, the offeree company or any companycovered in (1); (5) any investment company, unit trust or other person whose investments anassociate manages on a discretionary basis, in respect of the relevantinvestment accounts; (6) a person who owns or controls 5% or more of any classof relevant securities (as defined in paragraphs (a) to (d) in Note 2 on Rule 8) issued by an offeror or an offeree company, including a person who as aresult of any transaction owns or controls 5% or more. When two or morepersons act pursuant to an agreement or understanding (formal or informal) toacquire or control such securities, they will be deemed to be a singleperson for the purpose of this paragraph. Such securities managed on a discretionary basis by an investment management group will, unless otherwiseagreed by the Panel, also be deemed to be those of a single person (see Note8 on Rule 8); and (7) a company having a material trading arrangement with an offeror or theofferee company. Paragraphs (1)-(7) are typical cases. Paragraph (8) below isa category to cover associate status not within (1)-(7). (8) Other. CFDs CLOSED OUT PRODUCT NAME POS. OPEN OPEN DATE CLOSE EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD -450000 0.2100 15/09/04 0.1538 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD -223500 0.2300 17/08/04 0.1538 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD -6500 0.2025 24/09/04 0.1538 EasyScreen Plc SHORT CFD 25000 0.1475 25/01/05 0.1575 EasyScreen Plc SHORT CFD 25000 0.1500 30/12/04 0.1575 EasyScreen Plc SHORT CFD 50000 0.1800 05/11/04 0.1544 EasyScreen Plc SHORT CFD 50000 0.1950 20/10/04 0.1544 EasyScreen Plc SHORT CFD 61500 0.1850 05/11/04 0.1544 EasyScreen Plc SHORT CFD 100000 0.1800 03/11/04 0.1544 EasyScreen Plc SHORT CFD 100000 0.1800 07/10/04 0.1544 EasyScreen Plc SHORT CFD 100000 0.1950 19/10/04 0.1544 EasyScreen Plc SHORT CFD 175000 0.1900 01/11/04 0.1544 EasyScreen Plc SHORT CFD 188500 0.2100 15/09/04 0.1544 EasyScreen Plc SHORT CFD 200000 0.1800 03/11/04 0.1544 EasyScreen Plc SHORT CFD 200000 0.1825 13/12/04 0.1575 EasyScreen Plc SHORT CFD 250000 0.1850 05/10/04 0.1544 EasyScreen Plc SHORT CFD 650000 0.1800 02/11/04 0.1544 CFD OPEN INTEREST PRODUCT NAME EXECUTED MAN FIN LTD Ref Shares PRICE (GBP) EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 28/04/05 SALE 60,000 0.1600 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 25/04/05 SALE 150,000 0.1550 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 22/04/05 SALE 100,000 0.1575 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 11/04/05 SALE 200,000 0.1525 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 23/03/05 SALE 250,000 0.1575 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 07/02/05 SALE 205,000 0.1525 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 07/02/05 SALE 100,000 0.1525 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 02/02/05 SALE 25,000 0.1500 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 25/01/05 SALE 50,000 0.1475 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 02/12/04 SALE 875,000 0.1825 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 25/11/04 SALE 350,000 0.1900 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 23/11/04 SALE 200,000 0.1900 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 12/11/04 SALE 250,000 0.1900 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 11/11/04 SALE 125,000 0.1900 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 08/11/04 SALE 250,000 0.1850 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 05/11/04 SALE 1,863,500 0.1850 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 13/07/04 SALE 200,000 0.2875 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 04/03/04 SALE 750,000 0.3400 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 11/02/04 SALE 40,000 0.3438 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 04/02/04 SALE 150,000 0.2950 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange