EAS.L Regulatory News (EAS)

6 May 2005 11:19

Man Financial Limited06 May 2005 Date Of Disclosure: 06/05/05 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 05/05/05 (1) Name of Company Dealing in EasyScreen Plc Class of securities ORDINARY SHARES (2) Amount Bought Amount Sold Price (GBP) 680000 0.1538 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 8,393,500 8.79% (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 Note 1. Specify owner, not nominee or vehicle company. If relevant, also identify controller of owner, e.g. where an owner normally acts on instructions of a controller. Note 2. Disclosure might be made for more than one reason; if so, state all reasons. Note 3. Specify which offeror if there is more than one. Note 4. When an arrangement exists with any offeror, with the offeree company or with an associate of any offeror or of the offeree company in relation to relevant 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 derivative transactions, to append a sheet to this disclosure form so that all relevant information can be given. Note 6. In the case of an average price bargain, each underlying trade should be disclosed For full details of disclosure requirements, see Rule 8 of the Code. If in doubt, contact the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, Monitoring Section, Tel. No: 020 7638 0129. E-mail: monitoring@disclosure.org.uk NOTES REGARDING DISCLOSURE Man Financial Ltd ("MAN") is the beneficial owner of 8,393,500 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 Differenceor CFD is an agreement between two parties to exchange, at the close of thecontract, the difference between the opening price and the closing price,multiplied by the number of reference shares specified within the contract. The'reference shares' are the underlying shares specified in the CFD. The economicperformance of the CFD is determined by the performance of the underlyingreference shares. Although CFDs replicate the price movement of the underlying reference shares, they convey no right or requirement to acquire or deliver thephysical 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 shortposition, the client will benefit if the contract value falls. The CFDcontracts detailed below are open-ended and without predetermined expiry/closevalue A Spread Bet is a product whereby the client to whom the product is soldcan realise a gain or a loss depending on whether the price of theunderlying 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 isintended to cover all persons (whether or not acting in concert) who directly orindirectly own or deal in the shares of an offeror or the offeree company inan offer and who have (in addition to their normal interests as shareholders)an interest or potential interest, whether commercial, financial or personal,in the outcome of the offer. Without prejudice to the generality of theforegoing, the term associate will normally 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 class of relevantsecurities (as defined in paragraphs (a) to (d) in Note 2 on Rule 8) issuedby an offeror or an offeree company, including a person who as a result of anytransaction owns or controls 5% or more. When two or more persons actpursuant to an agreement or understanding (formal or informal) to acquire or control such securities, they will be deemed to be a single person for thepurpose of this paragraph. Such securities managed on a discretionary basisby an investment management group will, unless otherwise agreed by the Panel,also be deemed to be those of a single person (see Note 8 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 -500000 0.2300 17/08/04 0.1525 EasyScreen Plc SHORT CFD 261500 0.2100 15/09/04 0.1538 EasyScreen Plc SHORT CFD 418500 0.2300 17/08/04 0.1538 CFD OPEN INTEREST PRODUCT NAME EXECUTED MAN FIN Ref Shares PRICE (GBP) LTD 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 75,000 0.1475 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 30/12/04 SALE 25,000 0.1500 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 13/12/04 SALE 200,000 0.1825 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 1,925,000 0.1850 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 05/11/04 SALE 50,000 0.1800 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 03/11/04 SALE 200,000 0.1800 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 03/11/04 SALE 100,000 0.1800 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 02/11/04 SALE 650,000 0.1800 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 01/11/04 SALE 175,000 0.1900 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 20/10/04 SALE 50,000 0.1950 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 19/10/04 SALE 100,000 0.1950 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 07/10/04 SALE 100,000 0.1800 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 05/10/04 SALE 250,000 0.1850 EasyScreen Plc LONG CFD 15/09/04 SALE 188,500 0.2100 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