Last checked at 30 Jul 2008 12:28
RNS Number : 2088A
Eleco PLC
30 July 2008
ELECO PLC Advice to shareholders
Dear Shareholder,
We have recently been informed by some Eleco shareholders that they have been targeted by individuals acting on behalf of a purported Canadian-based company shown on the Financial Services Authority website as being on its list of unauthorized firms who are targeting or who have targeted UK investors. The individuals purporting to act for such company have been offering to pay prices significantly in excess of the prevailing stock market price, with a view to acquiring 51 per cent of Eleco's shares. There are good grounds to suspect that this claim and other statements that have been made regarding levels of interest received from other shareholders may not be genuine and appear to be aimed at persuading shareholders to deliver their share certificates and or bank details to those making the calls.
We advise any of our shareholders receiving calls of this nature to exercise extreme caution. According to those shareholders who have brought the telephone contacts received by them to the attention of the Company, the callers are very persistent and extremely persuasive in trying to convince shareholders that a bidder is stake building and that any intended offer made subsequently would be unrealistically in excess of the Company's current share price and would be justified by the bidder's intention to reach a majority shareholding.
If you receive any unsolicited investment advice regarding the possible sale of your Eleco shares as a consequence of such calls, we suggest you;
- obtain the correct name of the person and organisation;
- check at www.fsa.gov.uk/register that they are properly authorised by the FSA before getting involved further or at all; - check the FSA website for a list of unauthorised overseas firms who are targeting, or have targeted, UK investors at http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/doing/regulated/law/alerts/overseas.shtml;
- Inform us of such circumstances by emailing our Company Secretary at ivor.barton@eleco.com
Any approach from such organisations should be reported to the FSA to enable them to update their records and consider any other appropriate action. More information on this and similar activities can be found on the FSA website at www.fsa.gov.uk/consumer
We wish to stress that this incident has had no impact whatsoever on our trading and there is no reason why it should do so. A copy of the Pre-Close Trading Update for the year ended 30 June 2008, dated 15 July 2008, is available to view on the Company's website www.eleco.com.
This announcement will be posted to all shareholders today.
Yours sincerely
John Ketteley Chairman
Enquiries
Eleco plc Collins Stewart Europe Limited
Ivor Barton - Company Secretary Helen Goldsmith
+44 (0)1920 443830 +44 (0) 207 523 8350
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