Earthport Regulatory News (EPO)

19 Jan 2005 13:00

Earthport PLC19 January 2005 Press announcement for immediate release 19 January 2005 earthport plc Baltimore update earthport plc ("earthport" or "the Company") has noted the announcement made byBaltimore Technologies plc ("Baltimore") on 18 January 2005 earthport regards the announcement made by Baltimore yesterday morning as acrude attempt to undermine the Company at a time when earthport is simplyprogressing the interests of the Company for its shareholders. earthport has paid the sum of £750 in costs as required by a Court Order.earthport acknowledges that this payment should have been met from thesubstantial investment funds received by the Company in December and apologisesfor any hardship caused to Baltimore by the delay. earthport notes the extreme interest of Baltimore in its funding position, andis pleased to confirm that all the funding is committed as previously announced.Baltimore should note that earthport's new funding is not subject to short-termfluctuation in its share price. earthport accordingly dismisses the threat ofBaltimore issuing a winding up order. earthport notes the comments of Herbert Smith on the merits of the earthportlegal claim and Baltimore's rebuttal of the claim for £4.5m + damages, whichearthport currently assesses as significantly greater that the £9.5m previouslyannounced. earthport is very confident of the validity and strength of itslegal claim against Baltimore. Arrangements for earthport to receive sufficient committed cash funds to financeits proposed Offer for Baltimore are at an advanced stage and earthportcontinues to work on the details of that Offer. The Takeover Panel has grantedearthport until Monday 31st January to announce the terms of its Offer forBaltimore or withdraw. Press enquiries: Rob Cunningham, CEO, earthport plc +44(0) 20 7907 1100 David Nabarro/Nigel Atkinson, Nabarro Wells +44(0) 20 7710 7400 James Melville-Ross/Juliet Clarke, Financial Dynamics +44(0) 20 7831 3113 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange