Gateley Holdings Regulatory News (GTLY)

RNS REACH

 2 March 2020

GATELEY (HOLDINGS) PLC

("Gateley" or the "Group")

AIM: GTLY

Acquisition of Paul Tweed LLP, Issue of Equity and Total Voting Rights

Gateley (Holdings) Plc (AIM:GTLY), the legal and professional services group, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Paul Tweed LLP (Tweed), a reputation management and media law specialist with offices in Belfast and a presence in Dublin and London, for a consideration of £2.0m (the "Acquisition").

The Acquisition expands Gateley's legal offering in media law, reputation management, privacy, commercial litigation and brand protection and presents cross-selling opportunities into Tweed's existing and future client base. In addition, the Acquisition strengthens Gateley's position in the Irish professional services market providing a platform in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland from which it can offer broader legal services and allowing for growth and expansion in Belfast, where the Group's tax and capital allowances specialists, Gateley Capitus are based, as well as a number of Construction lawyers.

Background to Tweed

Tweed is a legal business, established in 2017 specialising in reputation management, privacy and data protection issues, commercial litigation and brand protection. The team is led by Paul Tweed, who has over 30 years' experience and is acknowledged globally as an expert in his field. The firm offers a specialist, multi-jurisdictional approach for corporates, governments and individuals.

Tweed provides solutions to cyber harassment, misuse of private information and privacy breaches. The team is highly skilled in dealing with both online and offline reputation management (pre and post publication) to protect individuals, corporates, governments and brands. It also has extensive experience of complex and high value commercial litigation.

Acquisition rationale

The acquisition of Tweed is consistent with Gateley's growth strategy to acquire legal and professional services businesses which offer complementary specialist services, across Gateley's five business groups, and, in addition, where geographical location plays an important role.

The Acquisition provides Gateley with a platform for growth in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, adding weight to its national legal team and enabling the Group to attract talent from a wider pool at both graduate and qualified levels. Tweed's expertise strengthens Gateley's Commercial Dispute Resolution and Litigation teams, who also advise corporates and individuals on a wide range of commercial and private disputes across the UK.

Terms of the Acquisition

Under the terms of the Acquisition, Gateley will acquire Tweed for a consideration of £2.0m settled 50 percent. in cash and 50 percent. by the issuance of 529,520 ordinary shares of 10 pence each in the capital of Gateley ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of £1.8885 per Ordinary Share.

Issue of new Ordinary Shares

As part of the consideration, 529,520 Ordinary Shares are to be issued. Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the 529,520 new Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM ("Admission"). It is expected that Admission will take place at 8.00 a.m. on Friday 6 March, 2020.

The new Ordinary Shares will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares in issue. Following Admission, Gateley's total issued share capital will comprise 116,006,530 Ordinary Shares. This number may be used by shareholders in Gateley as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the share capital of Gateley under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

Michael Ward, Gateley Chief Executive Officer, said:

"I am delighted to welcome Tweed to Gateley. We have considered expanding into the Irish market for some time and Tweed strengthens our presence in the Irish professional services market. We see this move as a springboard for developing a strong legal services offering in Ireland as well as supporting our growth plans for Gateley Capitus, which was our first transaction as a plc in 2016 and is already well established in Belfast. The acquisition is highly complementary and we have already identified a number of opportunities for our national teams, particularly in Commercial Disputes Resolution and Litigation."

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