HIBU.L Regulatory News (HIBU)

For Immediate Release 29 October 2012

hibu plc("hibu" or the "Group")

Restructuring progress

On 25 October 2012, hibu plc announced that, as is customary in capital restructurings, it had decided that it is appropriate to suspend all further payments of principal and interest to the Group's lenders until such time as a restructuring of its balance sheet can be concluded. In view of this decision, a number of waivers, consents and amendments are currently being sought from the wider lending group so that the restructuring discussions can proceed as efficiently and effectively as possible. The CoCom, which holds, manages or has a beneficial interest in c.24% (or £537.3m) of the debt under the 2009 facilities agreement (£2.279bn) has unanimously agreed to support these waivers, subject to credit committee approval. In addition, the Group has decided to cancel its undrawn and unavailable revolving credit facility.

As a result, no payments are expected to be made to any term loan lender under the facilities agreements dated 30 November 2009 (as amended). Similarly, no payments are expected to be made to any lender under the facilities agreements dated 27 April 2006 (as amended) other than certain incentive related payments relating to amendments sought from those lenders.

The waivers, consents and amendments will require the approval of lenders under the 2009 facilities agreement holding two thirds of the debt by value under that agreement and the approval of lenders under the 2006 facilities agreement. The Group currently intends to launch one or more schemes of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006 to give effect to necessary arrangements if insufficient lenders vote in favour of them.

The Group has now received correspondence from some members of the 2006 lenders that they may seek to launch litigious actions to recover amounts due to them (but unpaid as a result of the suspension of payment) under their facility (up to an aggregate of circa £65m). This may include a petition for the winding-up of the relevant borrowing entities. hibu intends to deal with any amounts due under the 2006 facility as part of the overall restructuring process and does not believe that any legal action by any 2006 lender to recover such amounts has merit or should delay or significantly impede the broader restructuring process.

This decision not to make payment to the Group's lenders under the aforementioned facilities agreements does not impact on payments to our employees, partners, suppliers, trade or other creditors or any other counterparty. The Group retains healthy cash balances and therefore the decision is not driven by liquidity considerations, but rather a desire to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all financial lenders consistent with the overall balance sheet restructuring that is anticipated.

Ends

About hibu

hibu helps communities thrive by facilitating millions of connections each year between consumers who want to find products and services locally and the merchants who provide them.

hibu helps consumers find local businesses and shop in new, innovative ways. Its dedicated online hibu markets provide comprehensive, convenient access to local goods and services. hibu helps merchants compete in the digital world with a broad range of marketing and commerce solutions delivered online and through hibu's direct sales teams. Building on its heritage as a premier directories provider, hibu continues to offer a full range of print- and distribution-based marketing services.

hibu operates in the UK, US, Spain, Argentina, Chile, Peru and US Hispanic markets. In the year ended 31 March 2012, hibu had 1.2 million SME customers and total revenues of £1.6 billion.

For further information about hibu, visit hibu.com.

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