Hansard Regulatory News (HSD)

14 May 2007 07:01

Hansard Global plc14 May 2007 Hansard Global PLC ("Hansard" or the "Company") Company Announcement Hansard Global plc, the specialist long-term savings provider based in the Isleof Man, received notice on Friday 11 May 2007 from Polar Cap Limited ("PolarCap"), a significant shareholder in Hansard that, in accordance with the plannedreorganisation of Polar Cap, a further stage in the solvent liquidation of PolarCap had been completed. As set out in the Company's prospectus dated 13 December 2006, the directors ofPolar Cap have adopted a plan of liquidation with a view to making a series ofliquidating distributions and effecting a members' voluntary solventliquidation. Pursuant to this plan it is intended that Polar Cap will distributeits holding in the Company, in-specie to its shareholders. Dr Polonsky,Hansard's Executive Chairman, continues to hold a majority of Polar Cap'sshares. An interim stage of this process (the "Interim Reorganisation") took place on 11May 2007 and as a result 39,502,509 ordinary shares of 50p each in Hansard havebeen distributed to the shareholders of Polar Cap who now hold these directly.There has been no change in the underlying beneficial ownership in Hansard'sshares as a result of the Interim Reorganisation. The table below sets out theholdings of Polar Cap, Dr Polonsky, The Polonsky Foundation and Others followingthis distribution: Number of ordinary Transfer of Number of ordinary Percentage shares2 in Hansard ordinary shares in shares in Hansard of held before Hansard pursuant to held after Interim Hansard's Interim Interim Reorganisation issued Reorganisation Reorganisation4 share capital5 Polar Cap 79,009,177 (39,502,509) 39,506,668 28.8%Dr Polonsky1 - 29,637,748 29,637,748 21.6%ThePolonskyFoundation - 6,790,878 6,790,878 4.9%Other3 - 3,073,883 3,073,883 2.2%Total 79,009,177 39,502,509 79,009,177 57.6% (1) Notification in accordance with DTR 3.1.4R (1) (a) and DTR 3.1.4R (1) (b) (2) All ordinary shares in Hansard carry one vote per share (3) Other relates to all remaining holders in Polar Cap (4) With the exception of Dr Polonsky none of the remaining Hansard Directors'holdings are impacted by the reorganization of Polar Cap (5) Percentage holdings shown with reference to the issued share capital of137,281,202 ordinary shares; total does not reflect the sum of the holdings byeach party due to rounding (6)The Polar Cap holding after the Interim Reorganisation includes 1,696 Hansardshares held for one untraced shareholder At the time of the IPO, Polar Cap, the Directors of the Company, and ThePolonsky Foundation signed lock-in agreements which remain in place until 17December 2007; each of the Directors of the Company also entered into orderlymarketing arrangements from 18 December 2007 until 17 December 2008.Additionally, shares in Hansard numbering 1,734,168 included within "Other" inthe table above are subject to similar orderly marketing agreements which remainin place until 17 December 2007. The Interim Reorganisation will be followed by additional steps to complete thevoluntary solvent liquidation of Polar Cap, scheduled to be completed no laterthan 31 December 2007. The table below sets out the expected holdings in Hansardof the above parties following completion of the plan of liquidation of PolarCap, assuming no further transactions by the parties: Number of Transfer of ordinary Number of ordinary Percentage of ordinary shares in Hansard shares in Hansard Hansard's shares in pursuant to the held after the issued share Hansard held reorganisation reorganisation capital2 on IPO1 Polar Cap 79,009,177 (79,009,177) Nil NilDr Polonsky - 59,276,073 59,276,073 43.2%The Polonsky Foundation - 13,581,888 13,581,888 9.9%Other3 - 6,151,216 6,151,216 4.5%Total 79,009,177 79,009,177 79,009,177 57.6% (1) After exercise of the over allotment option (2) See note (5) to table above (3) Includes fractional entitlements For further information, please contact Hansard Global PlcGordon Marr 01624 688000 Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial Ben Woodford / Dan de Belder 020 7861 3232 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange