Inspiration Hlt Regulatory News (IHC)

30 Oct 2007 07:01

India Hospitality Corp.30 October 2007 For Immediate Release October 30, 2007 INDIA HOSPITALITY CORP. Application for admission of shares and warrants to the CREST system New York, NY. - October 30, 2007 - India Hospitality Corp. (LSE: IHC, "IHC" or "India Hospitality"), today announced that de-materialized depositary interestsrepresenting its shares and warrants have been admitted to the CREST system. TheCREST settlement system allows securities to be transferred from one CRESTaccount to another without the need to use share certificates, warrants orwritten instruments of transfer. IHC believes that admission to the CREST systemwill facilitate settlement of its shares and warrants in a more timely andefficient manner and benefit its shareholders. Securities issued by non-U.K. companies, such as IHC, cannot be held ortransferred in the CREST system. However, to enable investors to settle suchsecurities through the CREST system, a depositary or custodian holds therelevant securities and issue de-materialized depositary interests representingthe underlying securities, which are held in trust for the holders of thedepositary interests. It is possible for CREST members to hold and transferinterests in shares or warrants within CREST pursuant to a depositary interestarrangement to be established by IHC with Capita IRG Trustees Limited (the"Depositary"). The shares and warrants are not themselves admitted to CREST.Instead, the Depositary issues depositary interests in respect of the underlyingshares and warrants ("Depositary Interests"). The Depositary Interests are independent securities constituted under Englishlaw and may be held and transferred through the CREST system. DepositaryInterests have the same ISIN as the underlying shares and warrants and do notrequire a separate listing on AIM. The Depositary Interests are created andissued pursuant to a Deed Poll entered into by the Depositary, which governs therelationship between the Depositary and the holders of the Depositary Interests. If CREST members wish to trade the Depositary Interests instead of holdingphysical certificates, they can do so by submitting a stock deposit pursuant tostandard CREST procedures. Holders of certificated shares or warrants who arenot CREST members, but would like to dematerialize their shares or warrants, mayutilize a CREST transfer form. Transfers of the Depositary Interests will besubject to stamp duty reserve tax at the rate of 0.5%. Holders of shares or warrants who wish to continue holding and/or trading sharesor warrants in certificated form may continue to do so. Shares and warrants heldby IHC's "affiliates" (as defined under Rule 144 of the U.S. Securities Act of1933) will initially remain in certificated form. U.S. persons holding shares or warrants may still be subject to transferrestrictions under the U.S. securities laws requiring any resales to be pursuantto an exemption from the U.S. Securities Act, such as Rule 144A or Regulation S.Holders of shares or warrants should consult with their counsel with respect totransfer questions. CREST members may be required to submit a depositcertification form to Capita, certifying compliance with the relevant transferrestrictions imposed by U.S. securities law. The deposit certification form mustbe submitted to Capita no later than 6 hours after submission of a stock depositto CREST. For further details, please refer to CREST operational bulletin number 1281,issued on March 19, 2007, for the special procedures contained therein.About India Hospitality Corp. IHC was created as a blank-check company to acquire Indian businesses or assets in the hospitality, leisure, tourism, travel and related industries, including but not limited to hotels, resorts, timeshares, serviced apartments and restaurants. In August 2006, IHC raised US $103 million in an IPO and private placement and is listed on AIM, a market operated by London Stock Exchange plc, under the ticker IHC. IHC was sponsored and advised by Hayground Cove Asset Management LLC, a New York-based investment management firm with approximately US $1.9 billion in assets under management as of July 31, 2007. In July 2007, IHC closed on the acquisition from Navis Capital Partners and its Affiliates of India-based Mars Restaurants Private Limited ("Mars"), an emerging hotel and restaurant company, and SkyGourmet Catering Private Limited ("SkyGourmet"), an airline catering company operating out of four locations in India. About Mars and SkyGourmet Since its incorporation in 2000, Mars has diversified into bakery outlets and operating and managing food courts and hotels. SkyGourmet was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Mumbai. SkyGourmet currently provides in-flight catering services to a number of domestic and international airlines, including Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Air India Express, Indian Airlines, Malaysian Airlines and Air France. It has operations in Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi and Pune. For the nine months ended December 31, 2006, the combined entities had audited revenues of approximately US $18.9 million and 1,700 employees. For further information, please contact: Investor Relations Contact: ICR Inc.William Schmitt203-682-8200 Media Contact: Buchanan CommunicationsRichard Darby, Isabel Podda+44 207 466 5000 Nominated Adviser and Broker: Deutsche BankMumtaz Naseem+44 20 7545 8000Deutsche Bank is IHC's nominated adviser and broker for the purposes of the AIM Rules for Companies. Its responsibilities as IHC's nominated adviser and broker under the AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers are owed solely to London Stock Exchange plc and not to IHC, any director of IHC or any other person. No offer or invitation to purchase or subscribe for ordinary shares in or warrants to purchase or subscribe for ordinary shares or warrants of IHC is being made by this announcement. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange