22 Mar 2011 16:53
22 March 2011
JJB Sports plc
Results of Creditor and Shareholder Meetings
As announced by JJB Sports plc ("JJB" or the "Company") earlier today, creditors and shareholders have approved the company voluntary arrangements proposed by the Company and its wholly owned subsidiary, Blane Leisure Limited ("Blane"), (the "CVA Proposals"), details of which were published on 3 March 2011.
The CVA Proposals were approved by over 96 per cent of the creditors in JJB and by over 89 per cent of the creditors in Blane. In both JJB and Blane, the CVA Proposals were approved by over 75 per cent of the landlord vote.
In addition, at the general meeting of the Company held this afternoon, shareholders approved by way of a special resolution the proposed cancellation of the listing of the Company's ordinary shares (the "Ordinary Shares") on the premium segment of the Official List and from trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities and the application for admission of the Ordinary Shares to trading on AIM ("Resolution 1") and by way of an ordinary resolution the CVA Proposals for the purposes of Rule 21 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers ("Resolution 2").
Details of the results of the voting (which was carried out by poll) are set out in the table at the end of this announcement.
As a result of the approval of Resolution 1, the Company will submit a request to the UK Listing Authority to delist the Ordinary Shares from the premium segment of the Official List and from trading on London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities and the Company will apply for the Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM. It is expected that cancellation of the listing and trading of the Ordinary Shares on the premium segment of the Official List will take effect at 8.00 a.m. on 28 April 2011 (being not less than 20 business days from the passing of Resolution 1) and admission will take place and dealings in Ordinary Shares are expected to commence on AIM at 8.00 a.m. on 28 April 2011, being one day later than the expected date of cancellation and admission stated in the circular published by the Company on 3 March 2011.
Voting Results for the General Meeting:
Resolution | For | Against | Withheld | ||
Number | % | Number | % | Number | |
1. | 86,283,159 | 99.94 | 55,495 | 0.06 | 12,085 |
2. | 86,347,468 | 100.00 | 2,847 | 0.00 | 12,130 |
Notes:
1. Percentages in the table above represent percentages of votes cast.
2. A "vote withheld" is not a vote in law and is not counted in the calculation of the proportion of the votes "for" and "against" a resolution.
In accordance with Listing Rule 9.6, two copies of the Resolutions passed at the General Meeting have today been submitted to the UK Listing Authority and will shortly be available for inspection at the National Storage Mechanism on its website: http://www.hemscott.com/nsm.do. The full text of the Resolutions can also be viewed at the Company's website, www.jjbcorporate.co.uk.
Mike McTighe, Chairman of JJB, commented:
"We are very grateful for the overwhelming support that we have received from our stakeholders today and the confidence that they have placed in JJB's management to pursue a turnaround of the business over the coming years.
"Our focus is now on completing the capital raising to provide the necessary working capital to fund the on-going implementation of our turnaround plan."
Enquiries:
JJB Sports plc 01942 221 400
Mike McTighe
Keith Jones
Maitland 020 7379 5151
Neil Bennett
Richard Farnsworth
Lazard 020 7187 2000
Melanie Gee
Nick Fowler
Numis 020 7260 1000
Oliver Hemsley
Heraclis Economides
Notes to editors
About JJB Sports
JJB Sports plc (JJB: LSE) is one of the UK's leading sports retailers. The Group, headquartered in Wigan and today listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, currently trades from 246 JJB branded retail stores in the UK and Ireland and employs over 6,100 people. Further information about the Group can be found on the Group's corporate website, www.jjbcorporate.co.uk.