MGP.L Regulatory News (MGP)

4 Jul 2005 07:00

Mercury Group PLC04 July 2005 MERCURY GROUP PLC ("Mercury" or "the Group") Announces Investment by Tchenguiz Family Trust in a Placing of 6.7 million new Ordinary Shares to raise £2.0 million ("Placing") Mercury Group PLC, the provider of professional services to the propertyindustry, is pleased to announce that it has raised £2.0 million through theissue of 666,666,666 new Ordinary Shares at 0.3 pence per share (the "PlacingShares") to Pendana Limited ("Pendana"). Pendana is ultimately owned by theInvestec Trust (Guernsey) Limited as trustees of the Tchenguiz Family Trust.Pendana's resultant shareholding after full allotment of the Placing Shares isexpected to account for 25.9 per cent. of Mercury's enlarged issued sharecapital. The funds raised as a result of the Placing will be used to provide theGroup with additional working capital and for acquisitions, should suchopportunities present themselves. The Directors expect that the ensuing association with Consensus Business Group,which manages numerous investments on the behalf of Investec Trust (Guernsey)Limited, will be highly beneficial to the Group. In particular, the associationwill provide a variety of cross-selling opportunities and synergies. ConsensusBusiness Group is managed by Vincent Tchenguiz, as agent for the TchenguizFamily Trust. It is responsible for a number of residential and commercialproperty interests, including approximately 200,000 ground rents situatedthroughout the United Kingdom, a 50 per cent. interest in the estate agentChestertons Global Limited and a commercial property portfolio with gross assetsof approximately £4 billion, as well as having strong relationships with anumber of the United Kingdom's leading house builders. The Company, pursuant to authorities granted at the Annual General Meeting on 14June 2005, currently has authority to allot 550,000,000 new Ordinary Shares forcash other than on a pre-emptive basis. Accordingly, such number of new OrdinaryShares have been allotted to Pendana. The remaining 116,666,666 Placing Shareswill be allotted, conditional on the passing of the necessary resolutions at anExtraordinary General Meeting ("EGM") of the Company. Such EGM will be convenedby way of a circular to be issued in due course. The Placing Shares will rank pari passu with all the existing issued OrdinaryShares. Application will be made for the Placing Shares to be admitted totrading on AIM. Admission is expected to become effective in respect of550,000,000 Placing Shares on 8 July 2005. Admission of the balance will becomeeffective shortly after the EGM, conditional on the relevant resolutions beingpassed at such EGM. Pendana's shareholding following allotment of the initial 550,000,000 PlacingShares will amount to 22.3 per cent. of Mercury's issued share capitalfollowing allotment of such shares. Assuming full allotment of all of thePlacing Shares, Pendana's shareholding will amount to 25.9 per cent. ofMercury's enlarged issued share capital. David Williams, Chairman, commenting on the Placing, said, "I am delighted to announce this investment and our involvement with ConsensusBusiness Group. What is particularly exciting is the scope for Mercury to develop a closeworking relationship with Consensus Business Group, which is managed by VincentTchenguiz, as agent for the Tchenguiz Family Trust. Mercury Group offers a wide range of property-related services includingfacilities management and project management and I am confident that we will beable to be of service to Consensus Business Group across its wide range ofresidential and commercial property activities." Enquiries Mercury Group PLC David Williams, Chairman T: 020 7422 6566 Biddicks Katie Tzouliadis T: 020 7448 1000 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange