Ocean Wilsons Regulatory News (OCN)

16 Apr 2007 16:20

Ocean Wilsons Holdings Ld16 April 2007 OCEAN WILSONS HOLDINGS LIMITED "Ocean Wilsons Holdings Limited ("OWHL") announces that, in preparation for thepossible flotation of its Brazilian business on the Luxembourg Stock Exchangeand the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange, its subsidiary, Wilson Sons Limited("Wilson Sons"), the owner of the Brazilian business, has applied to registerthe offering of Brazilian Depositary Receipts (the "BDRs") with the BrazilianSecurities Commission and to admit its shares to listing on the official list ofthe Luxembourg Stock Exchange. In line with market practice in Brazil, the application includes an indicativeprice range of US$ 10 - US$ 13.50 per Wilson Sons share. This implies a WilsonSons market capitalisation of between approximately US$ 710 million and US$ 960million and a value for OWHL's current holding at between approximately US$ 600million and US$ 810 million (after taking into account the new Wilson Sonsshares that may be issued for cash, with proceeds of between approximately US$110 million and US$ 150 million to be retained by Wilson Sons). This compares with the implied value for Wilson Sons of approximately US $490million based on the OWHL closing share price of 28 March 2007, the latestpracticable date prior to the publication of the circular to shareholdersconvening a Special General Meeting of OWHL to be held on 19 April at which,amongst other matters, shareholders are to be asked to approve the possibleflotation. It must be stressed that no final decision has been taken whether or not toproceed with the IPO, as to the price at which shares in Wilson Sons and BDRsmay be offered for sale or as to the number of shares in Wilson Sons that may beoffered for sale by OWHL. OWHL expects to make a further announcement as towhether the IPO is to proceed, with, if so, details of the offer price and otherrelevant information, before the end of the month." "This announcement and the information contained herein are not for publication,distribution or release in, or into, the United States, Canada, Australia orJapan. No prospectus will be prepared with any regulations made inimplementation of the Prospectus Directive (2003/71/EC) and the Wilson SonsShares and BDRs may not be offered to the public in the EEA, absent an exemptionfrom the requirement to prepare a prospectus. The Wilson Sons Shares and BDRshave not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act 1933 (asamended) ("Securities Act") and may not be offered or sold (a) in the UnitedStates absent registration or an applicable exemption from registrationrequirements under the Securities Act, or (b) in any other jurisdiction in whichsuch offer or sale is prohibited. This announcement shall not constitute anoffer to sell nor the solicitation of an offer to buy the Wilson Sons Shares orBDRs." This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange