REG.L Regulatory News (REG)

13 Jul 2005 07:01

Urbium PLC12 July 2005 NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA OR JAPAN For Immediate Release 12 July 2005 Urbium PLC ("Urbium" or the "Group") Response to Statement by Regent Inns Urbium notes the announcement dated 12 July from Regent Inns PLC ("Regent"). TheBoard of Urbium confirms that earlier today it received a further proposal fromRegent to acquire the entire issued share capital of the Company, which it hasrejected. The proposal, if made, would be satisfied by the payment of 438.75 pence in cash and the issue of 6.8312 new Regent shares in exchange for each Urbium share. Based on the mid-market closing price of 78.5 pence for a Regent share on 11 July 2005, the proposal values each Urbium share at 975 pence per share, with the cash consideration of 438.75 pence representing 45 per cent. of the offer price and the share element valued at 536.25 pence representing 55 per cent. of the value of the proposal. This was the last of four approaches from Regent, each of which Urbium has considered seriously and in an appropriate timeframe to allow proper consultation with its Board, its advisers and its largest shareholders. The proposal was subject to a number of pre-conditions and conditions and wasexpressed to be final and would not be increased. The Board of Urbium has been entirely consistent in its approach, evaluation,and response to these proposals from Regent. Having again discussed this latestproposal with its major shareholders, the rationale for rejection has notchanged. The Board, which is being advised by Numis Securities, considered thelatest Regent proposal and concluded (taking into account, inter alia, thelevel, nature of consideration and conditionality of the proposal) that it wasnot in the best interests of Urbium shareholders. Numis Securities, on behalf of Urbium, has recently received serious expressionsof interest from a number of parties who have expressed a desire to makeconditional all cash offers for the Company. The Board and Numis Securitiesintend to carefully evaluate these approaches, together with any others that maybe received, and will update shareholders and the market when appropriate.Urbium is keen to bring this process, which is disruptive to its business, to aconclusion in the shortest possible timescale. John Conlan, Chairman, said: "The Board remains firmly committed to deliveringvalue for Urbium shareholders under the leadership of Steve Richards, itsrecently appointed Chief Executive, who is continuing to implement our strategicplan." This announcement has not been made with the consent of Regent Inns PLC. - Ends - Enquiries: Urbium PLC 020 7434 0030John Conlan, ChairmanSteve Richards, Chief Executive Numis Securities Limited 020 7776 1588Jagjit Mundi, Head of Corporate Finance Weber Shandwick Square Mile 020 7067 0700Kevin Smith/James Chandler/Helen Thomas Numis Securities Limited ("Numis") which is regulated in the United Kingdom byThe Financial Services Authority is acting for Urbium in relation to the mattersdescribed in this announcement and is not advising any other person, andaccordingly will not be responsible to anyone other than Urbium for providingthe protections afforded to customers of Numis or for providing advice inrelation to the matters described in this announcement. Note to Editors Urbium operates 33 contemporary bars in high footfall sites in major UK urbancentres. Positioned at the premium end of the market, and targeting an older,more affluent customer (typically 25-40), they have a substantial food offer anda significant private event and corporate function business. Urbium is market leader in the large and growing West End and City of Londonmarkets and its Tiger Tiger brand has a strong presence in prime regional sites.The Group operates 17 bars in the West End, 8 in the City and has 8 venues inthe regions. Urbium employs a sophisticated capacity management system to maximise returnsfrom its venues from lunchtime until late evening with the result that itachieves industry leading sales. Urbium is quoted on the AiM market under the stock ticker URM. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange