RTHM.L Regulatory News (RTHM)

22 May 2007 07:04

Blinkx Plc22 May 2007 NOT FOR PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE IN WHOLE OR IN PART IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, OR JAPAN BLINKX PLC ANNOUNCES PLACING PRICE OF 45 PENCE PER ORDINARY SHARE Cambridge, UK - 22 May 2007 - Blinkx plc ("Blinkx" or the "Company") todayannounces that the placing price for the private placing of new ordinary shares(the "Placing Shares") to institutional investors in the UK and Europe (the "Placing") has been set at 45 pence per ordinary share (the "Placing Price").This gives the Company a market capitalisation of £125 million (approximately$247m). The Placing comprises 56,444,444 new ordinary shares, which represents inaggregate approximately 20% per cent of the Company's issued ordinary sharecapital following the issue of the 21,931,383 new ordinary shares to be issuedto Autonomy pursuant to the Demerger Agreement (the "Issue Shares") and thePlacing Shares. The gross proceeds of the Placing to be received by Blinkx fromthe issue of new ordinary shares are £25 million (approximately $50m). Dealings in the Demerger Shares are expected to commence on the AIM market at8.00am BST today under the ticker symbol BLNX. Dealings in the Issue Shares andthe Placing Shares are expected to commence tomorrow at 08:00am. Commenting on today's announcement, Suranga Chandratillake, Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Blinkx, said: "We are clearly delighted that the initial interest inBlinkx has been converted into strong demand, with the Placing being stronglyoversubscribed and pricing at the top end of the range. Judging from the levelof corporate activity among the large internet and content brands both in the USand internationally, it is clear to us at this stage that video is the web'snext area for significant investment and development. With over 13 millionindexed hours of video content from thousands of diverse sources, includingcontent from over 130 content partners, Blinkx is, by our estimates, wellpositioned as the world's largest video search engine in terms of indexed hoursof content." Mr Chandratillake concluded: "Our leadership in the online TV search marketplaces us at the heart of this exciting and fast growing segment of the web,providing the critical link between the consumer audience and the fragmentedreality of content ownership and distribution across the internet. We now beginlife as a public company with the balance sheet to match our operationalstrength, and we look forward to the continued development of our businessagainst the backdrop of the rapidly accelerating online television market." Summary of the Placing: Placing Price 45 pence Number of ordinary shares in the Placing 56,444,444 Total number of ordinary shares in issue immediately 277,470,635following the Placing and the Issue Gross proceeds receivable by the Company £25 million (approximately $50 million) Market capitalisation at the Placing Price £125 million (approximately $247 million) Autonomy and Dr Mike Lynch have separately retained significant shareholdings inBlinkx representing approximately 10 per cent and 8.7 per cent respectively ofthe Company following Admission and have undertaken (subject to certainexceptions) not to sell their remaining holdings for at least 360 days. All U.S. dollar amounts are based on the noon-buying exchange as published byFederal Reserve Bank of New York for Pounds Sterling on 18 May 2007 of $1.9755for each £1.00. Significant Shareholders • As at 21 May 2007, save as set out below, the Directors were not aware of any persons who, immediately following admission of the Placing Shares, will be interested in 3% or more of the issued share capital of the Company: Fidelity 11.5% Autonomy Corporation plc 10.0% Dr Michael Lynch 8.7% Capital Research & Management 5.4% F&C 5.4% Standard Life 4.1% Baillie Gifford 4.1% Oppenheimer Funds 3.1% BlackRock 3.2% Enquiries: Financial Media Contacts: Analyst and Investor Contacts:Edward Bridges/Haya Chelhot Suranga Chandratillake, Chief Executive Officer Financial Dynamics Blinkx plc +44 (0)20 7831 3113 +1 (415) 848-2986 Citi Mark Fisher +44 (0)20 7986 8525 Charles Lytle +44 (0)20 7986 0519 Important Notices This announcement is not an admission document and investors should notsubscribe for or purchase any shares referred to in this announcement except onthe basis of information in the admission document (the "Admission Document")published by Blinkx plc in connection with the admission of ordinary shares (the"Ordinary Shares") in the capital of Blinkx plc to trading on the London StockExchange plc's AIM market (the "Admission"). Copies of the Admission Documentare available from Blinkx plc's registered office. Capitalised terms used in this announcement shall have the same meaning as inthe Admission Document. The contents of this announcement, which has been prepared by and is the soleresponsibility of the Company, have been approved solely for the purposes ofsection 21(2)(b) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 by Citi of CitiCentre, Canada Square, London E14 5LB. Citi which is regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial ServicesAuthority, is acting exclusively for Autonomy and Blinkx in relation to theDemerger and exclusively for Blinkx as global co-ordinator, nominated adviserand bookrunner in connection with the Placing and proposed application foradmission of the Company's shares to trading on the AIM market of the LondonStock Exchange plc. Citi is not acting for any other person in connection withthe Demerger, the Placing and proposed application for admission to trading onAIM and will not be responsible to any other person for providing theprotections afforded to customers of Citi, or for advising any other person inconnection with the Demerger, the Placing and proposed application for admissionto trading on AIM. The information contained herein is not for publication or distribution in theUnited States, Canada, Australia or Japan. This announcement does not constituteor form part of an offer to sell or issue, or any solicitation of an offer tobuy or subscribe for any securities referred to herein. The securities referredto herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Actof 1933, as amended, (the "Act") and may not be offered or sold, directly orindirectly, in or into the United States absent registration under that Act oran available exemption from it. The Company and the selling shareholders do notintend to register the securities or conduct a public offering in the UnitedStates. Securities in Blinkx have not been and will not be registered under theapplicable securities laws of Australia, Canada, or Japan and, absentappropriate exemptions may not be offered or sold within Australia, Canada, orJapan or to, or for the account or benefit of, citizens or residents ofAustralia, Canada, or Japan. The Placing and the distribution of this announcement and other information inconnection with the Placing in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by lawand persons into whose possession any document or other information referred toherein comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restriction.Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of thesecurities laws of any such jurisdiction. This announcement does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation tosell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for,any securities and any purchase of or application for securities of the Companypursuant to the Placing should only be made on the basis of the informationcontained in the Admission Document. The price and value of securities may go upas well as down. Persons needing advice should contact a professional adviser. This announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identifiedby the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "estimates", "plans", "projects", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "may", "will", or "should" or, in each case, their negative or other variations orcomparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include matters thatare not historical facts and include statements regarding the Company'sintentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, theCompany's results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects,growth, strategies and the industry. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty becausethey relate to future events and circumstances. A number of factors could causeactual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed orimplied by the forward-looking statements including, without limitation, thefactors to be described in the risk factors section of the Admission Documentand the factors to be described in the operating and financial review section ofthe Admission Document. Forward-looking statements may and often do differ materially from actualresults. Any forward-looking statements in this announcement reflect theCompany's view with respect to future events as at the date of this announcementand are subject to risks relating to future events and other risks,uncertainties and assumptions relating to the Company's operations, results ofoperations, growth strategy and liquidity. Save as required by law or by theListing Rules, Disclosure and Transparency Rules or Prospectus Rules of theFinancial Services Authority, the Company undertakes no obligation publicly torelease the results of any revisions to any forward-looking statements in thisannouncement that may occur due to any change in its expectations or to reflectevents or circumstances after the date of this announcement. Information in this announcement or any of the documents relating to the Placingcannot be relied upon as a guide to future performance. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange