15 May 2008 08:00
| 15 May 2008 |
Share plc
(the "Group" or the "Company")
FIRST DAY OF DEALING & ADMISSION TO TRADING ON AIM
Share plc, parent company of The Share Centre, one of the UK's leading independent stockbrokers, is pleased to announce the commencement of trading in its shares on AIM today under the ticker symbol 'SHRE'.
Share has raised £1.08 million (before expenses) through a public offer for subscription at the offer price of 27p per ordinary share of 0.5p each ("Ordinary Shares") (the "Offer for Subscription"), valuing the Company at approximately £43.2 million on admission. The Offer for Subscription met with encouraging demand despite difficult market conditions, and was nearly four times over-subscribed with 2,891 applications from personal investors.
KBC Peel Hunt Ltd is acting as Nominated Adviser and Broker to the Company.
Sir Martin Jacomb, Chairman of Share plc said:
"We are delighted to be bringing Share plc to AIM after 17 years of trading since The Share Centre was established. Today the business remains true to its founding vision of more people enjoying straightforward investing. This commitment to personal investors is reflected in our decision to provide personal investors the opportunity to invest in Share plc through the Offer for Subscription, whose success represents a vote of confidence in the Group from its customers."
Share plc's AIM admission document is available on the Company's website at www.share.com/aim.
Key Points
Share plc was established in February 2000 as the parent company for a number of subsidiaries engaged in stockbroking related activities. Share plc's principal operating business, The Share Centre, began operations in April 1991 to provide self-select share services for personal investors and is the main revenue-producing entity of the Group. The Share Centre is now one of the UK's leading independent retail stockbrokers. Approximately 70 per cent. of its trading business is transacted through the internet website, www.share.com.
The Share Centre's main business is the provision and administration of execution-only and advisory trading accounts (referred to as Share Accounts), Individual Savings Accounts ("ISAs"), Personal Equity Plans ("PEPs") which have now converted to ISAs, Child Trust Fund accounts ("CTFs") and Investment Club Share Accounts to private investors, both directly and through corporate customers, throughout the UK. In addition, The Share Centre acts as an administrator of Share Incentive Plans ("SIPs") and Enterprise Investment Scheme ("EIS") portfolios and promotes a Self-Invested Personal Pension Plan ("SIPP") product which is administered by a third-party.
The Share Centre's advisory team provides investment advice and guidance to its account customers through the telephone, its website, www.share.com, and a magazine entitled 'The Shareholder'. The Share Centre also operates Sharemark, a periodic auction-based share trading facility, on which the shares of Share plc and other companies are traded. As at 31 March 2008 17 different securities were traded on Sharemark.
Sharefunds, a sister company to The Share Centre, acts as investment manager to a fund of funds OEIC designed for customers of The Share Centre. In addition, Sharefunds oversees the administration of third party OEICs and can also act as an Authorised Corporate Director.
Share plc intends to grow its market share as measured against its direct competitors. Revenue is linked to general stock market performance and activity and the Group sets its revenue targets by measuring quarterly benchmarked revenue share against a peer group of similar businesses. The Company currently has 6.01 per cent. share of this market. This has increased from 5.1 per cent. since the first quarter of 2006.
The Directors will seek to increase the revenues of the Group by the introduction of new self-select services in the field of pensions, increasing focus on the investment merits of collective investment schemes as well as considering the opportunities for the provision of investment services into other European Economic Area countries. In addition, suitable acquisition opportunities, as they arise, will be considered by the Directors in the furtherance of the Group's strategy. The types of acquisition targets which the Directors believe would be suitable are those which either broaden the Company's marketing reach in terms of its existing areas of business or which would provide complementary investment services to its existing customers. Whilst the Company would prefer to integrate further acquisitions into its existing operational infrastructure in Aylesbury, it is willing to consider the maintenance of additional offices and brand names if appropriate in the circumstances.
The Directors intend to attract a substantial number of new account customers, particularly those which attract regular fee income. By implementing its marketing strategy (set out in the Company's AIM admission document) and by offering customers high quality service, the Directors are confident that revenue will grow and that the Group's market share will increase.
The Offer for Subscription has allowed personal investors and others the opportunity to invest in the Company. The Offer for Subscription has raised £1,080,000 for the Company before expenses and approximately £250,000 after expenses (inclusive of VAT). The proceeds of the Offer for Subscription will be used to cover the costs of the Admission and the Offer for Subscription; any remaining proceeds will be used to provide the Group with additional working capital.
The Directors believe that admission to AIM will be beneficial for the Company's business because it will: (i) enhance the profile of the Group with its existing and new customers; (ii) enable the Group to facilitate acquisitions either through the issue of equity or via a placing; and (iii) assist the Company in the recruitment, retention and incentivisation of key staff through the use of share based incentives.
Offer for Subscription Statistics
| Offer for Subscription Price (per share) | 27 pence |
| Number of Offer for Subscription Shares applied for | 15,044,596 |
| Number of Offer for Subscription Shares available and allotted | 4,000,000 |
| Number of Free Shares under the 2008 Free Shares Offer allotted on 9 May 2008 | 313,200 |
| Total number of Ordinary Shares in issue on Admission | 160,117,928 |
| Percentage of Enlarged Issued Share Capital subject to the Offer for Subscription | 2.5% |
| Market capitalisation on Admission at the Offer for Subscription Price | £43,231,841 |
| Gross proceeds of the Offer for Subscription available to the Company | £1,080,000 |
| Estimated net proceeds of the Offer for Subscription available to the Company | £250,000 |
| Percentage of shares in public hands on Admission | 21.5% |
For further information, please contact:
| Share plc | |
| Gavin Oldham, Chief Executive | 01296 439 100 / 07767 337 696 |
| Richard Stone, Finance Director | 01296 439 270 |
| Lansons Communications | |
| Charlie Field | 020 7294 3616 |
| KBC Peel Hunt Ltd, Nominated Adviser and Broker | |
| Guy Wiehahn | 020 7418 8900 |
| Oliver Stratton | 020 7418 8900 |
www.share.com
www.shareplc.com (Investor Relations)
Notes to editors
Share plc is the holding company of a number of wholly-owned subsidiaries, including The Share Centre Limited ("The Share Centre"), Sharemark Limited ("Sharemark"), Sharefunds Limited ("Sharefunds") and Sharesecure Limited ("Sharesecure").
The Share Centre was established in April 1991 to provide self-select share services for a broad range of personal investors. Its main business is the provision and administration of self-select share services for personal investors, through which the following can be traded: (i) shares, warrants, covered warrants and nil paid rights in companies quoted on the Main Market, AIM and PLUS Markets; (ii) shares in companies traded on Sharemark; (iii) shares in companies listed on overseas stock exchanges where the shares can be dealt and settled in sterling through CREST; and (iv) shares in open-ended investment companies and units in unit trusts, investment trusts, exchange traded funds and exchange traded commodities.
The Share Centre provides and administers share accounts, ISAs and PEPs (which have now converted to ISAs) and investment club share accounts to personal investors, both directly and through corporate customers, throughout the UK. In addition, The Share Centre acts as an administrator of SIPs and EIS portfolios and promotes a SIPP product which is administered by a third-party. The Share Centre also offers both stakeholder and non-stakeholder CTFs, accepts HMRC-allocated CTFs and provides junior investment accounts for children ineligible to hold a CTF.
Sharemark is a multilateral trading facility developed especially for the buying and selling of infrequently traded shares. As at 31 March 2008, it had 17 securities admitted to trading, which include equities, loan stock and convertible loan stock. Share plc has traded on Sharemark since 30 June 2000 and over 29,000 transactions in Share plc have been undertaken since then. Prices for shares quoted on Sharemark, including Share plc, are determined using a periodic auction-based methodology, arriving at a single price without a bid-offer spread, daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly depending on the needs of the relevant company. Annual trading volumes on Sharemark have grown and, during 2007, 6.2 million shares and bond units were traded, compared with 2.8 million shares and bond units traded in 2006. Sharemark is also used as the market trading and valuation mechanism by Investbx, the West Midlands regional trading platform. Investbx is supported by the West Midlands Regional Development Agency, Advantage West Midlands, and is an appointed representative of The Share Centre.
As well as being admitted to trading on AIM and PLUS Markets, Share plc will continue to be traded via Sharemark, with auctions taking place at 5.00 pm each Thursday (with a cut-off time for orders at 4.30 pm). The website for Sharemark is www.sharemark.com.
Sharefunds oversees the administration of third party Open-ended Investment Companies ("OEICs") and can also act as authorised corporate director of the OEICs it administers, if required. The website for Sharefunds is www.sharefunds.com. In January 2008 the Sharefunds SF Portfolio OEIC, a fund of funds OEIC, was launched enabling retail investors to invest in one of three low cost managed portfolios, either within or outside a PEP, ISA, CTF, SIP or junior investment account. As at 31 March 2008, the Sharefunds SF Portfolio OEIC had over £1.7 million under management.
Sharesecure is a trustee custodian for both the Group's and third party corporate SIPs. In addition to providing services to the Company, Sharesecure currently provides corporate trustee services to Christian Salvesen plc, Arla Foods plc, Biocompatibles plc, Hyder Consulting plc and Venture Production (Services) Ltd.
Share plc's Board of Directors
Sir Martin Wakefield Jacomb, Non-executive Chairman
Gavin David Redvers Oldham, Chief Executive Officer
Richard William Stone, ACA Group Finance Director
Iain Paul Wallace, Group Compliance and Legal Services Director
Richard Ian Tolkien, Non-executive Director