Naked Wine Regulatory News (WINE)

26 Jan 2005 13:43

Majestic Wine PLC26 January 2005 NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART IN OR INTO THEUNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN 26 January 2005 MAJESTIC WINE PLC Placing of 9.55 million existing Ordinary Shares in Majestic Wine PLC ("Majestic" or the "Company") at 250p by Teather & Greenwood on behalf of the Apthorpfamily interests (the "Placing"). The Company today announces that Teather & Greenwood has placed 9.55 millionexisting Ordinary Shares of 7.5p each (the "Shares") in Majestic representing15.0% of Majestic's issued share capital with institutional investors. TheShares have been placed on behalf of the trustees of a trust associated withJohn Apthorp and one other member of the Apthorp family which, following thePlacing, has an interest in 24.5% of the issued ordinary share capital. Thehighlights of the Placing are: - 9.55 million Ordinary Shares of 7.5p each in Majestic, representing 15.0%of the issued share capital, have been placed by Teather & Greenwood withinstitutional investors - The Placing comprises 9,452,000 (14.84%) existing Ordinary Shares held bya trust in which John Apthorp has an interest and 100,000 existing OrdinaryShares held by one other member of the Apthorp family - John Apthorp's interest in Ordinary Shares has been reduced from19,088,976 Ordinary Shares to 9,636,976 Ordinary Shares, a reduction from 29.98%to 15.13% of the issued ordinary share capital - The Trustees of the trust in which John Apthorp has an interest haveagreed not to sell any further Ordinary Shares in Majestic, subject to Teather &Greenwood's consent in certain circumstances, until the publication of theresults for the six months ending 26 September 2005 - As a result of the Placing, the free float (i.e. excluding the Apthorpfamily interests) of the Company will increase to approximately 75%, therebyincreasing liquidity in Majestic Ordinary Shares Commenting on the share sale Tim How, Chief Executive, said: "I am delighted with the reception from investors and that the Placing washeavily oversubscribed. The Company will benefit from the improvement in theliquidity of our shares.". Enquiries to: Majestic Wine Tel: 01923 298 200Tim How Teather & Greenwood Tel: 020 7426 9000Jeff Keating Buchanan Communications Tel: 020 7466 5000Tim ThompsonNicola Cronk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange