Wt Wner Usd Regulatory News (WNER)

31 Mar 2005 07:02

Warner Estate Holdings PLC31 March 2005 Warner raises £13.8m in cash placing Warner Estate Holdings plc (the "Company") today announces a placing for cash of2,547,738 new Ordinary Shares, representing 5 per cent. of the existing issuedordinary share capital of the Company, at a price of 540p per share to raisegross proceeds of approximately £13.8 million (£13.6million net of estimatedexpenses) (the "Placing"). The Placing is fully underwritten by HSBC. The proceeds of the Placing will be used to part finance the recommended cashoffer for Ashtenne Holdings plc ("Ashtenne"). Full details of this offer areoutlined in the rule 2.5 announcement released this morning. Application is being made for the new Ordinary Shares to be admitted to theOfficial List of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on the London StockExchange's market for listed securities. It is expected that dealings willcommence in the new Ordinary Shares on 5 April 2005. The new Ordinary Shares tobe issued pursuant to the Placing will, when issued, rank pari passu with theexisting Ordinary Shares including the right to receive all dividends or otherdistributions hereafter declared, made or paid in respect of the ordinary sharecapital of the Company. The new Ordinary Shares will initially be issued inuncertificated form through the CREST system. Enquiries Warner Estate Holdings plcPeter Collins 020 7907 5100 HSBC Bank plcHeraclis Economides 020 7991 8888 The offer for securities in the Company has not been made, directly orindirectly, in or into the United States, Canada, Australia, the Republic ofIreland or Japan. Accordingly, copies of this press release are not being andmust not be mailed or otherwise distributed or sent in or into or from theUnited States, Canada, Australia, the Republic of Ireland or Japan and personsreceiving this press release (including custodians, nominees and trustees) mustnot distribute or send it into or from the United States, Canada, Australia, theRepublic of Ireland or Japan. HSBC Bank plc which is regulated and authorised by the Financial ServicesAuthority is acting exclusively for the Company in connection with the Placingand will not be responsible to any other person or persons for providing theprotections afforded to customers of HSBC or for giving advice in relation tothe Placing or the contents of this announcement. In acting for the Company,HSBC has relied on information provided to it by both the Company and theDirectors. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange