Acquisition

16 Aug 2005 17:51

Premier Asset Management PLC16 August 2005 Premier Asset Management PLC (the "Company") Acquisition Premier announces the acquisition of the management of the £63m Solus EasternEnterprise Fund (the "Fund") from KBL Investment Funds Ltd for a totalconsideration expected to be approximately £1.91 million subject to investors inthe Fund ("Fund Shareholders") voting in favour of the transaction which will beeffected via a Scheme of Arrangement (the "Scheme"). The Solus Eastern Enterprise fund is a sub fund of Solus Investment Company andunder the scheme the assets will transfer to the Premier Eastern EnterpriseFund, a sub fund of Premier Funds (the "New Fund") and Fund Shareholders will beissued shares in the New Fund. The consideration, broadly equivalent to 3% of the NAV of the Fund, willcomprise initial consideration in cash equal to 1.5 per cent. of the NAV as atthe effective date of the Scheme and two further tranches payable after 6 monthsand 12 months, each equal to 0.75 per cent. of the NAV attributable to FundShareholders as at those respective dates. The consideration is subject to anoverall cap of £3 million. Based on the Fund's NAV at the valuation point on 15August 2005, the total consideration would have been £1.91 million. The New Fund will be managed at Premier by Richard Muckart, Chief InvestmentOfficer and head of Asian Equities. Richard has been with Premier since March2000 and has managed the Asian portfolio of Premier Pacific Income Fund Ltdsince its launch in June 2000. Prior to joining Premier, Richard was Head ofEmerging Markets at Edinburgh Fund Managers Ltd where he managed EdinburghDragon. He previously held senior positions with Dunedin and with Ivory & Simewhere he managed the first Far East excluding Japan investment trust, PacificAssets, from inception. A Scheme document is being sent to Fund Shareholders today and an extraordinarygeneral meeting has been convened on 2nd September 2005 when a 75% majority voteof Fund Shareholders will be required for the Scheme to become effective. As at 31st July, Premier, via its regulated subsidiaries, had funds undermanagement of £649m across a range of open and closed ended funds and privateclient portfolios. Enquiries Premier Asset Management PlcSimon Weldon 01483 400421Neil Macpherson 01483 400420 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange