Cash Offer for Birse Group

26 Jun 2006 11:46

HSBC Holdings PLC26 June 2006 RECOMMENDED CASH OFFER FOR BIRSE GROUP PLC GROUP BY BALFOUR BEATTY PLC Further to the recommended cash offer for Birse Group plc by Balfour Beatty plcof 16.625 pence per Birse share announced today, HSBC Bank plc has given anirrevocable undertaking to accept the offer in respect of its holding of19,439,838 Birse shares (representing approximately 10.1 per cent of the issuedshare capital of Birse) for a total consideration of £3.2 million. The undertaking will cease to be binding in the event of a higher competingoffer. The terms of the offer are set out in the announcement made today to the LondonStock Exchange by Balfour Beatty plc. HSBC Bank plcHSBC Bank plc is a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc which servesover 125 million customers worldwide through some 9,500 offices in 76 countriesand territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the MiddleEast and Africa. With assets of US$1,502 billion at 31 December 2005, HSBC isone of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC ismarketed worldwide as 'the world's local bank'. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange