Offer Update

26 Sep 2007 07:22

Irish Continental Group PLC26 September 2007 26 September 2007 Irish Continental Group plc ("ICG" or the "Company") Offer Update Announcement On 21 and 24 September 2007, Moonduster Limited ("Moonduster") made severalmarket announcements that pursuant to various acquisitions, through contractsfor difference, of voting rights over ICG Units between 20 and 24 September 2007the cash consideration payable pursuant to the Moonduster scheme to acquire theCompany has increased initially to €25.00 and €25.20 per ICG Unit and mostrecently to €25.25 per ICG Unit (the "Revised Moonduster Scheme" and togetherthe "Moonduster Announcements"). On 25 September 2007, Moonduster communicated to the Independent Directors that,if it was requested to do so, it would be unwilling to proceed with the RevisedMoonduster Scheme unless there is a reasonable prospect of the RevisedMoonduster Scheme being successful. In particular, Moonduster also confirmedthat it will only be willing to consent to any necessary amendments to theimplementation agreement dated 14 June 2007 between Moonduster and the Companyin circumstances where it has received confirmation from Aella that it will notoppose the Revised Moonduster Scheme. In effect this represents a new conditionfor the Revised Moonduster Scheme. However, the Moonduster Announcements made noreference to any proposed new conditions in relation to the Revised MoondusterScheme that were not already set out in the announcement of the MoondusterScheme on 14 June 2007. The reconvened court meetings and the reconvened extraordinary general meeting(EGM) to consider the revised recommended acquisition for cash of the entireissued and to be issued share capital of ICG by Aella plc ("Aella") for cashconsideration of €24.00 per ICG Unit (the "Revised Aella Scheme") are due totake place today at The Clarion Hotel Dublin IFSC, International FinancialServices Centre, Dublin 1 on 26 September 2007 with the first reconvened meetingcommencing at 2.30pm. The Independent Directors continue to recommend the Revised Aella Scheme andshareholders should note that there can be no certainty that any higher offer,including the Revised Moonduster Scheme, will actually be made to shareholders.Depending on the outcome of the Revised Aella Scheme shareholder meetings, theIndependent Directors will consult with the Irish Takeover Panel. A furtherannouncement will be made in due course. Enquiries Irish Continental Group plc Telephone +353 1 855 2222Independent DirectorsJohn B McGuckian NCB Corporate Finance Telephone +353 1 611 5611Liam BoothJonathan SimmonsShane Lawlor Drury Communications Telephone +353 1 260 5000Billy MurphyPaddy Hughes The Independent Directors of Irish Continental Group plc accept responsibilityfor the information contained in this announcement. To the best of theirknowledge and belief (having taken all reasonable care to ensure that such isthe case), the information contained in this announcement for which they takeresponsibility is in accordance with the facts and does not omit anything likelyto affect the import of such information. NCB Corporate Finance Limited, which is authorised in Ireland by the FinancialRegulator under the Investment Intermediaries Act 1995, is acting exclusivelyfor Irish Continental Group plc and no one else in connection with theacquisition and will not be responsible to anyone other than Irish ContinentalGroup plc for providing the protections afforded to clients of NCB CorporateFinance Limited nor for providing advice in relation to the acquisition. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange