Placing and Open Offer

25 Mar 2008 07:17

Phytopharm PLC25 March 2008 25 March 2008 Phytopharm plc Results of Placing and Open Offer On 28 February 2008, Phytopharm plc (PYM: London Stock Exchange) ("Phytopharm"or the "Company") announced a Placing and Open Offer of 38,929,048 New OrdinaryShares at 22p per share to raise approximately £8.6 million (£7.4 million net ofexpenses) in order, together with the Company's existing funds, to furtherdevelop and exploit the potential of the product candidates in its clinicalpipeline. The Placing has been fully underwritten by KBC Peel Hunt. Under the terms of the Placing Agreement, KBC Peel Hunt has conditionally placed22,854,630 Placing Shares with institutional and other investors (subject toclawback to satisfy valid applications by Qualifying Shareholders) at the IssuePrice. Additionally, undertakings to subscribe for 16,074,418 New OrdinaryShares, in aggregate, have been received from Existing Ordinary Shareholders. Qualifying Shareholders were invited to subscribe for Open Offer Shares on thebasis of 7 New Ordinary Shares for every 10 Existing Ordinary Shares held at theRecord Date. Under the Open Offer which closed at 11.00 a.m. on 20 March 2008, validapplications have been received in respect of 22,844,201 shares (representingapproximately 58.68 per cent. of the 38,929,048 Open Offer Shares availableunder the Open Offer). The remaining shares have been placed with institutionalinvestors and with the Directors of Phytopharm in accordance with the Placingarrangements. The Placing and Open Offer remain conditional, inter alia, upon the passing ofcertain resolutions to be proposed at the Company's Extraordinary GeneralMeeting, to be held at 10.30 a.m. on 27 March 2008, being duly passed andadmission of the New Ordinary Shares to trading on the London Stock Exchange andlisting on the Official List of the UK Listing Authority becoming effective. The New Ordinary Shares, when issued and fully paid, will rank pari passu in allrespects with the Existing Ordinary Shares. Subject to the passing of certainresolutions at the Extraordinary General Meeting, admission of the New OrdinaryShares is expected to become effective on 28 March 2008. The definitions used in this announcement shall have the same meanings given tothem in the Prospectus dated 28 February 2008. Notes to Editors Phytopharm plc Phytopharm is a pharmaceutical development and functional food company. Ourproducts are developed from medicinal plants, thereby reducing the developmentrisk, cost and time to market. As a virtual company, Phytopharm's model iscentred on a lean cash burn with all laboratory, manufacturing and clinical workout-sourced to specialists, while core competencies such as strategy andmanagement are maintained in-house. Close collaboration with charitableorganisations enhances our interaction with worldwide specialists andaccelerates our development programmes increasing their value. For furtherinformation about Phytopharm please see our website at www.phytopharm.com Enquiries U.K. Investor Relations KBC Peel Hunt (Sponsor, Phytopharm plc FD Stockbroker and Underwriter) Dr Daryl Rees CEO David Yates Capel Irwin Piers Morgan CFO John Dineen Matt Goode +44 1480 437 697 +44 207 831 3113 +44 207 418 8900 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange