Placing and Open Offer Result

3 Mar 2005 07:01

Creston PLC03 March 2005 3 March 2005 Creston Plc ("Creston" or the "Company")Result of Placing and Open Offer On 9 February 2005, Creston, the marketing services and communications group,announced the acquisition of Face Communications Limited, the ultimate parentcompany of the DLKW Group, and 26 per cent. of the issued share capital of DLKWHoldings (the other 74 per cent. being already owned by Face Communications),together with a Placing and Open Offer of 7,048,164 new ordinary shares at aprice of 145 pence per new ordinary share to raise approximately £9.5 million(net of expenses). The Board is pleased to announce that, following the closing of the Open Offerat 3.00 p.m on 2 March 2005 valid applications have been received fromQualifying Shareholders for all of the 2,158,666 new ordinary shares availablefor take up under the Open Offer by Qualifying Shareholders. The Company received irrevocable undertakings from Directors and certain othershareholders not to subscribe for all or part of their pro-rata entitlementsunder the open offer in respect of 989,498 new ordinary shares and these shareswere placed firm by Charles Stanley & Co. Limited with institutional investors. The Placing and Open Offer remains conditional, inter alia, upon the approval ofthe Company's shareholders. The extraordinary general meeting, at whichresolutions will be proposed to approve the Placing and Open Offer together withthe acquisition of Face Communications and the remaining 26 per cent of DLKWHoldings, is to be held on 4 March 2005. The new ordinary shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the existingordinary shares and will rank in full for dividends and other distributionsdeclared, made or paid after Admission. Application has been made to the UKListing Authority for the new ordinary shares to be admitted to the OfficialList of the UK Listing Authority and to the London Stock Exchange plc for thenew ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange'smarket for listed securities. It is expected that Admission will take place anddealings will commence in the new ordinary shares on Wednesday, 9 March 2005. Enquiries Creston Plc 020 7930 9757Don Elgie, Chief ExecutiveBarrie Brien, COO & CFO Charles Stanley & Co. Limited 020 7953 2000Mark Taylor Redleaf Communications 020 7955 1410Emma Kane NOTES TO EDITORS: About Creston Plc • Creston's strategy is to build a diversified international marketing services group through a combination of organic growth and selective acquisitions. The Board's aim is to identify synergistic benefits between currently independent marketing services companies offering premium services such as market research, direct marketing, customer relationship marketing, advertising and other areas of marketing communications. About The DLKW Group • The DLKW Group is an advertising and communications group based in Covent Garden in London, which employs 157 people on a full time basis. The DLKW Group has a diverse range of clients and has a number of large blue chip clients, which include HBOS, Vauxhall, Burger King, Exxon, eBay, Batchelors, Capital Radio, The Financial Times, Premier Foods and COI Communications, the communications agency of HM Government, one of the largest spenders on marketing communications in the UK. The DLKW Group is the only agency to feature in Campaign magazine's Business Growth Top 5 in each of the past three years and is one of the largest independent UK advertising and communications agencies. Charles Stanley & Co. Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange, is acting exclusively for Creston in connection with the Placing and Open Offer and the acquisition of Face Communications and is not acting for any person other than Creston and will not be responsible to any person other than Creston for providing the protections afforded to its customers or for providing advice on the transactions and arrangements proposed in this announcement. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange