Admission to the Official List of the UKLA (8166M)

TIDMRDI TIDMRDF

RNS Number : 8166M

Wichford plc

23 August 2011

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO THE SAME WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

23 August 2011

Wichford P.L.C. (to be renamed "Redefine International P.L.C.") ("Wichford" or the "Company")

Admission to the Official List of the UK Listing Authority

First Day of Dealing on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities

Admission

The Directors of Wichford, the Isle of Man domiciled, income-focused property company, announce the Company's admission of 543,890,859 Ordinary Shares of 7.2 pence each to the Premium Segment of the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market for listed securities, following completion of the reverse takeover of Redefine International plc ("Redefine").

Wichford owns a diversified investment property portfolio. Its principal investments comprise office, shopping centres and hotel property as well as real estate property funds, in the UK, Western Europe and Australia. Further information about the Company can be found on the Company's website, www.wichford.com.

Change of Directors

The Company is pleased to confirm the appointment of Gavin Tipper, Michael Farrow, Stewart Shaw-Taylor, Marc Wainer and Michael Watters to the board of directors of the Company. Michael Farrow has confirmed today his retirement from the board of directors of Redefine Properties International Limited and that he is therefore considered by the board of directors of the Company to be independent.

In addition, as stated in the prospectus issued by the Company in relation to the Offer on 13 July 2011, David Harrel and Mark Sheardown have retired from the board of directors. The Company thanks each of them for their advice, counsel and service to the Company during their time on the board.

Change of financial year end

The Company's financial year end has been changed to 31 August. As a result, the next annual report and accounts of the Company will be in respect of the period ending 31 August 2011.

Change of name

Redefine has made application to London Stock Exchange plc for the cancellation of admission to trading on AIM of the entire issued share capital of Redefine. Such cancellation is expected to become effective at 8:00 a.m. on 8 September 2011, at which point the Company's name will be changed to Redefine International P.L.C. and its ticker will be RDI.

Compulsory acquisition of Redefine Shares

A compulsory acquisition of all Redefine Shares not otherwise acquired by the Company by 22 August 2011 under the Offer is intended to commence after 23 August 2011, such that non-accepting minority Redefine Shareholders will be compelled under Jersey law to sell their Redefine Shares to the Company on the same terms as the Offer. Following completion of this process, which is expected by 4 October 2011, Redefine will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.

CREST stock accounts will be credited in respect of the Ordinary Shares at 8:00 a.m. today and definitive share certificates for Ordinary Shares in certificated form will be dispatched on or around 10 September 2011.

Trading in the Company's Ordinary Shares on the London Stock Exchange will commence this morning. The TIDM is RDI, the ISIN is IM00B4JZYL28, and the SEDOL is B4JZYL2.

Terms used but not defined in this announcement shall have the meaning given to them in the Offer Document published by the Company on 13 July 2011.

A copy of this announcement is available at www.wichford.com

The content of the website referred to in this announcement is not incorporated into and does not form part of this announcement.

Philippe de Nicolay, Chairman, commented: "This is the successful conclusion of a significant transaction which delivers a large income focussed property company with a good quality portfolio diversified across geography and sector, with a resilient tenant base. Global macro-economic conditions continue to be extremely volatile but, against this climate, and with a strong and committed long-term shareholder and experienced management team, the Company is well-positioned to benefit from its enlarged platform and capital base."

Further enquiries:

 
Wichford 
Philippe de Nicolay, Chairman              Tel: [phone] 
Wichford Property Management Ltd 
 Investment Adviser 
Michael Watters, Stephen Oakenfull         Tel: [phone] 
Peel Hunt 
 Joint Corporate Broker 
Capel Irwin, Matthew Armitt, Hugh Preston  Tel: [phone] 
Evolution Securities 
 Joint Corporate Broker 
Chris Sim, Jeremy Ellis                    Tel: [phone] 
Financial Dynamics 
 Public Relations Adviser 
Stephanie Highett, Dido Laurimore          Tel: [phone] 
 

Notes to editors:

Investment objective and strategy

The Company's strategy is to build a large, more liquid company focused on diversified, income producing investment properties. The Directors believe that the Company will be well placed to deliver attractive cash returns for investors and growth over the long term.

The Company owns a property portfolio well diversified by sector and geography, and includes office properties, shopping centres and hotels.

Each of the markets in which the Company operates provides the opportunity to participate in stable and secure income streams with attractive opportunities to grow rental income over time. Each market is also expected to provide opportunities to recycle the Company's capital over time, both through acquisitions and disposals to create value for Shareholders.

The income stream from the property portfolio is complemented by a 22.2 per cent. interest in Cromwell, (an ASX listed property trust with a large exposure to government-let commercial real estate in Australia, with a market capitalisation of approximately AUD 622.26 million (equivalent to GBP393.61 million) on 22 August 2011, being the last practicable date prior this announcement.

The Company will seek to grow income for its investors both through the pursuit of active asset management opportunities within its existing portfolio, including asset repositioning and ancillary development, and through the yield enhancing acquisition and disposal of assets, where the Company will act opportunistically and will have the flexibility to execute transactions quickly.

This potential growth will be further enhanced by the expected reduction to the combined expenses as a result of the elimination of certain public company costs. The capital structure of the Company is provided by the existing financing, much of which is long term in nature and the capital commitment of the major shareholder creates a platform to pursue these growth opportunities.

Competitive strengths

The Company's UK office assets have defensive characteristics, most benefiting from long term, inflation linked leases and are currently strongly cash generative. The UK shopping centres owned by the Company are occupied by high quality tenants, including retailers such as Debenhams, Marks & Spencer, H&M and Next, with each centre able to operate as a stand-alone business. Further, the hotel portfolio generates attractive margins and has high occupancy rates. Similarly, the commercial properties owned by the Company in Western Europe benefit from stable income streams, again with long dated, typically index-linked leases with tenants of good credit quality.

Directors

The directors are Philippe de Nicolay (also Chairman, who will retire when a suitable replacement is found), Ita McArdle, Richard Melhuish, Mark Taylor, Gavin Tipper, Michael Farrow, Marc Wainer, Stewart Shaw-Taylor and Michael Watters. All the Directors are non-executive directors. Gavin Tipper, Michael Watters and Marc Wainer are not considered independent directors.

Investment Adviser

The Company is managed by the Investment Adviser, WPML, which is a fully resourced and experienced investment adviser, with the majority of property management, development and investment skills contained in-house. The Investment Adviser has a high level of familiarity with the property portfolios of both the Company and Redefine.

Disclaimer

N M Rothschild & Sons Limited ("Rothschild"), which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by The Financial Services Authority is acting exclusively for the Company and no-one else in connection with the Offer and accordingly will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of Rothschild nor for providing advice in relation to the matters described in this announcement.

Evolution Securities Limited ("Evolution"), which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by The Financial Services Authority is acting exclusively for the Company and no-one else in connection with the Offer and accordingly will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of Evolution nor for providing advice in relation to the matters described in this announcement.

Peel Hunt LLP ("Peel Hunt"), which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by The Financial Services Authority is acting exclusively for the Company and no-one else in connection with the Offer and accordingly will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of Peel Hunt nor for providing advice in relation to the matters described in this announcement.

Deutsche Bank AG is authorised under German Banking Law (competent authority: BaFin - Federal Financial Supervisory Authority) and authorised and subject to limited regulation in the United Kingdom by The Financial Services Authority. Details about the extent of Deutsche Bank AG's authorisation and regulation by The Financial Services Authority are available on request. Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch is acting as financial adviser to Redefine and no one else in connection with the Offer and will not be responsible to anyone other than Redefine for providing the protections afforded to clients of Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch nor for providing advice in relation to any matter referred to herein.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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