Countrywide PLC Results of Placing and Open Offer (3511Y)

TIDMCWD

RNS Number : 3511Y

Countrywide PLC

21 August 2018

NOT FOR PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. OTHER RESTRICTIONS ARE APPLICABLE.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS AN ADVERTISEMENT AND NOT A PROSPECTUS OR PROSPECTUS-EQUIVALENT DOCUMENT. THE COMBINED PROSPECTUS AND CIRCULAR WAS PUBLISHED ON 2 AUGUST 2018 AND IS AVAILABLE ON COUNTRYWIDE PLC'S WEBSITE AT WWW.COUNTRYWIDE.CO.UK AND FOR INSPECTION DURING NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS AT THE REGISTERED OFFICE OF COUNTRYWIDE PLC.

PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICES INCLUDED IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

21 August 2018

Countrywide plc (the "Company")

Results of Placing and Open Offer

On 2 August 2018, the Company announced details of a proposed Firm Placing and Placing and Open Offer (the "Issue") to raise gross proceeds of GBP140 million, approximately GBP111.4 million by way of a Firm Placing of 1,114,419,568 Firm Placing Shares and approximately GBP28.6 million by way of a Placing and Open Offer of 285,580,431 Open Offer Shares, in each case at an Issue Price of 10 pence per New Ordinary Share.

The Open Offer closed for acceptances at 11:00 a.m. on 17 August 2018. The Company has received valid acceptances in respect of 206,578,406 Open Offer Shares under the Open Offer. This represents approximately 72.34% of the Open Offer Shares offered pursuant to the Open Offer. Accordingly, the remaining 79,002,025 Open Offer Shares, representing approximately 27.66% of the Open Offer Shares will be allocated to the Conditional Placees with whom the Open Offer Shares had been conditionally placed under the Placing.

The Issue remains conditional on, among other things, the approval by the Company's shareholders at the General Meeting, which will take place at 10:30 a.m. on 28 August 2018. The Company will announce the results of the General Meeting as soon as practicable after the meeting concludes. It is expected that Admission will become effective, and that dealings in the New Ordinary Shares on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities will commence, at 8.00 a.m. on 30 August 2018.

Unless otherwise defined, the terms used in this announcement shall have the same meaning as set out in the combined prospectus and circular published by the Company on 2 August 2018 (the "Combined Prospectus and Circular").

For further information, please contact:

 
 Countrywide plc 
 Himanshu Raja, Chief Financial         [e-mail] 
  Officer 
 Media enquiries: 
 Natalie Gunson 
  Michael Sandler/Dan de Belder,        [phone] 
  Hudson Sandler                         [phone] 
 Enquires on the Capital Refinancing 
  Plan 
 Jefferies International Limited: 
  Paul Nicholls 
  Lee Morton 
  Jason Grossman                        [phone] 
 Barclays Bank PLC: 
  Robert Mayhew                         [phone] 
 Richard Bassingthwaighte 
 

IMPORTANT NOTICES

This announcement has been issued by and is the sole responsibility of the Company. A copy of the Combined Prospectus and Circular is available from the registered office of the Company and on the Company's website at www.countrywide.co.uk provided that the Combined Prospectus and Circular will not, subject to certain exceptions, be available (whether through the website or otherwise) to Shareholders in the United States or other Excluded Territories.

Neither the content of the Company's website nor any website accessible by hyperlinks on the Company's website is incorporated in, or forms part of, this announcement. The Combined Prospectus and Circular will give further details of the New Ordinary Shares that was being offered pursuant to the Firm Placing and the Placing and Open Offer. This announcement is not a prospectus but an advertisement and investors should not acquire any New Ordinary Shares referred to in this announcement except on the basis of the information contained in the Combined Prospectus and Circular. This announcement is for informational purposes only and does not purport to be complete. No reliance may be placed by any person for any purpose on the information contained in this announcement or its accuracy or completeness. The information in this announcement is subject to change.

Barclays Bank PLC, acting through its investment bank, which is authorised by the PRA in the United Kingdom and regulated by the PRA and the FCA, is acting for the Company and no one else in connection with the Issue and will not regard any other person as its client in connection with the Issue and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to its clients nor for giving advice in relation to the Issue or any arrangement referred to, or information contained, in this announcement.

Jefferies International Limited which is authorised and regulated by the FCA, is acting for the Company and no one else in connection with the Issue and will not regard any other person as its client in connection with the Issue and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to its clients nor for giving advice in relation to the Issue or any arrangement referred to, or information contained, in this announcement.

Apart from the responsibilities and liabilities, if any, which may be imposed on Jefferies and Barclays by FSMA or the regulatory regime established thereunder or under the regulatory regime of any other jurisdiction where exclusion of liability under the relevant regulatory regime would be illegal, void or unenforceable, neither Barclays nor Jefferies nor any of their respective affiliates, directors, officers, employees or advisers, accept any responsibility whatsoever for the contents of this announcement, and no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made by Jefferies and Barclays in relation to the contents of this announcement, including its accuracy, completeness or verification or regarding the legality of any investment in the New Ordinary Shares by any person under the laws applicable to such person or for any other statement made or purported to be made by it, or on its behalf, in connection with the Company, the New Ordinary Shares, the Issue, and nothing in this announcement is, or shall be relied upon as, a promise or representation in this respect, whether as to the past or the future. To the fullest extent permissible Jefferies and Barclays accordingly disclaim all and any responsibility or liability whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise (save as referred to above) which they might otherwise have in respect of this announcement.

This announcement is for information purposes only and is not intended to, and does not, constitute or form part of any offer or invitation to purchase or subscribe for, or any solicitation to purchase or subscribe for, the New Ordinary Shares in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa, and any other Excluded Territory or any other jurisdiction. The information contained in this announcement is not for release, publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan or South Africa and should not be distributed, forwarded to or transmitted in or into any jurisdiction where to do so might constitute a violation of the securities laws or regulations of such jurisdiction. There was no public offer of the New Ordinary Shares in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa or any other Excluded Territory. The distribution of this announcement, any other offering or publicity material relating to the Firm Placing and/or the Placing and Open Offer and/or the Combined Prospectus and Circular and/or the transfer of New Ordinary Shares into jurisdictions other than the United Kingdom may be restricted by law or regulation, and, therefore, persons into whose possession this announcement and/or the Combined Prospectus and Circular comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with any such restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of such jurisdiction. In particular, subject to certain exceptions, the information contained in this announcement and the Combined Prospectus and Circular should not be distributed, forwarded or transmitted in or into the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa or any other Excluded Territory. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws or regulations of any such jurisdiction. The transfer of the New Ordinary Shares may also be so restricted by law or regulation.

The New Ordinary Shares have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act"), or under the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States and may not be offered, sold, pledged, taken up, exercised, resold, renounced, transferred or delivered, directly or indirectly, within the United States except pursuant to an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the US Securities Act and in compliance with any applicable securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States. The New Ordinary Shares offered outside the United States are being offered in reliance on Regulation S under the US Securities Act. There was no public offer of New Ordinary Shares in the United States. The New Ordinary Shares, the Combined Prospectus and Circular, the Application Form and this announcement have not been recommended, approved or disapproved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, any state securities commission in the United States or any other US regulatory authority, nor have any of the foregoing authorities passed upon or endorsed the merits of the offering of the New Ordinary Shares or the accuracy or adequacy of the Application

Form, the Combined Prospectus and Circular or this announcement. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offence in the United States.

Accordingly, subject to certain exceptions, the Firm Placing and Placing and Open Offer was not and will not be made in the United States and neither this announcement, the Application Form nor the Combined Prospectus and Circular constitute or will constitute an offer, or an invitation to apply for, or an invitation to subscribe for or acquire any New Ordinary Shares in the United States.

This announcement does not constitute a recommendation concerning the Firm Placing and the Placing and Open Offer. The price and value of securities can go down as well as up. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The contents of this announcement are not to be construed as legal, business, financial or tax advice. Each Shareholder or prospective investor should consult his, her or its own legal adviser, business adviser, financial adviser or tax adviser for legal, financial, business or tax advice.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact [e-mail] or visit www.rns.com.

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August 21, 2018 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)