Harvey Nash Group PLC Notice of proposed cancellation of trading on AIM (6638H)

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RNS Number : 6638H

Harvey Nash Group PLC

16 November 2018

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

16 November 2018

Harvey Nash Group plc

("Harvey Nash" or the "Company")

Notice of proposed cancellation of trading on AIM

Harvey Nash notes the announcements released on 12 November 2018 by DBAY Advisors Ltd that The Power of Talent Ltd ("Bidco") has commenced the implementation of the compulsory acquisition procedure to acquire the remaining Harvey Nash Shares under Chapter 3 of Part 28 of the Companies Act 2006 (the "Act"), as contemplated by the Offer Document.

Harvey Nash has, at the request of Bidco and as contemplated by the Offer Document, made an application to the London Stock Exchange for the cancellation of the admission to trading on AIM of the Harvey Nash Shares to take effect on the Business Day immediately following completion of the compulsory acquisition process. Admission of the Harvey Nash Shares to trading on AIM will be cancelled without the requirement for a resolution of shareholders approving such cancellation pursuant to Rule 41 of the AIM Rules. The Company confirms that the notice period for the cancellation of admission of the Harvey Nash Shares to trading on AIM has commenced.

It is expected that the following timetable will apply:

 
      Last day of dealings in Harvey        27 December 2018 
       Nash Shares 
 
      Cancellation of listing of,           7:00 a.m on 28 December 2018 
       and trading in, Harvey Nash 
       Shares 
 

Capitalised terms in this announcement have the meaning given to them in the Offer Document which can be found at https://www.harveynash.com/rco/.

Enquiries:

Harvey Nash Group plc

[phone]

Albert Ellis, Chief Executive Officer

Mark Garratt, Chief Financial Officer

Rothschild & Co (Financial Adviser to Harvey Nash) [phone]

Niall McBride

Neil Thwaites

Alexander Mitteregger

Panmure Gordon (Joint Financial Adviser and Corporate Broker to Harvey Nash) [phone]

Ben Thorne

Erik Anderson

Andrew Potts

Hudson Sandler LLP (Financial PR Adviser to Harvey Nash) [phone]

Michael Sandler

Hattie O'Reilly

Important notices

Rothschild & Co, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom is acting exclusively as financial adviser to Harvey Nash and no one else in connection with the subject matter of this Announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Harvey Nash for providing the protections afforded to clients of Rothschild & Co or for providing advice in connection with the subject matter of this Announcement.

Panmure Gordon, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom is acting exclusively as joint financial adviser and corporate broker to Harvey Nash and no one else in connection with the subject matter of this Announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Harvey Nash for providing the protections afforded to clients of Panmure Gordon or for providing advice in connection with the subject matter 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, invitation, inducement or the solicitation of an offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, sell or otherwise dispose of or exercise rights in respect of any securities, or the solicitation of any vote or approval of an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction, pursuant to Bidco's Offer Document or otherwise nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of any securities pursuant to Bidco's Offer Document in any jurisdiction in contravention of any applicable laws. This Announcement does not constitute a prospectus or prospectus-equivalent document.

This Announcement has been prepared for the purpose of complying with English law and the Code and the information disclosed may not be the same as that which would have been disclosed if this Announcement had been prepared in accordance with the laws of jurisdictions outside the United Kingdom.

Disclosure requirements of the Code

Under Rule 8.3(a) of the Code, any person who is interested in 1 per cent. or more of any class of relevant securities of an offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror (being any offeror other than an offeror in respect of which it has been announced that its offer is, or is likely to be, solely in cash) must make an Opening Position Disclosure following the commencement of the offer period and, if later, following the announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is first identified. An Opening Position Disclosure must contain details of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s). An Opening Position Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(a) of the Code applies must be made by no later than 3:30 pm (London time) on the 10th Business Day following the commencement of the offer period and, if appropriate, by no later than 3:30 pm (London time) on the 10th Business Day following the announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is first identified. Relevant persons who deal in the relevant securities of the offeree company or of a securities exchange offeror prior to the deadline for making an Opening Position Disclosure must instead make a Dealing Disclosure.

Under Rule 8.3(b) of the Code, any person who is, or becomes, interested in 1 per cent. or more of any class of relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror must make a Dealing Disclosure if the person deals in any relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror. A Dealing Disclosure must contain details of the dealing concerned and of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror, save to the extent that these details have previously been disclosed under Rule 8 of the Code. A Dealing Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(b) of the Code applies must be made by no later than 3:30 pm (London time) on the Business Day following the date of the relevant dealing.

If two or more persons act together pursuant to an agreement or understanding, whether formal or informal, to acquire or control an interest in relevant securities of an offeree company or a securities exchange offeror, they will normally be deemed to be a single person for the purpose of Rule 8.3 of the Code.

Opening Position Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company and by any offeror and Dealing Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company, by any offeror and by any persons acting in concert with any of them (see Rules 8.1, 8.2 and 8.4 of the Code).

Details of the offeree and offeror companies in respect of whose relevant securities Opening Position Disclosures and Dealing Disclosures must be made can be found in the Disclosure Table on the Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk, including details of the number of relevant securities in issue, when the offer period commenced and when any offeror was first identified. You should contact the Panel's Market Surveillance Unit on [phone] if you are in any doubt as to whether you are required to make an Opening Position Disclosure or a Dealing Disclosure.

Overseas jurisdictions

The release, publication or distribution of this Announcement in jurisdictions other than the United Kingdom and the ability of Harvey Nash Shareholders who are not resident in the United Kingdom to participate in the Code Offer may be restricted by laws and/or regulations of those jurisdictions. In particular, the availability of the Code Offer to persons who are not resident in the United Kingdom may be affected by the laws of the relevant jurisdictions in which they are located. Therefore, any persons who are subject to the laws and regulations of any jurisdiction other than the United Kingdom or Harvey Nash Shareholders who are not resident in the United Kingdom should inform themselves about and observe any applicable requirements in their jurisdiction. Any failure to comply with the applicable requirements may constitute a violation of the laws and/or regulations of any such jurisdiction.

The Code Offer will not be made, directly or indirectly, in, into or from a Restricted Jurisdiction where to do so would violate the laws of that jurisdiction and no person may vote in favour of the Code Offer by any use, means, instrumentality or form within a Restricted Jurisdiction or any other jurisdiction if to do so would constitute a violation of the laws of that jurisdiction. Accordingly, copies of this Announcement and any formal documentation relating to the Code Offer are not being, and must not be, directly or indirectly, mailed or otherwise forwarded, distributed or sent in or into or from any Restricted Jurisdiction and persons receiving such documents (including custodians, nominees and trustees) must not mail or otherwise forward, distribute or send them in or into or from any Restricted Jurisdiction.

Further details in relation to Harvey Nash Shareholders in overseas jurisdictions are contained in Bidco's Offer Document.

Notice to US investors

Harvey Nash Shareholders in the United States should note that the Code Offer relates to the securities of a company organised under the laws of England and Wales and is proposed to be effected by means of an offer under the laws of England and Wales. This Announcement, Bidco's Offer Document and certain other documents relating to the Code Offer have been or will be prepared in accordance with English law, the Code and UK disclosure requirements, format and style, all of which differ from those in the United States. Accordingly, the Code Offer is subject to the disclosure requirements of and practices applicable in the United Kingdom to takeover offers, which differ from the disclosure requirements of the United States tender offer and proxy solicitation rules.

Harvey Nash's financial statements, and all financial information that is included in this Announcement or that may be included in Bidco's Offer Document, or any other documents relating to the Code Offer, have been or will be prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards and may not be comparable to financial statements of companies in the United States or other companies whose financial statements are prepared in accordance with US generally accepted accounting principles.

Forward Looking Statements

This Announcement contains certain statements about Bidco and Harvey Nash that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements" which are prospective in nature. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and projections about future events and are therefore subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from the future results, performance or events expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "is subject to", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "targets", "aims", "projects", "goal", "objective", "outlook", "risks", "seeks" or words or terms of similar substance or the negative thereof, as well as variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would", "might", "probably" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations.

Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect expected results and are based on certain key assumptions. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied in any forward-looking statements. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Announcement. Any forward-looking statements made in this Announcement on behalf of Bidco or Harvey Nash are made as of the date of this Announcement based on the opinions and estimates of directors of Bidco and Harvey Nash, respectively. Each of Bidco and Harvey Nash and their respective members, directors, officers, employees, advisers and any person acting on behalf of one or more of them, expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking or other statements contained in this Announcement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Neither Bidco, Harvey Nash nor their respective members, directors, officers or employees, advisers or any person acting on their behalf, provides any representation, assurance or guarantee that the occurrence of the events expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements in this Announcement will actually occur.

No forward-looking or other statements have been reviewed by the auditors of Bidco or Harvey Nash. All subsequent oral or written forward-looking statements attributable to Bidco, Harvey Nash or to any of their respective members, directors, officers, advisers or employees or any person acting on their behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above.

No profit forecasts or estimates

Nothing in this Announcement is intended or shall be deemed to be a forecast, projection or estimate of the future financial performance of Bidco or Harvey Nash for any period and no statement in this Announcement should be interpreted to mean that cash flow from operations, earnings, or earnings per share or income of those persons (where relevant) for the current or future financial years would necessarily match or exceed the historical published cash flow from operations, earnings, earnings per share or income of those persons (as appropriate).

Publication on website and availability of hard copies

A copy of this Announcement and the display documents required to be published pursuant to Rule 26 of the Code will be made available, free of charge and subject to certain restrictions relating to persons in Restricted Jurisdictions, on Harvey Nash's website at www.harveynash.com by no later than 12 noon (London time) on the Business Day following the date of this Announcement. For the avoidance of doubt, neither the contents of such website nor the content of any website accessible from hyperlinks on such website is incorporated into, and do not form part of, this Announcement.

Any person who is required to be sent a copy of this Announcement under the Code, and who has not received a hard copy of it, may request a hard copy of this Announcement (and any information incorporated by reference in this Announcement) by submitting a request in writing to Equiniti Limited, Aspect House, Spencer Road, Lancing, West Sussex, BN99 6DA or by calling the helpline on 0371 384 2809 or [phone] (if calling from outside the UK). Calls are charged at the standard geographic rate and will vary by provider. Calls outside the United Kingdom will be charged at the applicable international rate. The helpline is open between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm, Monday to Friday excluding public holidays in England and Wales. Please note that the Equiniti helpline cannot provide any financial, legal or tax advice and calls may be recorded and monitored for security and training purposes.

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.

END

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 16, 2018 10:11 ET (15:11 GMT)