CPR.L Regulatory News (CPR)

21 Dec 2007 16:28

Consortium headed by Lord Harris21 December 2007 TERMINATION OF DISCUSSIONS WITH CARPETRIGHT PLC ("CARPETRIGHT") On 11 December 2007 Carpetright announced that the Independent Committee of theBoard of Carpetright (the "Independent Committee") was in advanced discussionswith a consortium headed by Lord Harris and other members of the seniorCarpetright management team (the "Consortium") in relation to the possibility ofan offer (the "Offer") by the Consortium to acquire the ordinary share capitalof Carpetright. Since the Consortium's original proposal was submitted to the IndependentCommittee, the credit markets have deteriorated significantly with a consequentadverse impact on the economic outlook and the availability of funding and costof capital. As a result, the Consortium has been unable to secure the necessarylevel of funding on satisfactory terms for the purposes of the Offer and hencehas concluded that it is not in the interests of its stakeholders to continuediscussions. Lord Harris, Chairman and Chief Executive of Carpetright, commented: "The senior management team of Carpetright has devoted a significant amount ofeffort in recent months towards formulating its proposal and I am disappointedthat, due to external market conditions, we are unable to proceed with an offerfor the shares of Carpetright. I now look forward to focussing on the continuedgrowth of the business in the UK and Europe in the New Year." Important Notice For the purposes of Rule 2.8 of The City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, theConsortium, or any person who has acted in concert with it or any person who issubsequently acting in concert with either of them, reserves the right to makeor participate in an offer or possible offer for Carpetright shares within sixmonths of today's date: (i) with the agreement or recommendation of theIndependent Committee; (ii) if any announcement is made by or on behalf ofCarpetright or by a third party relating to the making of an offer; or (iii)upon the announcement by or on behalf of Carpetright of a "whitewash" proposal(as defined in the Code) or of a reverse takeover (as defined in the Code). This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange