Hilton Foods Regulatory News (HFG)

17 May 2007 08:16

Hilton Food Group PLC17 May 2007 Hilton Food Group plc Admission to Official List This announcement and the information contained herein is not for publication,distribution or release, in whole or in part, in, or into, directly orindirectly, the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa andJapan or any other jurisdiction where such publication, distribution or releasewould be unlawful. This announcement is an advertisement and not a prospectus. Investors should notpurchase any shares referred to in this announcement except on the basis ofinformation in the prospectus published on 11 May 2007 (the "Prospectus") byHilton Food Group plc ("Hilton" or the "Company" and, together with itssubsidiaries, the "Group") in connection with Admission (as defined below) andthe offer of ordinary shares in the capital of the Company (the "Shares") tocertain institutional and other sophisticated investors and selected persons(the "Offer"). The Prospectus has been delivered to the document viewingfacility of the Financial Services Authority and is available from Hilton'sregistered office at 2-8 Interchange, Latham Road, Huntingdon, CambridgeshirePE29 6YE and from the office of Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited ("Panmure Gordon")at 155 Moorgate, London EC2M 6XB. HILTON FOOD GROUP PLC Admission to the Official List of the Financial Services Authority Hilton Food Group plc ("Hilton") announces that its Shares have been admitted tothe Official List of the Financial Services Authority and to trading on the mainmarket of the London Stock Exchange plc ("Admission") and that dealings in theShares commenced at 8:00 a.m. today under the ticker symbol "HFG". Panmure Gordon is acting as sponsor, financial adviser and sole bookrunner inconnection with the Admission and Offer. Commenting on today's announcement, Robert Watson, Chief Executive of Hilton Food Group plc, said: "We are delighted to be joining the main market of the London Stock Exchangetoday following the successful Offer. The Board would like to extend a warmwelcome to all the Company's new shareholders, and looks forward to updatingthem and the market on our progress in due course. This is an exciting time forHilton and we look forward to a successful future as a listed company." - ENDS - For further information: Hilton Food Group plc 01480 387 214 Gordon Summerfield, Chairman Robert Watson, Chief Executive Nigel Majewski, Finance Director Panmure Gordon 020 7459 3600 Mark Lander Amer Khan Giles Stewart Citigate Dewe Rogerson 020 7638 9571 Tom Baldock Fiona Mulcahy Nicola Smith Summary information on Hilton Food Group plc • Hilton is a leading specialist meat-packing business supplying major international food retailers, primarily Tesco, Ahold, Albert Heijn and ICA, from modern, efficient facilities located in the UK, the Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Sweden and Poland. • Since it was established in 1994, Hilton has grown to become one of the largest dedicated packers of red meat in Europe based on revenue. With its headquarters in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, the Group employs approximately 1,300 people across its five sites. • Hilton's core business activities involve the processing, preparing, packaging and delivering of fresh and value-added beef, lamb and pork products. The Group operates to the high standards of traceability, hygiene, food safety, shelf life and overall product quality required by its customers. • Hilton has a strong financial track record. For the year ended 31 December 2006, the Group generated revenue of £527m and a pre-tax profit of £15.5m, increases of 17.6% and 13.7% respectively on the previous year. Hilton is a cash generative business with modern, well invested facilities. • Hilton has benefited from the consumer trend in a number of European markets towards convenience and one-stop shopping. The Group's continuing growth has been achieved principally by geographical expansion, product range extensions and the underlying growth in the market achieved by Hilton's retail customers. • The directors of Hilton, most of whom have been with the business since its inception in 1994, have over 100 years experience between them in the meat industry. They have built strong relationships with the Group's customers and believe that Hilton is well placed to take advantage of significant potential growth opportunities as follows: o further geographic expansion within Europe in conjunction with existing customers; o line extension to capitalise on consumer led trends. Examples include premium, value added and organic product ranges; o engaging new customers. The directors of the Company believe that Hilton is an attractive potential supplier due to its reputation, track record and historically high customer service levels; and o continued competitiveness. Important Information No offer or invitation to purchase securities of the Company is being made atthis time. Any such offer or invitation is made solely in or by reference to theProspectus and any acquisition of securities of the Company should be made onlyon the basis of the information contained in the Prospectus and any supplementor amendment thereto. The contents of this announcement, which have been prepared by and are the soleresponsibility of the Company, have been approved by Panmure Gordon solely forthe purposes of section 21(2)(b) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.Panmure Gordon is regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial ServicesAuthority and Panmure Gordon is acting for the Company and the SellingShareholders and no-one else in connection with the Offer and Admission and willnot regard any other person (whether or not a recipient of this announcement) asits client, nor will it be responsible to anyone other than the Company or theSelling Shareholders for providing the protections afforded to the clients ofPanmure Gordon, nor for providing advice in relation to the Offer, the contentsof this announcement or any transaction, arrangement or other matter referred toherein. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of anoffer to buy securities of the Company in any jurisdiction in which such offer,solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption fromregistration or qualification under the securities law of any such jurisdiction. The Offer is being made in the United Kingdom and elsewhere outside the UnitedStates by means of an Offer to certain institutional and other sophisticatedinvestors and selected persons to whom it may be lawfully made. Thisannouncement and the information contained herein is not for publication,distribution or release in, or into, directly or indirectly, the United States,Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada or Japan and does not constitute,or form part of, an offer of the securities for sale in or into the UnitedStates, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada or Japan. The Offer and thedistribution of this announcement may be restricted by law in certainjurisdictions and persons into whose possession any document or otherinformation referred to herein comes should inform themselves about and observeany such restriction. Any failure to comply with these restrictions mayconstitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The securities referred to in this announcement have not been registered underthe U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and may notbe offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption fromthe registration requirements of the Securities Act. The Company does not intendto offer publicly any securities in the United States or to register anysecurities under the Securities Act. This announcement does not constitute a recommendation concerning the Offer. Thevalue of shares can go down as well as up. Potential investors should consult aprofessional advisor as to the suitability of the Offer for the individualconcerned. Forward looking statements The contents of this announcement include statements that are, or may be deemedto be "forward looking statements". These forward-looking statements can beidentified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including, withoutlimitation, the terms "believes", "estimates", "anticipates", "expects","intends", "may", "will" or "should". By their nature, forward lookingstatements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that anysuch forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Anumber of factors could cause the Company's actual results and performance todiffer materially from the impression created by the forward-looking statementsincluding, without limitation, the factors to be described in the risk factorssection of the Prospectus. Save as required by law or by the Listing Rules ofthe Financial Services Authority, the Company undertakes no obligation topublicly update or revise forward-looking statements. No statement in thisannouncement is intended to be a profit forecast or be relied upon as a guide tofuture performance. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange