Lsl Prop Regulatory News (LSL)

16 Nov 2006 07:02

LSL Property Services16 November 2006 Not for release, publication or distribution in, or into, the United States,Canada, Australia or Japan For Immediate Release 16 November 2006 This announcement is not a prospectus but an advertisement. Investors should notpurchase or subscribe for any transferable securities referred to in thisannouncement except on the basis of information in the prospectus which isexpected to be published by LSL Property Services plc today (the "Prospectus")and any supplement or amendment thereto. The Prospectus, when published, will beavailable from LSL Property Services plc's registered office at Newcastle House,Albany Court, Newcastle Business Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear NE4 7YBand from the offices of ABN AMRO Rothschild, 250 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 4AA. LSL PROPERTY SERVICES PLC COMPLETES ITS PLACING Market capitalisation of £211 million at the Placing Price LSL Property Services plc (the "Company" or "LSL" and together with itssubsidiaries, the "Group"), one of the UK's leading property services companies,today announces that it has completed its placing (the "Placing") toinstitutional investors and will be publishing its prospectus in connection withthe application for admission of its ordinary shares to the Official List of theUK Listing Authority and to trading on the London Stock Exchange plc's marketfor listed securities ("Admission"). • Placing price set at £2.025 per ordinary share (the "Placing Price") • The market capitalisation of the Company at the Placing Price will be approximately £211 million • The Placing of 40 million existing shares will raise approximately £81 million in gross proceeds for the selling shareholders and attracted strong demand from institutional investors in the UK • The Group's Directors and employees will own approximately 33 per cent. of the issued share capital of the Company following the Placing • Conditional dealings are expected to commence on the London Stock Exchange at 8.00 a.m. today. Admission and commencement of unconditional dealings on the London Stock Exchange are expected to occur at 8.00 a.m. on 21 November 2006, under the ticker symbol LSL.L • ABN AMRO Rothschild is global co-ordinator and bookrunner, N M Rothschild & Sons Limited is sponsor and Hoare Govett Limited together with Numis Securities Limited are joint corporate brokers. N M Rothschild & Sons Limited together with Lexicon Partners Limited are acting as joint financial advisers to the Company. Commenting on the flotation, Simon Embley, Chief Executive of the Company, said: "We are pleased with the investor response to our flotation and want to welcomeall the new shareholders to our register. The flotation of LSL will raise ourcorporate profile and will also provide flexibility to the Group in our strategyof development through organic growth together with selective acquisitions. Wecontinue to be committed to providing an excellent service to our clients andthe flotation will help us retain and attract the quality people that havehelped us build the business we have today." For further information please contact:Richard Darby/Mark Edwards/ Nicola Cronk 020 7466 5000Buchanan Communications (for LSL Property ServicesPLC) Adam Young / Tim Rowntree / John MacGowan 020 7678 8000ABN AMRO Rothschild Notes to editors OVERVIEW LSL is one of the leading residential property services companies in the UK.LSL's principal operations are its surveying business, which operates under thee.surv and Chancellors Associates brands, its estate agency business, whichoperates under the your-move and Reeds Rains brands, and its financial servicesbusiness. LSL provides a broad range of property related services to itscustomers, who are principally mortgage lenders and buyers and sellers ofresidential property in Great Britain. Surveying The Group's surveying business provides panel management, valuation andsurveying services to mortgage lenders and, to a lesser extent, privateindividuals. LSL is one of the UK's largest distributors of residentialvaluations and the Directors estimate that it managed approximately 25 per centof residential valuations in the UK for the six months ended 30 June 2006. Estate Agency and Financial Services As at 1 September 2006, LSL's estate agency business had a nationwide network of322 owned branches and 85 franchised branches operating under two well knownbrands, your-move and Reeds Rains. It is the third largest estate agent in theUK by number of branches operated under its brands. The Group's estate agencynetwork allows it access to a significant number of buyers and sellers ofresidential property in Great Britain which provides an opportunity for it tocross-sell financial services and other products to these consumers. LSL's financial services business, working in parallel with the estate agencybusiness, distributes financial products, principally mortgages, mortgageprotection insurance and home insurance. Since the management buy-out of e.survand your-move from Norwich Union in 2004, the Group has made a number of smallerinvestments in property services businesses as strategic investments ordevelopment businesses. The contents of this announcement, which has been prepared by and is the soleresponsibility of the Company, have been approved solely for the purposes ofsection 21(2)(b) of the FSMA by NM Rothschild & Sons Limited, New Court, StSwithin's Lane, London EC4P 4DU. NM Rothschild & Sons Limited, Lexicon Partners Limited, ABN AMRO Bank N.V.,Hoare Govett Limited and Numis Securities Limited are acting only for theCompany in connection with the matters described in this announcement and arenot acting for or advising any other person, or treating any other person astheir respective clients, in relation thereto and will not be responsible forproviding the regulatory protection afforded to their respective clients oradvice to any other person in relation to the matters contained herein. Suchpersons should seek their own independent legal, investment and tax advice asthey see fit. No offer or invitation to purchase or subscribe for securities of the Company isbeing made at this time. Any such offer or invitation will be made solely in orby reference to the Prospectus expected to be published later today and anyacquisition of securities of the Company should be made only on the basis of theinformation contained in the Prospectus. This announcement does not constitute arecommendation concerning the Placing. The value of shares can go down as wellas up. Potential investors should consult a professional advisor as to thesuitability of the Placing for the individual concerned. The Ordinary Shares have not been, and will not be, registered under the UnitedStates Securities Act of 1933 (as amended), or under the securities laws, orwith any securities regulatory authority, of any state or other jurisdiction ofthe United States or of any province or territory of Canada, Australia or Japanand, accordingly, may not be offered or sold within these jurisdictions. Subjectto certain exceptions, the Ordinary Shares may not, directly or indirectly, beoffered, sold, taken up or delivered in, into or from the United States, Canada,Australia or Japan or to or for the account or benefit of any national, residentor citizen of the United States, or any person resident in Australia, Canada orJapan. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitationof an offer to purchase or subscribe for Ordinary Shares in any jurisdiction inwhich such offer or solicitation is unlawful or would impose any unfulfilledregistration, publication or approval requirements on the Company, ABN AMRO BankN.V., Hoare Govett Limited, NM Rothschild & Sons Limited and/or Numis SecuritiesLimited. Neither this announcement nor any copy of it may be (i) taken or transmittedinto the United States of America, its territories or possessions, (ii)distributed, directly or indirectly, in the United States of America, itsterritories or possessions, or to any US person (within the meaning ofRegulations made under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended), (iii) takenor transmitted into or distributed in Canada, Australia, the Republic of Irelandor the Republic of South Africa or to any resident thereof, except in compliancewith applicable securities laws, or (iv) taken or transmitted into ordistributed in Japan or to any resident thereof for the purpose of solicitationor subscription or offer for sale of any securities or in the context where thedistribution thereof may be construed as such solicitation or offer. Any failureto comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securitieslaws or the laws of any such jurisdiction. The distribution of this announcementin other jurisdictions may be restricted by law and the persons into whosepossession this announcement comes should inform themselves about, and observe,any such restrictions. Stabilisation In connection with the Placing, ABM AMRO Rothschild may (but will be under noobligation to) effect stabilisation transactions with a view to supporting themarket price of the Ordinary Shares or any options, warrants or rights withrespect to, or interests in, the Ordinary Shares or other securities of theCompany, in each case at a higher level than that which might otherwise prevailin the open market. Such stabilisation activities may be effected on anysecurities market, over-the-counter market, stock exchange or otherwise and maybe undertaken at any time during the period commencing on the date ofpublication of this announcement and ending no later than 30 calendar daysthereafter. However, there is no obligation on ABN AMRO Rothschild (or any ofits agents) to effect stabilising transactions and no assurance that stabilisingtransactions will be undertaken. Such stabilisation, if commenced, may bediscontinued at any time without prior notice. In no event will measures betaken to stabilise the market price of the Ordinary Shares above the PlacingPrice. Forward-looking statements Certain statements contained in this document are or may constitute"forward-looking statements". Such forward-looking statements involve risks,uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performanceor achievements of the Company, or industry results, to be materially differentfrom any future results, performance or achievements express or implied by suchforward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include,among others: general economic and business conditions, particularly in theUnited Kingdom, changes in technology, government policy, and ability to attractand retain personnel. These forward-looking statements speak only as at the dateof this announcement. Except as required by the rules of the FSA, the LondonStock Exchange or by law, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation orundertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-lookingstatements contained herein to reflect any change in the Company's expectationswith regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances onwhich any such statement is based. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange