R4E.L Regulatory News (R4E)

7 Aug 2006 07:00

7th August 2006NEW ISSUE OF SHARES AS EVENT MANAGEMENT DIVISION ACHIEVES FIRST TRANCHE OFEARN-OUTFirst Artist Corporation plc (AIM:FAN) (the "Company"), the acquisitive sportsand entertainment group, is pleased to announce that its recently acquiredevent management business, The Finishing Touch (Corporate Events) Limited("Finishing Touch"), has achieved the first set of financial performancetargets set out for the business under the terms of the acquisition announcedon 14th September 2005.As a result of the agreed performance targets for the year ended 30th April2006 being exceeded, the first tranche of earn-out consideration has becomepayable to the vendors of Finishing Touch ("FTL Vendors"). This considerationis to be satisfied by the issue by the Company to the FTL Vendors (inaggregate) of: * 528,089 new ordinary shares of 0.25 pence each in the capital of the Company ("New Ordinary Shares") on the basis of an average mid-market price of 6.88 pence per share; and * ‚£509,089 of interest bearing unsecured loan notes, redeemable 6 months from issue. Application has therefore been made for the admission of the New OrdinaryShares to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. Upon issue,the New Ordinary Shares will rank pari passu with the Company's existingOrdinary Shares. It is expected that admission will become effective and thatdealings in the New Ordinary Shares will commence on 11th August 2006("Admission"). Following Admission, the Company will have in issue an aggregateof 107,478,660 Ordinary Shares.Jon Smith, Chief Executive of First Artist Corporation plc, said:"We are delighted that the integration of the event management activity intoour business - in line with all the recent acquisitions - has been so seamless.Finishing Touch continues to experience a strong trading environment which isbeing enhanced by opportunities that have been developed from within thegroup."--- END ---For further information please contact:First Artist Corporation plc 020 8900 1818Jon Smith, Chief ExecutiveRichard Hughes, Finance DirectorArbuthnot Securities 020 7012 2000Tom Griffiths/Andrew Fullertongth media relationsToby Hall/Jade Mamarbachi 020 7153 8039/8035FIRST ARTIST CORPORATION PLC