Acquisition

Peerless Technology Group PLC 28 November 2003 For publication in the United Kingdom only. Not for release, publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in any other jurisdiction, including the United States of America, Australia, Canada, Japan, or the Republic of Ireland or their respective territories or possessions. PEERLESS TECHNOLOGY GROUP PLC ('Peerless' or 'the Company') Proposed Acquisition of Alliance Pharmaceuticals Ltd Placing and Open Offer of 22,914,736 new Ordinary Shares at 16p per share and Vendor Placing of 2,085,264 Consideration Shares £7.5 million Convertible Loan Stock Placing Underwritten by Numis Securities Limited Change of Name to Alliance Pharma PLC __________________________________________________________________________________ Peerless Technology Group plc today announces its intention to acquire Alliance Pharmaceuticals Limited ('Alliance Pharmaceuticals' or 'Alliance') for a consideration of 72,916,667 new ordinary shares in Peerless and £1,333,333 in cash, a transaction which will constitute a reverse takeover under the AIM Rules. The transaction values Alliance at £16.67 million at the closing mid-market price of 20p for a Peerless ordinary share on 27 November 2003 (the last dealing day before this announcement). The Company is undertaking a placing and an open offer to raise approximately £11.17 million before expenses. The Placing comprises a placing and open offer of Ordinary Shares to raise £3.67 million (before expenses) at 16p per share and a £7.5 million placing of 8% Convertible Loan Stock, convertible at a price of 21p per share. In addition, under a Vendor Placing, 2,085,264 Consideration Shares have been conditionally placed at the Issue Price for cash to raise £0.33 million on behalf of certain of the Alliance Shareholders. The Placings have been underwritten by Numis Securities Limited. Navigatorltd Limited acted as financial adviser to Alliance. The principal activity of Alliance is the development, marketing and distribution of pharmaceutical products. Alliance Pharmaceuticals owns or shares the rights to twenty-three branded pharmaceutical products and is currently exploring several opportunities to expand the range. The majority of Alliance's product acquisitions have been funded by structured bank debt. Currently, Alliance's products are prescribed in the treatment of a wide range of conditions and include brands used in the prevention of heart disease, in Parkinson's disease, in nasal infections, in the treatment of dermatological conditions and in childbirth. Alliance's sales are mainly prescription driven. Products are distributed to hospitals directly and to pharmaceutical wholesalers who service retail pharmacies with their prescription requirements. In addition to a portfolio of established brands, Alliance has a pipeline of late-stage development projects and products which, are expected to make a significant contribution to turnover within three to four years. KEY POINTS The Reverse Takeover and Capital Raising: • Agreed reverse takeover of AIM listed Peerless Technology Group plc • Raising £11.17 million via institutional placings and an open offer, of which £7.5 million is in Convertible Loan Stock and the remainder in Ordinary Shares • Funds raised will be used to provide working capital for product development and marketing and to repay part of Alliance's bank debt • The Company is to be re-named Alliance Pharma plc Background on Alliance Pharmaceuticals: • An acquisitive, rapidly growing speciality pharmaceutical company • Existing portfolio of mature niche pharmaceutical products • Additional late-stage development projects with substantial potential - expected by Alliance to achieve regulatory approval within three years • Balance between a portfolio of low risk, mature and cash generative brands and a pipeline of high potential development projects • Experienced management team many of whom have held senior management positions in blue chip pharma • Record of successful acquisition negotiation - four deals in the last three years • Plans in place to expand product range and enter new markets John Dawson, Chairman and CEO of Alliance Pharmaceuticals commented: 'A great opportunity exists for us to grow a substantial pharmaceutical company that specialises in the manufacture and supply of smaller-volume niche products. We also intend to become the licensing partner of choice for overseas research and development companies seeking a UK or European marketing distributor. The new funds raised and the profile of an AIM quote will enable us to pursue both these opportunities and to develop further our successful business model. At Alliance, we look forward eagerly to the next stage in our development as a well-resourced public company.' ENQUIRIES Alliance Pharmaceuticals Ltd Numis Securities Limited John Dawson John Harrison Managing Director 020 7776 1500 0124 970 5102 Beattie Financial Ann Marie Wilkinson/James Chandler 020 7398 3300 None of the Ordinary Shares, the New Ordinary Shares or the Stock have been, nor will be, registered in the United States of America under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the securities laws of any state of the United States of America or under the securities laws of Canada, Australia, the Republic of Ireland or Japan and they may not, subject to certain exceptions, be offered or sold directly or indirectly within the United States of America, Canada, Australia, the Republic of Ireland or Japan or to, or for the account or benefit of US persons (as defined in Regulation S under the US Securities Act of 1933) or any national, citizen or resident of Canada, Australia, the Republic of Ireland or Japan. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or issue or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for Ordinary Shares, New Ordinary Shares or Stock in any jurisdiction in which such offers or solicitations are unlawful. This announcement has been approved for the purposes of Section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 by Numis Securities Limited, which is authorised by The Financial Services Authority Limited to act for Peerless Technology Group Plc in connection with the Placings and Open Offer and will not be responsible to anyone other than Peerless Technology Group Plc for providing the protections afforded to customers of Numis Securities Limited, or for providing advice in relation to the Acquisition or the Placings and Open Offer. The Directors and Proposed Directors of Peerless Technology Group Plc are the persons responsible for the information contained in this announcement. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the Directors and Proposed Directors (who have taken all reasonable care to ensure that such is the case) the information contained in this announcement is in accordance with the facts and does not omit anything likely to affect the import of such information. This summary should be read in conjunction with the full text of the following announcement which follows. For publication in the United Kingdom only. Not for release, publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in any other jurisdiction, including the United States of America, Australia, Canada, Japan or the Republic of Ireland or their respective territories or possessions. Please refer to the definitions at the end of this document. PEERLESS TECHNOLOGY GROUP PLC ('Peerless' or 'the Company') Proposed Acquisition of Alliance Pharmaceuticals Ltd Placing and Open Offer of 22,914,736 new Ordinary Shares at 16p per share and Vendor Placing of 2,085,264 Consideration Shares £7.5 million Convertible Loan Stock Placing Underwritten by Numis Securities Limited Change of Name to Alliance Pharma PLC ___________________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION The Board of Peerless Technology Group plc announced today that the Company has conditionally agreed to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Alliance Pharmaceuticals Limited in consideration of the issue of 72,916,667 new Ordinary Shares, in the Company. The Company has also agreed to purchase from BoS the BoS Warrant for a cash payment of £1,333,333, to be funded out of its existing resources. The principal activity of Alliance Pharmaceuticals is the development, marketing and distribution of pharmaceutical products. The Acquisition follows the approval by Peerless shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting on 20 June 2003 to extend, without limit, the sectors in which the Company may invest. As at 27 November 2003 (the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this document) the closing mid-market price for an Ordinary Share in the Company was 20p, valuing Alliance at £16.67 million (including the cash payment of £1,333,333 in relation to the BoS Warrant). In order to fund future development and to provide working capital going forwards, the Company proposes to raise approximately £11.17 million gross (£9.49 million net of expenses) by way of the Placings (excluding the Vendor Placing) and the Open Offer. Under the Placings (excluding the Vendor Placing) and the Open Offer, 22,914,736 New Issue Shares have been conditionally placed at 16p per share and all of the £7.50 million nominal of Convertible Loan Stock has been conditionally placed at par. In addition, under the Vendor Placing, 2,085,264 Consideration Shares (being all the Vendor Placing Shares) have been conditionally placed at the Issue Price for cash on behalf of certain of the Alliance Shareholders and the Excluded Shareholders in order to fund their proportion of the costs associated with the Proposals and associated events for a total of approximately £0.33 million. All of the Vendor Placing Shares and the Convertible Loan Stock have been conditionally placed firm. Of the New Issue Shares, 15,433,486 have been conditionally placed firm. The remaining 7,481,250 New Issue Shares have been conditionally placed subject to clawback to satisfy valid applications under the Open Offer. The Placings and the Open Offer have been arranged and underwritten by Numis Securities. The New Ordinary Shares, when issued, will represent approximately 86.50 per cent. of the Enlarged Share Capital. The maximum number of Ordinary Shares which would arise on full conversion of the Convertible Loan Stock is 35,714,285 which would represent 24.38 per cent. of the Enlarged Share Capital, as diluted on conversion. Following Completion, the Alliance Shareholders will together hold Ordinary Shares representing approximately, 63.70 per cent. of the Enlarged Share Capital and Excluded Shareholders will together hold approximately 0.23 per cent. Because the Concert Party, comprising the Alliance Shareholders, will own more than 30 per cent. of the Enlarged Share Capital the Company is seeking a waiver of Rule 9 of the City Code, which would otherwise require the Concert Party to offer to acquire those Ordinary Shares it does not own. In view of the size of Alliance relative to the Company, the Acquisition will constitute a reverse takeover of Peerless under the AIM Rules and therefore requires the prior approval of Shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting. It is proposed that the name of the Company be changed to Alliance Pharma plc and the accounting reference date be changed from 31 December to 28 February. The Board considers the Proposals to be in the best interests of the Company and Shareholders as a whole and are recommending shareholders vote in favour of the Resolutions at the EGM, which is being convened for 22 December 2003. BACKGROUND TO AND REASONS FOR THE PROPOSALS Peerless was formed on 26 June 2001 and in November that year raised approximately £2.29 million after expenses by means of a placing of Ordinary Shares, which were admitted to trading on AIM on 20 November 2001. In the Peerless admission document dated 8 November 2001, the Company's strategy was described as being to seek to identify and acquire businesses that are able to exploit the opportunities presented by the overlap between the technology and media sectors. On 23 May 2003, a letter was written to shareholders explaining that, despite a number of negotiations, the Company had not identified any businesses thought suitable for acquisition or investment on appropriate terms within the original intended sectors. At an extraordinary general meeting of Shareholders on 20 June 2003 the Shareholders resolved that the Directors should have the authority to extend without limit the range of companies, businesses and sectors within which the Company would be at liberty to invest in or make acquisitions. The Board believes that Alliance Pharmaceuticals represents a suitable acquisition target for fulfilment of the Company's current strategy and satisfies the Company's current investment criteria. Consequent upon and effective from completion of the Acquisition, it is intended that the nature, strategy and investment criteria of the Company will be classified for the purposes of the AIM Rules as a holding company and not an investing company. ALLIANCE PHARMACEUTICALS LIMITED Overview Alliance was founded in 1996 by its current managing director, John Dawson, and commenced trading in 1998. The business plan of Alliance envisaged the acquisition of the manufacturing, sales and distribution rights to pharmaceutical products that offered strong niche market opportunities but lacked the ultimate potential sales volume to attract or maintain the interest of the major pharmaceutical companies. The plan called for the establishment of a low cost operation, staffed by individuals with large pharmaceutical company experience, which would out-source the more capital-intensive aspects of the pharmaceutical supply process. It was John Dawson's intention to establish as a first stage a profitable, cash generative base for Alliance by the acquisition of the rights to mature established brands before entering the planned second stage of the evolution of the business. The second stage envisaged, as well as continuing expansion of the portfolio of mature products, the addition of pharmaceutical products that were new to the UK market, either by acquisition or by entering into partnership with those who had developed them. These new products that were likely to have been developed by smaller research and development companies and that had already recently gained regulatory approval or products that were already marketed in other territories or for other indications and which required only the final stages of development and regulatory approval (for which Alliance would apply) to be marketed in the UK and, where appropriate, the rest of the European Union. By this method he intended to follow a low risk strategy, within which Alliance would benefit from the established regular cash flow of mature products and once that had been established, from the prospect of the greatly enhanced turnover and margins that he considered were available from new products. The cash generative nature of the established brands to be acquired by Alliance facilitated the negotiation of debt finance from BoS, which has provided all acquisition funding from August 2001 to date. Alliance made several acquisitions in 1999, which were funded from management equity, on-going cash flow and an invoice-discounting scheme through Lloyds TSB, which was later subsumed into the BoS financing arrangements. Financial Information on Alliance Pharmaceuticals In the five years since Alliance commenced trading it has grown to a position where it either owns the rights to or has the right to market twenty-three branded pharmaceutical products, and generated a turnover of £8.33 million and an audited profit after interest, but before tax and all intangible amortisation of £0.67 million in the year to 28 February 2003. This profit has been reduced by the £339,000 profit and loss effect of the restatement of a Euro denominated loan at the prevailing exchange rate on 28 February 2003 as required by SSAP 20, and by the £150,000 write-off of Lysovir stock, an anti-viral influenza treatment which has suffered from low sales as a result of the absence of an influenza epidemic over the last three years and in respect of which the 'shelf-life' expires in May 2004. The profit has been achieved with a staff of twelve and an out-sourcing system from various sources that provides production, distribution, formulation development, a field sales force and clinical trial facilities. A number of the products have entered the Alliance marketing portfolio in the recent past and their annual sales level is not fully reflected in the turnover figure for the year ended 28 February 2003. Based on unaudited management figures for the eight months to 31 October 2003, Alliance's turnover for the year to 28 February 2004 is expected to be approximately£10.3 million. Future sales are expected to develop from the existing reported level by organic growth, by the acquisition of further established brands and by the acquisition or development and launch of carefully selected new unmarketed products. A summary of the key profit and loss figures is set out below: 2001 2002 2003 £'000 £'000 £'000 Turnover 6,117 6,342 8,327 Profit pre tax, pre item (1) below and pre-amortisation 335 589 1,158 (1) € denominated loan restatement & stock write-off - - (489) Amortisation (209) (415) (1,400) Profit/(Loss) pre-tax 126 174 (731) The Alliance Pharmaceuticals Business Case John Dawson gained more than twenty-five years' experience in the pharmaceuticals industry, including appointments with Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, before founding Alliance Pharmaceuticals. During that time, he formed the view that a substantial opportunity existed to form a pharmaceuticals company that both specialised in the manufacture and supply of smaller volume niche products and could become a licensing partner of choice for overseas research and development companies seeking a UK/European marketing distributor. His belief was that a low cost, low risk business could be established by the formation of a small team of well qualified people experienced in working for large companies in the pharmaceuticals sector, who could satisfy the core skills of management and control, whilst outsourcing the more standardised functions to establish service providers. By this method he hoped to create a company that was both flexible and less capital intensive than a conventional structure. Many of the products of the type envisaged by John Dawson to be suitable candidates for acquisition had established market positions and largely predictable cash generative qualities. Despite these attributes, it was believed that the larger company owners of some of the products would be prepared to sell or licence the rights to those products for a consideration that enabled a lower overhead business to make significant profit from their manufacture and distribution. On 16 September 1996, John Dawson founded Alliance Pharmaceuticals to put into action his business theory. From the inception of the business, Alliance has invested heavily in market research and industry statistical information from which it can assess the business case for potential product acquisitions and the modelling of the likely effect of debt-financed acquisitions on the Company. Acquisition and Product History In April 1998, as its first transaction, Alliance entered into a 'fostering' arrangement with Novartis (a company formed in 1997 by the merger of Swiss companies Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz) in respect of sixteen brands. Under a typical 'fostering' arrangement, the licensor retains the intellectual property rights to the products and the licensee takes over the marketing and distribution, with the improved performance being allocated between the parties. Of the sixteen brands originally fostered, eleven remain so, since three brands were divested to third parties by Novartis after Alliance declined their outright acquisition and two brands were acquired outright by Alliance in October 2001. In January 1999, Alliance entered into its first conventional acquisition transaction being the acquisition of the right to four brands for the treatment variously of nasal infections, psoriasis and Parkinson's disease, from Bioglan Labs Ltd. In August 2001, Alliance acquired the rights to Distamine, a specialist product for use in rheumatoid arthritis and in Wilson's Disease, from Eli Lilly and Company. In October 2001 the acquisitions of Symmetrel, used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, and Slow-K, used for potassium deficiencies, were made from Novartis. In April 2002, Alliance acquired two cream products used in the treatment of dry skin and eczema from Procter & Gamble. In September 2002, Alliance undertook its most substantial transaction to date when it acquired the rights to Nu-Seals aspirin, used in differing dose levels for the treatment of pain and more importantly for the prevention of heart disease, from Eli Lilly and Company. The total of the consideration for these five acquisition transactions was £17.7 million. Funding Alliance has only entered into transactions and associated borrowings when the predictable cash flow would cover the financing cost with a comfortable margin for profit. Except in the case of the Bioglan acquisition, all acquisitions have been made for cash and funding in each case has been provided by debt under a structure of term loans, mezzanine debt and subordinated loan stock negotiated with BoS. Three term loans (the 'BoS Term Loans') totalling £10.865 million were entered into over the period from October 2001 to September 2002, of which £9.20 million was outstanding at 31 August 2003. In addition, in September 2002, BoS provided £2.50 million of mezzanine debt by way of a facility which, as subsequently amended, is to be repaid in 2009 and 2010. BoS has also agreed, conditionally upon the Acquisition taking place, to provide a further £1.61 million term loan facility to Alliance for general corporate purposes which is repayable in 2008 and 2009. This facility includes £0.21 million to finance the payment of the signature fee in connection with the Zimycan transaction referred to below. In September 2002, Alliance issued subordinated loan stock to BoS in the amount of £4.5 million (the 'BoS Loan Stock') under the terms of which BoS was granted the BoS Warrant pursuant to which BoS became entitled to between 12.5 per cent. and 20 per cent. of the equity in Alliance in the event that Alliance's shares are sold or are admitted to trading on a public exchange. The acquisition of Alliance by Peerless in return for shares in Peerless will be deemed to fulfil this condition. As a result, under the terms of the BoS Warrant prior to Completion, BoS would have become entitled to subscribe for Alliance shares comprising 12.5% of the equity in Alliance. In the event that the Company had offered to acquire such Alliance shares on the same terms as it is offering to Alliance Shareholders, it would have offered to BoS New Ordinary Shares of an aggregate value (computed on the basis of the Issue Price) of £1.67 million. However, BoS has agreed to dispose of, and the Company has agreed to acquire as part of the Acquisition, its entitlement to subscribe for shares of Alliance pursuant to the BoS Warrant for a discounted consideration of £1,333,333, payable in cash. Contemporaneously with Completion, it is intended that the BoS Loan Stock will be repaid in full, leaving the BoS Term Loans and the BoS Mezzanine Debt outstanding to BoS. In addition, it is intended that at Completion, Alliance will pay in advance the premium payable on redemption of the BoS Mezzanine Debt. As at 31 October 2003, the BoS Term Loan and the BoS Mezzanine Debt totalled £11.70 million. From Completion the interest rate margin payable over LIBOR or EURIBOR as appropriate for £1.65 million of BoS Term Loans will reduce from 3.5 per cent. to 2.5 per cent. and the interest rate margin payable over LIBOR for the BoS Mezzanine Debt will reduce from 6 per cent. to 5 per cent. The Company has entered into hedging arrangements with BoS in respect of the BoS Term Loans which have the effect of fixing the interest base rate on £5.7 million of these loans to a weighted average rate of 4.09 per cent. per annum until November 2005 and on £4.2 million of these loans to a base rate of 5 per cent per annum until October 2007. The Current Portfolio Alliance's sales are mainly prescription driven. Alliance distributes to hospitals directly and to pharmaceutical wholesalers who service both retail and hospital pharmacies with their prescription requirements. The current Alliance Pharmaceuticals portfolio and the relative turnover contributions of the major brands are set out below: Brand and Application First Launched Gross Sales Percentage of Current Percentage of in UK in Year to Gross Sales annualised Current 28 February in Year to Sales(iv) Annualised Gross 2003 28 February 2003 (£ millions) Sales (£ millions) Nu-Seals 1994(i) 1.4 17.3% 3.1 30.1% For prevention of heart disease Syntocinon & 1956 2.2 27.2% 2.7 26.2% Syntometrine For use in childbirth Symmetrel 1970 1.0 12.3% 1.1 10.7% For use in Parkinson's Disease Naseptin 1959 0.7 8.6% 0.8 7.8% For use in nasal infections Slow-K 1965 0.6 7.4% 0.6 5.8% For use in potassium deficiencies Aquadrate & Alphaderm 1974 0.5 6.2% 0.6 5.8% For use in eczema & dry skin conditions Remaining 15 - 1.7 21.0% 1.4 13.6% Brands(ii) Totals 8.1(iii) 100.0% 10.3(iv) 100.0% (i) Low dose for cardiovascular disease. (ii) These include standard specialist hospital products such as Deseril (methysergide for resistant migraine). Metopirone (metyrapone for Cushing's Syndrome), Rogitine (phentolamine to detect phaeochromocytoma) and Synacthen (tetracosactrin - a standard test for adrenocortical insufficiency) (iii) In the year ended 28 February 2003 Alliance Pharmaceuticals had other income from non-core activities totalling £0.2 million giving a total turnover for the year ended 28 February 2003 of £8.3 million. (iv) Based upon unaudited management figures for the eight months ended 31 October 2003 Products which are fully acquired, as opposed to fostered, deliver a much higher margin and, following the acquisitions of Distamine, Symmetrel and Slow-K in 2001, Alliance's margins earned from acquired products exceeded those from fostered products. Now just over 85 per cent. of Alliance's gross margin comes from products for which it has acquired the intellectual property rights. In the period from the first 'fostering' arrangement to date, Alliance's gross margin has more than doubled from some 24 per cent. to in excess of 50 per cent. The products marketed by Alliance continue to achieve sales in line with budget and the expectations of the Alliance Directors. Over the eight months to 31 October 2003, sales of Nu-Seals in Ireland, the largest selling product in the Alliance range, increased by 29 per cent. on a like-for-like basis compared with the equivalent period in the previous year, when the brand was not owned by Alliance. Over the same eight month period, sales of Symmetrel and Syntocinon/ Syntometrine have increased by 15 per cent. and 10 per cent. respectively on a like-for-like basis when compared to the equivalent period in 2002. Future Plans and Alliance's Intentions Regarding the Company The Alliance Pharmaceuticals Directors consider that the first stage of the original Alliance Pharmaceuticals business plan has succeeded to the extent necessary to implement the second stage, whilst continuing to explore opportunities to acquire further mature brands. Alliance Pharmaceuticals is currently exploring several opportunities to expand the product range and thus turnover. a) The Alliance Pharmaceuticals Directors believe that a number of clear and attractive opportunities exist and are available to them to increase sales by the acquisition of further established brands. Such opportunities do not yet represent any concrete proposals and related enquiries have not progressed beyond a preliminary stage. b) Beyond the normal distribution process, in which established brands that have been acquired have been supplied in the most efficient manner available to Alliance Pharmaceuticals, Alliance Pharmaceuticals has undertaken only limited marketing activity. The Alliance Pharmaceuticals Directors believe that Alliance Pharmaceuticals has now reached the size and stage of development where resources could and should be deployed in this area and that the resultant expenditure would increase sales and profitability in the longer term. c) The Alliance Pharmaceuticals Directors also consider that attractive margins could be achieved by entering selected niche areas of the hospital generics supply market. d) All of the products currently supplied by Alliance Pharmaceuticals, except for Lysovir have been acquired from their previous owners as mature products with market history in the UK. The Alliance Pharmaceuticals Directors have identified a number of other opportunities that are in a late stage of development, albeit close to market, and which the Alliance Pharmaceuticals Directors believe are likely to achieve regulatory approval over the next 2-3 years. The Alliance Pharmaceuticals Directors believe that several of these new products have the potential to provide substantial profit margins. Amongst others, Alliance Pharmaceuticals is currently evaluating opportunities in the areas of dermatology, women's health and sleep abnormalities. In respect of one such opportunity in the area of dermatology, Alliance Pharmaceuticals has entered into an agreement to market a new product, Zimycan, on behalf of its developers and owners. The most substantial of the late stage development opportunities, both in terms of potential sales and probable expenditure on development and marketing, is in the area of sleep abnormality. The Alliance Pharmaceuticals Directors believe that following Completion, the Alliance will have sufficient funding, from capital and internally generated cash flow, to develop this substantial project to the point of marketing when a decision would be taken as to the method of funding the marketing process. At that stage, the alternatives available to Alliance are likely to include out-licensing marketing and field force expenditure in return for a royalty on sales or raising funds from capital markets to cover marketing expenditure. The Alliance Pharmaceuticals Directors believe that whilst Alliance Pharmaceuticals's current level of operating profit is attractive and the pursuit of the opportunities described earlier can be achieved with minimal increase in overheads and is likely to increase turnover, the potential of the opportunities contained in the subsequent paragraphs is substantially greater. Following Completion, as well as continuing with the acquisition of mature pharmaceutical brands (subject to the availability of appropriate financing), the Proposed Directors intend to increase Alliance's marketing activities and to pursue some or all of the opportunities described above. The Proposed Directors believe that the profitability of the business of Alliance and the Company will be impacted in the short term by the increase in overheads attributable to its planned marketing expenditure and that these could rise by £0.9 million during the year ending 28 February 2004 and by a further £1.8 million in the year-ending 28 February 2005. This increase in overheads would be likely to pre-date any associated rise in turnover by two years; the Proposed Directors also believe that, by the financial year ending 28 February 2007, the contribution to turnover emanating from the opportunities described could approach 50 per cent. of the total turnover of Alliance in that financial year. The Proposed Directors also intend that other mature pharmaceutical brands acquired in the future be funded by debt subject to the Group's borrowing limits and availability of finance. Placing and Open Offer Under the Placing and Open Offer Agreement, Numis Securities has agreed to use reasonable endeavours to place with institutional and other investors 22,914,736 New Issue Shares subject, in the case of 7,481,250 such shares, to clawback to satisfy entitlements under the Open Offer, in each case at the Issue Price. The Placings and the Open Offer have been arranged and fully underwritten by Numis Securities. Qualifying Shareholders are being given the opportunity to subscribe for the Open Offer Shares at a price of 16 pence per Open Offer Share payable in full in cash on application, free from all commissions and expenses on the basis of: 1 Open Offer Share for every 2 Existing Ordinary Shares held by them at the close of business on the Record Date, and so in proportion for any other number of Existing Ordinary Shares then held. Fractional entitlements to Open Offer Shares will not be issued to Qualifying Shareholders and no cash payments will be made in lieu of fractional entitlements. Accordingly, the entitlements of Qualifying Shareholders will be rounded down to the nearest whole number of Open Offer Shares. Any fractional entitlements arising under the Open Offer will be aggregated and allotted to Numis Securities, as underwriter, (or such other person(s) as Numis Securities may procure) for the benefit of the Company. Qualifying Shareholders may apply for any number of Open Offer Shares up to, but not more than, their guaranteed pro rata entitlement to Open Offer Shares. The Open Offer Shares will be issued credited as fully paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with the Existing Ordinary Shares, including the right to receive dividends and other distributions declared or paid thereon following Admission. They will be issued free from all liens, charges and encumbrances. The Placings and the Open Offer are conditional, inter alia, upon: (a) the passing of the Resolutions at the EGM; (b) the Placing and Open Offer Agreement becoming unconditional, save only for the condition relating to Admission, by not later than 23 December 2003 (or such later date, being no later than 5 January 2004, as the Company and Numis Securities may agree) and that agreement not having been terminated in accordance with its terms; and (c) Admission. Qualifying Shareholders should be aware that the Open Offer is not a rights issue. Qualifying Shareholders' entitlements under the Open Offer are not transferable unless to satisfy bona fide market claims in relation to purchases of existing Ordinary Shares through the market prior to the date upon which the Existing Ordinary Shares were marked 'ex' the entitlement to the Open Offer by the London Stock Exchange. The Application Form is not a document of title and can not be traded. Qualifying Shareholders should be aware that under the Open Offer, unlike in a rights issue, the Open Offer Shares not applied for under the Open Offer will not be sold in the market or placed for the benefit of Qualifying Shareholders who do not apply for them under the Open Offer, but will be allotted to Numis Securities as underwriter or such other person(s) as Numis Securities may procure pursuant to the Placing and Open Offer Agreement. The terms of the Open Offer will be contained in the letter to Qualifying Shareholders from Numis set out in Part III of the Prospectus. The Open Offer will close at 3.00 p.m. on 19 December 2003. In order to be valid, completed Application Forms and payment in full for the Open Shares applied for must be received by Capital IRG plc, Corporate Actions, PO Box 166, The Registry, 34 Beckenham Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 4TH by no later than 3.00 p.m. on 19 December 2003. PRINCIPAL TERMS OF THE ACQUISITION Pursuant to the Share Purchase Agreements, Peerless has conditionally agreed to acquire all the issued and to be issued share capital of Alliance Pharmaceuticals (being 30,899,318 B ordinary shares of 1p each), for a consideration to be satisfied by the allotment and issue by Peerless to the Alliance Shareholders and the Excluded Shareholders of Consideration Shares. The Consideration Shares include the Vendor Placing Shares. Peerless has also conditionally agreed to acquire the BoS Warrant from BoS in consideration of a cash payment of £1,333,333 to BoS, such payment to be funded out of the Company's own resources. The New Issue Shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the Existing Ordinary Shares and shall have the same rights as the Existing Ordinary Shares regarding voting, dividends return of capital on winding up and redemption (and variation of such rights). The Acquisition is conditional, inter alia, on: a) The passing of the Resolutions to be proposed at the EGM; b) The Placing and Open Offer Agreement becoming unconditional in all respects other than as to any condition therein as to completion of the Share Purchase Agreement; and c) Admission Failure to satisfy any of the conditions referred to above will result in both the Share Purchase Agreements not becoming unconditional in which case Admission may not occur and the Proposals will not be implemented. Under the Principal Agreement and a tax deed, certain of the Alliance Pharmaceuticals Shareholders have given the Company representations, warranties and indemnities (subject to certain limitations) relating, inter alia, to the business of Alliance Pharmaceuticals. Under the Principal Agreement, BoS has given limited warranties as to title and related matters. USE OF PEERLESS CAPITAL AND THE PROCEEDS OF THE PLACINGS AND OPEN OFFER It is proposed that the net proceeds of the New Issue Shares and the Company's existing cash assets (following the payment by the Company to BoS of £1,333,333 in consideration for the acquisition by the Company of the BoS Warrant) will be deployed in pursuit of Alliance's business plans. As at 30 June 2003, the Company had a cash balance of £2.2 million and unaudited net assets of £2.2 million. ALLIANCE PHARMACEUTICALS PERSONNEL Set out below are details of the Directors and key personnel of Alliance Pharmaceuticals. John Dawson, Managing Director - Pharmacist, MSc Finance. John (aged 54) has 32 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry including posts at Swiss multi-national companies Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz. He worked at Ciba-Geigy from 1970 to 1984 fulfilling roles as a formulation and production pharmacist, in the stores despatch division, as a medical representative, in various headquarters marketing assignments and as manager of the cardiovascular therapeutic division. John joined Sandoz Pharmaceuticals in 1984 and was planning and administration manager before becoming Director of Finance and Administration in 1991 and Deputy Managing Director in 1995. In 1997 he left to concentrate fully on Alliance. Anthony Booley, Sales & Marketing Director - BSc Physiology, MBA, Chartered Marketer Tony (aged 46) has 23 years experience in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry including posts at multinationals Leo Pharma, GlaxoWellcome and Getinge Industrier AB. Tony joined the industry in 1980 as a medical representative for Leo. In 1982 he joined Wellcome becoming marketing executive in 1983. By 1987 he was product group manager responsible for the company's blockbuster brand Zovirax and became business information manager in 1990. Between 1991 and 1995 Tony worked internationally as marketing manager based in Bombay, India and then with responsibility for all marketing and business development activities in the Middle East and Africa. During 1995 Tony left GlaxoWellcome to join Pegasus Airwave as corporate head of marketing and commercial development. In 1998 this business was successfully sold to the Getinge Industrier AB group. During 1998 he joined Alliance. Stella Dawson (aka Sam Madden), Technical and Regulatory Director - BSc Biochem/ Toxicol, MSc Biopharmacy Sam (aged 48) was initially recruited by Sandoz Pharmaceuticals in 1979 to work on the review of medicines and also handled new chemical entities. She was promoted to Registration Manager in 1984. In 1988 Sam left to join Abbott Laboratories Ltd as the Regulatory Affairs Manager. She was responsible for all regulatory issues on devices, pharmaceuticals and nutritional products, in the UK, Eire and Export markets. In 1989 she started Madden Associates as a freelance consultant in regulatory affairs. Clients have included Clinical Research Organisations who do not have regulatory personnel; national companies from France, the UK, America, Switzerland, Japan, Germany and multi-nationals. Sam served on the Board of the British Institute of Regulatory Affairs (BIRA) from 1986, until September 1999 including six years as Treasurer, and is a member of the Association of Consultants to the Biosciences Industry (ACBI). Sam has worked with Alliance since its inception to ensure that all UK Product Licences and Irish Product Authorisations are maintained. Sam is married to John Dawson. Sam is employed directly by Alliance Pharmaceuticals for her director's duties and provides regulatory, technical and development consultancy via Madden Associates Limited. In total she spends around 50 per cent. of her time on those matters. Madeleine Scott, Finance Director - ACCA, ACIS Maddy (aged 38) has 16 years experience across manufacturing and service industries as a Management Accountant, Financial Controller and Administration Manager. She has held positions at King Edward VII Hospital in London, McCann Erickson, HH&S Limited, Nokia Consumer Electronics, Bluemay Limited, Leibert Europe and Serco Aviation. She joined Alliance Pharmaceuticals in May 1999 as finance and administration manager. Maddy is also company secretary at Alliance. Andrew Dean, Business Development Director - BSc Chemistry and Business Andrew (aged 33) joined Schering Plough as a medical sales representative in 1993. He became an Associate Product Manager in the surgical division in 1996 and a Product Manager in the dermatological division I 1997. In 1998, he was promoted to Senior product Manager in urology and the following year became a Regional Business Manager. In January 2001, Andrew became Marketing Development Manager and led the launch on NeoClarityn, Schering Plough's 'flagship' product. In August 2002, Andrew left to become Business Development Director at. Alliance. John Barber, Director of Scientific Affairs - BSc Pharmacology, MSc Information Science. John (aged 40) worked from 1985 to 1988 as an information scientist for the UK Atomic Energy Authority providing information services in all areas of nuclear engineering. From 1988 to 1992, he worked at ICI Pharmaceuticals (now AstraZeneca) providing services for bioscience Research and Development ('R&D') and developing a business information service for commercial departments. In 1992, he moved to Roche Products as an information scientist for antiviral and anti-inflammatory R&D. In 1996, he joined GlaxoWellcome R&D as an information analyst providing an information and analysis service for anti-infective, anti-inflammatory and dermatology R&D. In 1997, he joined PharmaVentures, a pharmaceutical business development and business information consultancy, as information manager for the content and development of a series of pharmaceutical business information services. John joined Alliance Pharmaceuticals in June 2000. He is a member of the Association of Information Officers of the Pharmaceutical Industry (AIOPI), for which he is currently Secretary. Peerless Board Composition Upon completion, all of the existing Directors, with the exception of Steven Harris, will resign without compensation for loss of office except that Richard James, Jeremy Fenn and Ajaz Ahmed will be entitled, in accordance with their contractual rights set out in their service contracts (or letter of appointment in the case of Ajaz Ahmed) to payment for their 12 months' notice periods. Upon Completion, the Board will comprise the following: John Dawson Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Madeleine Elizabeth Scott Finance Director Anthony Booley Executive Director Stella Anne Dawson (aka Sam Madden) Executive Director Steven Harris Non-executive Director Paul Ranson Non-executive Director Steve Harris - Non-executive Director Steven Harris (aged 37) will continue as a non-executive Director. He is a Chartered Accountant. From 1997 to 2003 he was the finance director of PowderJect Pharmaceuticals plc until that company was taken over earlier this year. As a member of the Powderject board he played a key role in the company's flotation and subsequent rounds of financing to fund vaccine development and acquisitions. Prior to joining PowderJect, he was Group Financial Controller of Desoutter, a UK division of the Swedish multinational, Atlas Copco. He has extensive knowledge of the pharmaceutical sector. He is also a director of Micap plc, which was floated on AIM earlier in 2003. Paul Ranson - Non-executive Director Paul Ranson (aged 50) was called to the bar in 1977, practising at 13 Kings Bench Walk before acting as legal adviser and subsequently manager of legal affairs at Smith Kline & French for five years. In 1985 he became legal director of Merck, Sharp and Dohme. During this time he re-qualified as a solicitor going on to become, first, a partner in Brain & Brain, a Reading based solicitors between 1990 and 1997 and then head of healthcare law at Simmons & Simmons until 2001. In 2002 Paul founded PharmaLaw. Paul has expertise in the commercial, regulatory and liability aspects of the pharmaceutical and related health care sectors, including, in particular, European and strategic alliances and outsourcing and EC and legislative compliance. He has been an independent ethics committee member for 5 years, is a member of the ABHI Legal Issues Committee and since 1990 has been the co-ordinator of the Ethical Medicines Industry Group. Non-executive chairman It is the Board's intention to appoint a non-executive in the near future. DIRECTORS' AND PROPOSED DIRECTORS' SERVICE CONTRACTS AND APPOINTMENTS Following Admission, it is proposed that new service contracts will be entered into between each Proposed Director and the Company on substantially the same terms as their existing service contracts with Alliance. CHANGE OF NAME AND ACCOUNTING REFERENCE DATE Following Admission, it is proposed to change the name of the Company to ' Alliance Pharma PLC'. The Proposed Directors also intend to change the accounting reference date of the Company from 31 December to 28 February in each year so that for financial reporting purposes the Company will have the same accounting reference date as Alliance. Accordingly, following Completion, the Company proposes to publish accounts for the 14 months ending 28 February 2004, reflecting the Acquisition. WAIVER OF RULE 9 OF THE CITY CODE Under the City Code persons co-operating pursuant to an agreement or understanding (be it formal or informal) for the purposes of acquiring control, that is obtaining an aggregate holding of shares carrying 30 per cent. or more of the voting control of a company, are considered to be acting as one. The persons comprising the Concert Party are the Alliance Shareholders. In addition, in the event that there are any persons associated with the Alliance Shareholders, being those persons who can control or potentially control the Alliance shares held by the Alliance Shareholders, such persons are also deemed to be within the Concert Party by the Panel for the purposes of this document. Upon Completion, the Concert Party will own an aggregate of 70,578,737 New Ordinary Shares representing 63.70 per cent. of the Enlarged Share Capital. Upon Completion, John Dawson and his wife Stella Anne Dawson (a.k.a. Sam Madden) (who will together own 56.20 per cent. legally and beneficially of the Enlarged Share Capital) will be the sole holder of Ordinary Shares owning more than 30 per cent. of the Enlarged Share Capital. Rule 9 of the City Code normally requires that any person who (together with persons acting in concert with him) acquires 30 per cent. or more of the voting rights of a company which is subject to the City Code, or any person who (together with persons acting in concert with him) holds not less than 30 per cent. but not more than 50 per cent. of the voting rights of such a company and who acquires additional shares, is obliged to make a general offer in cash to all shareholders for the shares not owned by him at the highest price paid by him, or any person acting in concert with him, within the preceding 12 months. In addition, where persons act in concert in relation to an acquisition of shares, each individual member of the relevant concert party will normally incur an obligation to make a general offer under Rule 9 of the City Code if that individual member (together with his associates) acquires ordinary shares which has the effect of increasing the respective shareholding to 30 per cent. or more of the issued share capital of the relevant company. Once shareholder approval has been obtained, the controlling shareholder of the Concert Party, John Dawson (who together with his wife Stella Anne Dawson (a.k.a. Sam Madden) will own more than 50 per cent. of the Enlarged Share Capital) will be free to acquire further shares, subject to Rules 5 and 9 of the City Code. At the EGM referred to below, a resolution will be proposed to waive any obligation on the Concert Party, both individually and collectively, which may otherwise arise as a result of the issue of the Consideration Shares to them, to make, pursuant to Rule 9 of the City Code, a general offer for the Company. To be passed, the resolution will require a simple majority of votes cast in favour of such resolution by Independent Shareholders on a poll. Individual members of the Concert Party whose holding is less than 50 per cent. would be restricted from purchasing further Ordinary Shares which carry voting rights if their holding of shares in the Company is 30 per cent. or more or if the purchase of additional Ordinary Shares would result in that person holding in excess of 30 per cent. of the voting rights of the Company. LOCK-INS AND ORDERLY MARKET ARRANGEMENTS Upon Completion, the Proposed Directors will hold in aggregate 69,499,661 Consideration Shares representing 62.73 per cent. of the Enlarged Share Capital. Each Proposed Director (other than Paul Ranson who prior to the Acquisition holds, and upon Completion will hold, no securities in Alliance or in the Company) has undertaken, inter alia, to the Company that (subject to certain exceptions), they will not sell or dispose of, or agree to sell or dispose of, any of the Ordinary Shares which they acquire in the Acquisition or any interests in such shares at any time in the two years following Admission. Each of the Excluded Shareholders has agreed, subject to certain exceptions, only to effect any sales of the Consideration Shares received pursuant to the Optionholders Agreement through the Company's broker for the time being, for a period of twelve months following Admission. CONVERTIBLE LOAN STOCK The Convertible Loan Stock carries a coupon of 8 per cent. per annum. which is payable six monthly in arrears on 28 February and 31 August in each year except that the first payment of interest, which will be made on 28 February 2004 will be in respect of the period from the date of issue to 28 February 2004 (both dates inclusive). Under the Trust Deed, at Completion the Company will place in any account charged to the Trustee for the benefit of Stockholders a sum equal to two years' gross interest on the Stock as security for its obligations to make payments of principal, premium and interest on the Stock. The Company will draw upon such monies to meet interest payments under the Stock as they fall due during the first two years in which the Stock is outstanding. The Convertible Loan Stock, which (save in respect of the interest monies to be retained as referred above) will be unsecured and will be subordinated in a winding up to the claims of secured creditors of the Company from time to time, is convertible in Ordinary Shares at the rate of 476.19 Ordinary Shares for every 100 Units, subject to adjustment in certain circumstances. The conversion rate is equivalent to a subscription price of 21p per Ordinary Share. The conversion rights are exercisable at any time from the date of issue of the stock to 30 November 2013 . Any Convertible Loan Stock which has not been previously converted will, subject to the terms of the Trust Deed, be redeemed on 31 December 2013 at par together with interest accrued up to and including the date of redemption. ADMISSION TO AIM A conditional application is being made to the London Stock Exchange for the Enlarged Share Capital and the £7.5 million nominal of Convertible Loan Stock to be admitted to trading on AIM. Admission is expected to become effective and trading in the Enlarged Share Capital and the Convertible Loan Stock to commence on 23 December 2003. DIVIDEND POLICY The Proposed Directors anticipate that any earnings will be retained by the Company for the development of the business of the Enlarged Group and will not be distributed for the foreseeable future to holders of Ordinary Shares as cash or other dividends. The declaration and payment by the Company of dividends will, once the Enlarged Group has achieved its development objectives, be dependent upon the Enlarged Group's results from operations and other factors deemed to be relevant at the time. CONTROLLING SHAREHOLDER AGREEMENT John Dawson and Stella Anne Dawson (a.k.a. Sam Madden), who together own 56.20 per cent. of the Enlarged Share Capital of the Company following Completion, have entered into a Controlling Shareholder Agreement with the Company. NUMIS OPTION Pursuant to the Numis Option Agreement, Numis Securities will, conditional upon Admission, be granted the right to subscribe for 1,384,924 Ordinary Shares representing 1.25 per cent. of the Enlarged Share Capital. The Numis Option may be exercised within five years of Admission at an exercise price of the Issue Price per Ordinary Share. PROPOSED OPTION TO NAVIGATORLTD LIMITED The Proposed Directors are also proposing to engage the services of Navigatorltd Limited as a consultant to the Company after Completion. The Proposed Directors are proposing that the Company grant an option to Navigatorltd Limited to subscribe for up to 500,000 Ordinary Shares at a price of not less than 20p per share as part of its remuneration. This option would be exercisable for the duration of the consultancy plus one year (or until the second anniversary of Admission, if later) but would not be exercisable after the fifth anniversary of Admission. SHARE OPTION PLAN Conditional on and subject to the passing of the remaining Resolutions, the Company is proposing to introduce the Share Option Plan in which qualifying directors and employees of the Enlarged Group will be eligible to participate at the discretion of the Remuneration Committee, in order to assist with the appropriate motivation and remuneration of employees and directors of the Enlarged Group. Amendment of Articles to limit the Borrowings Directors may incur on behalf of the Company Conditional on and subject to the passing of the remaining Resolutions at the EGM, the Company is also proposing to amend its Articles with respect to the limits on the Directors' authority to incur borrowings on behalf of the Company and its subsidiaries. Currently, the Articles contain no restriction on this authority. As part of the Proposals, it is proposed to introduce a limit to the Directors' authority to incur borrowings on behalf of the Enlarged Group, although it should be noted that in calculating the Company's borrowings for this purpose, the Convertible Loan Stock is not treated as a borrowing. Such authority will be restricted to four times the Company's adjusted capital and reserves as shown by the then latest annual audited accounts of the Company but subject to certain adjustments. Upon Completion, these adjustments will include adjustments to reflect the changes in the Enlarged Group's balance sheet following the Acquisition and the Placings and Open Offer. On the basis of the latest published audited balance sheets of the Company and Alliance and the adjustments to be made according to the proposed amendment to the Articles (but taking no account of the trading performance of the Company or Alliance after the last balance sheet dates), the Directors' authority to incur borrowings on behalf of the Enlarged Group as from Completion will be approximately £15.7 million in addition to Alliance's existing facilities. EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING An Extraordinary General Meeting of the Company is being convened for 22 December 2003 for the purpose considering and, if thought fit, passing the requisite resolutions, inter alia, to approve and implement the Acquisition, Placings and Open Offer and the change of name. Expected Timetable Of Principal Events Record Date for entitlement under the Open Offer 24 November 2003 Posting of Prospectus 28 November 2003 Latest time and date for splitting of Application Forms (to 3.00 p.m. on 17 December 2003 satisfy bona fide market claims only) Latest time and date for receipt of completed Application 3.00 p.m. 19 December 2003 Forms and payment in full under the Open Offer Latest time and date for receipt of Form of Proxy for the EGM 11.00 a.m. 20 December 2003 Time and date of Extraordinary General Meeting 11.00 a.m. on 22 December 2003 Completion of the Acquisition 23 December 2003 CREST accounts credited 22 December 2003 Admission and first day of dealings in New Ordinary Shares 23 December 2003 and Convertible Loan Stock Despatch by post of definitive certificates for New Ordinary 5 January 2004 Share and Convertible Loan Stock Statistics Number of Existing Ordinary Shares 14,962,500 Number of Consideration Shares to be issued pursuant to the Acquisition 72,916,667 Percentage of Enlarged Share Capital represented by the Consideration Shares 65.81 per cent. Issue Price 16 pence Number of New Issue Shares and Vendor Placing Shares the subject of the Placings 25,000,000 and the Open Offer Number of Open Offer Shares to be issued pursuant to the Open Offer assuming that 7,481,250 the Open Offer is subscribed in full Number of Ordinary Shares in issue upon Completion 110,793,903 Market capitalization of the Company, upon completion of the Proposals, at the £17.73 million Issue Price excluding conversion of any of the Convertible Loan Stock Aggregate nominal amount of Convertible Loan Stock to be issued pursuant to the £7.5 million Placings Maximum number of Ordinary Shares which may be issued upon conversion in full of 35,714,285 the Convertible Loan Stock Number of Ordinary Shares in issue upon completion of the Proposals and assuming 146,508,188 conversion in full of all the Convertible Loan Stock Gross proceeds of the Placings and the Open Offer (excluding the Vendor Placing) £11.2 million DEFINITIONS The following definitions apply throughout this announcement, unless the context requires otherwise: 'Acquisition'' the proposed acquisition by the Company of all the issued and to be issued share capital of Alliance and the BoS Warrant pursuant to the Share Purchase Agreements 'Admission'' admission of the New Ordinary Shares and the Convertible Loan Stock to trading on AIM 'AIM'' the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange 'AIM Rules'' the AIM Rules for companies whose shares are traded on AIM and their nominated advisers, as issued by the London Stock Exchange from time to time 'Alliance' or 'Alliance Pharmaceuticals' Alliance Pharmaceuticals Limited, incorporated and registered with the Registrar of Companies in England and Wales under number 3250064 'Alliance Directors' or 'Alliance Board' the directors of Alliance 'Alliance Group' Alliance and its subsidiary undertakings 'Alliance Optionholders' those persons who will, pursuant to existing subscription rights under option, acquire Alliance Shares prior to the Acquisition 'Alliance Option Scheme' the Alliance Pharmaceuticals Limited Annual Enterprise Management Incentive Plan and the Alliance Pharmaceuticals Limited Enterprise Management Incentive Plan 'Alliance Shareholders' the existing holders of Alliance Shares together with the Alliance Optionholders (other than the Excluded Shareholders) 'Alliance Shares' the A ordinary shares of 1p each and/or (as the case may be) the B ordinary shares of 1p each in the share capital of Alliance 'Application Form' the application form on which Qualifying Shareholders may apply for Open Offer Shares under the Open Offer and which forms part of the terms and conditions of the Open Offer 'Articles' articles of association of the Company 'Article 120 Borrowing Limit' Article 120 of the Articles of Association as proposed to be amended by Resolution 6 to be proposed at the EGM and set out at the end of this document 'BoS' the Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland of Beauclerc House, 3 Queens Road, Reading, RG1 4AR 'BoS Warrant' the warrant granted to the BoS Group pursuant to a warrant instrument executed by Alliance dated 23 September 2002 pursuant to which the BoS Group is entitled to subscribe for 'A' Ordinary Shares of Alliance representing between 12.5 per cent. and 20 per cent. of the ordinary share capital of Alliance 'business day' a day (other than a Saturday, Sunday or UK public holiday) on which banks are generally open for business in London 'certificated' or 'in certificated form' a share or other security which is not in uncertificated form (i.e. not in CREST) 'City Code'' or 'Code' the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers 'Company' or 'Peerless' Peerless Technology Group Plc, incorporated and registered with the Registrar of Companies in England and Wales under number 4241478 'Completion' completion of the Proposals 'Concert Party' the Alliance Shareholders 'Consideration Share Agreements' the two agreements, each dated 28 November 2003 between, in one case, Numis Securities (1), certain of the Alliance Shareholders (2) and the Company (3) and, in the other case, Numis Securities (1), the Excluded Shareholders (2) and the Company (3), in each case relating to the Vendor Placing 'Consideration Shares'' the 72,916,667 new Ordinary Shares to be issued as part consideration for the Acquisition, credited as fully paid 'Controlling Shareholder Agreement' a conditional deed dated 28 November 2003 between John Dawson (1) Stella Anne Dawson (a.k.a. Sam Madden) (2) and Peerless (3) which regulates the relationship between John Dawson, Stella Anne Dawson (a.k.a. Sam Madden) and the Company 'Convertible Loan Stock' or 'Stock' the £7.5 million 8 per cent. convertible unsecured subordinated loan stock 2013 to be issued by the Company in Units pursuant to the Placings and having the rights and being subject to the restrictions set out in the Trust Deed 'CREST' the relevant system (as defined in the CREST Regulations) in respect of which CRESTCo is the operator (as defined in the CREST Regulations) 'CRESTCo' CRESTCo Limited 'Crest Regulations' the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001 (S.I. 2001 No. 3755) 'Directors' or 'Board'' the directors of the Company 'Enlarged Group'' the Group as enlarged following Completion 'Enlarged Share Capital'' the enlarged issued ordinary share capital of the Company following implementation of the Proposals 'EURIBOR' the percentage rate per annum equal to the offered quotation which appears on the page of the Telerate Screen which displays an average rate of the Banking Federation of the European Union for the Euro (being currently page 248) 'Excluded Shareholders' Jason Cale and Trevillion Associates Limited 'Existing Ordinary Shares' the 14,962,500 Ordinary Shares in issue on the Record Date 'Extraordinary General Meeting' or 'EGM' the extraordinary general meeting of the Company convened for 11.00 a.m. on 22 December 2003, notice of which is set out at the end of this document 'FSMA' the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 'Group' Peerless and its subsidiary undertakings as at the date of this document 'Independent Shareholders' the Shareholders other than the Concert Party or their connected persons and Alliance (in the event that Alliance acquires any Ordinary Shares before the EGM) 'Issue Price' 16p per New Issue Share 'LIBOR' the rate (expressed as an annual percentage rate) at which Sterling deposits are offered in the London Inter Bank Market by prime banks 'London Stock Exchange' London Stock Exchange plc 'Memorandum' the memorandum of association of the Company 'New Issue Shares' the 22,914,736 new Ordinary Shares to be issued by the Company pursuant to the Placing and Open Offer Agreement 'New Ordinary Shares' the Consideration Shares and the New Issue Shares 'Numis Option' the option granted to Numis to subscribe for the Numis Option Shares on the terms of the Numis Option Agreement 'Numis Option Agreement' the agreement dated 28 November 2003 between (1) the Company and (2) Numis Securities relating to the Numis Option 'Numis Option Shares' the 1,384,924 Ordinary Shares representing 1.25 per cent. of the Enlarged Share Capital subject to the Numis Option Agreement 'Numis Securities' Numis Securities Limited, incorporated and registered with the Registrar of Companies in England and Wales under number 02285918 whose registered office is at 5th Floor, Cheapside House, 138 Cheapside, London, EC2V 6LH 'Official List' the Official List maintained by the UK Listing Authority 'Open Offer' the conditional offer by Numis Securities, on behalf of the Company, to Qualifying Shareholders to subscribe for the Open Offer Shares 'Open Offer Shares' the 7,481,250 New Issue Shares which are the subject of the Open Offer 'Ordinary Shares' the ordinary shares of 1p each in the capital of the Company 'Panel' the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers 'Placings' the conditional placings by Numis Securities of the New Issue Shares, the Vendor Placing Shares and the Convertible Loan Stock subject to the terms of the Placing and Open Offer Agreement 'Placing and Open Offer Agreement' the conditional agreement dated 28 November 2003 between (1) the Company, (2) Numis Securities, (3) the Directors and (4) the Proposed Directors relating to the Placings and the Open Offer 'Principal Agreement' the conditional agreement dated 28 November 2003 between Peerless (1), the Principal Vendors (2), BoS (3), Jeremy Mark Fenn and Richard Mark James (4) relating to the Acquisition 'Principal Vendors' John Dawson, Stella Anne Dawson (a.k.a. Sam Madden) and Anthony Richard Booley 'Proposals' the Acquisition, the Placings, the Open Offer, the proposed change of name of the Company, the proposed amendment to the Articles, the Waiver and Admission pursuant, inter alia,to the Share Purchase Agreements, the Placing and Open Offer Agreement 'Proposed Directors' John Dawson, Anthony Richard Booley, Stella Anne Dawson (a.k.a. Sam Madden), Madeleine Elizabeth Scott and Paul Ranson, 'Qualifying Shareholders' holders of Existing Ordinary Shares on the register of members of the Company at the Record Date and others with bona fide market claims, other than certain overseas Shareholders 'Record Date' the close of business on 24 November 2003 'Shareholders' holders of Existing Ordinary Shares 'Share Option Plan' the Share Option Plan of Peerless which the Company proposes to adopt at the EGM 'Share Purchase Agreements' the Principal Agreement and the Optionholders Share Purchase Agreement 'SSAP' Statement of Standard Accounting Practice 'Stockholders holders of the Stock 'subsidiary' or 'subsidiary undertaking' have the meanings given to them by the Act 'Trustee' The Law Debenture Trust Corporation p.l.c. whose registered and head office is at Fifth Floor, 100 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7EX 'Trust Deed' the trust deed to constitute the Convertible Loan Stock to be entered into between the Company and the Trustee 'UK GAAP' generally accepted accounting principles in the UK 'UK Listing Authority' the Financial Services Authority in its capacity as the competent authority for the purposes of Part VI of FSMA 'Unit' a unit of 100p nominal of the Convertible Loan Stock 'Vendor Placing' the placing by Numis Securities on behalf of certain of the Alliance Shareholders and the Excluded Shareholders of the Vendor Placing Shares pursuant to the Consideration Share Agreements 'Vendor Placing Shares' the 2,085,264 Consideration Shares, being a proportion of the Consideration Shares to be received by certain of the Alliance Shareholders and the Excluded Shareholders, which are the subject of the Vendor Placing 'Waiver' the conditional waiver by the Panel of the obligation of the Concert Party that may otherwise arise under Rule 9 of the City Code to make a mandatory cash offer for the issued Ordinary Shares not already owned by the Concert Party on Completion ENQUIRIES Alliance Pharmaceuticals Ltd Numis Securities Limited John Dawson John Harrison Managing Director 020 7776 1500 01249 466966 Beattie Financial Ann Marie Wilkinson/James Chandler 020 7398 3300 None of the Ordinary Shares, the New Ordinary Shares or the Loan Stock have been, nor will be, registered in the United States of America under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the securities laws of any state of the United States of America or under the securities laws of Canada, Australia, the Republic of Ireland or Japan and they may not, subject to certain exceptions, be offered or sold directly or indirectly within the United States of America, Canada, Australia, the Republic of Ireland or Japan or to, or for the account or benefit of US persons (as defined in Regulation S under the US Securities Act of 1933) or any national, citizen or resident of Canada, Australia, the Republic of Ireland or Japan. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or issue or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for Ordinary Shares, New Ordinary Shares, Loan Stock, Warrants or New Warrants in any jurisdiction in which such offers or solicitations are unlawful. This announcement has been approved for the purposes of Section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 by Numis Securities Limited, which is authorised by The Financial Services Authority Limited to act for Peerless Technology Group in connection with the Placing and Open Offer and will not be responsible to anyone other than Peerless Technology Group for providing the protections afforded to customers of Numis Securities Limited, or for providing advice in relation to the Acquisition, Placings and Open Offer. The Directors of Peerless Technology Group are the persons responsible for the information contained in this announcement. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the Directors (who have taken all reasonable care to ensure that such is the case) the information contained in this announcement is in accordance with the facts and does not omit anything likely to affect the import of such information. This summary should be read in conjunction with the full text of the following announcement which follows. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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