Change to Terms of Scrip Divi

RNS Number : 4748Y

British Land Co PLC

22 December 2010

 



Change to The British Land Company PLC (the "Company") Scrip Dividend Scheme

The Company announces a change to its Scrip Dividend Scheme, following a recent change in legislation. A Scrip Dividend Alternative can now attract property income distribution ("PID") treatment.  Previously, Scrip Dividend Alternatives could only be treated as non-PIDs. This will enable the Company to offer a Scrip Dividend Alternative in PID form on occasions when the dividend must be entirely in PID form to meet the Company's Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) distribution obligations. The first dividend in respect of which the Scrip Dividend Alternative may be offered in PID form is the quarterly dividend payable on 18 February 2011. 

The revised Scheme Document contains further details about the way in which the Company will operate withholding tax in respect of a PID paid in the form of New Ordinary Shares, how a Shareholder's entitlement to New Ordinary Shares will be determined and how fractions of New Ordinary Shares that arise on a Scrip Dividend Alternative will be treated.  The revised Scheme Document is available on the Company's website at http://www.britishland.com/investors/dividends/scrip, or, in hard copy, from Equiniti (see details below). It also sets out the revised terms and conditions of the Scrip Dividend Scheme. 

The availability of the Scrip Dividend Alternative for each quarter's dividend is at the discretion of the directors, as is whether the Scrip Dividend Alternative will be in PID or non-PID form.  The availability of the Scrip Dividend Alternative, and whether it should be treated as a PID or non-PID, will be confirmed via the Regulatory News Service and on the Company website no later than 48 hours before each relevant ex-dividend date. For the next dividend payable on 18 February 2011, the Company will announce by 7 am on 10 January 2011 the availability of a Scrip Dividend Alternative and the PID/non‑PID income split.

Equiniti can be contacted by telephone on 0871 384 2268 (or [phone] from outside the United Kingdom);  or by post to Share Dividend Operations, Equiniti Ltd, Share Dividend Team, Aspect House, Spencer Road, Lancing, West Sussex, BN99 6DA.

*Calls to this number are charged at 8 pence per minute from a BT landline.  Other telephone providers' charges may vary.

 

END

 

 

MSCEAKAAADEEFFF