Offer Update

Guinness Peat Group PLC 19 August 2002 Embargoed until 7.00am: 19 August 2002 NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, JAPAN OR AUSTRALIA Guinness Peat Group plc ('GPG') Mandatory Cash Offer for Ryland Group plc ('Ryland') Extension of Offer and Announcement of Level of Acceptances On 12 July 2002, Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance made a mandatory cash offer on behalf of GPG at a price of 120p per share for the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Ryland other than the 8,894,340 Ryland Shares which GPG already owned. GPG announces that the Offer has been extended and that it will remain open for acceptance until 3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 27 August 2002. As at 3.00 p.m. on 16 August 2002, valid acceptances of the Offer had been received in respect of a total of 165,816 Ryland Shares, representing approximately 0.6 per cent. of the issued ordinary share capital of Ryland. As at 7 July 2002 (being the date immediately prior to the commencement of the Offer Period), GPG held 8,889,340 Ryland Shares representing approximately 29.99 per cent. of the issued ordinary share capital of Ryland. On 8 July 2002, GPG acquired a further 5,000 Ryland Shares representing approximately 0.02 per cent. of the issued ordinary share capital of Ryland. Save as disclosed above, no Ryland Shares or rights over Ryland Shares have been acquired or agreed to be acquired by or on behalf of GPG or any persons acting or deemed to be acting in concert with GPG for the purposes of the Offer during the course of the Offer Period. Save as disclosed above, no Ryland Shares or rights over Ryland Shares were held by or on behalf of GPG or any persons acting or deemed to be acting in concert with GPG for the purposes of the Offer prior to the Offer Period. No acceptances of the Offer have been received from any persons acting or deemed to be acting in concert with GPG for the purposes of the Offer. Accordingly, as at 3.00 p.m. on 16 August 2002, GPG owned or had received valid acceptances for a total of 9,060,156 Ryland Shares, representing approximately 30.6 per cent. of the issued ordinary share capital of Ryland. Ryland Shareholders who have not yet accepted the Offer and who wish to do so are strongly encouraged to complete and return the Form of Acceptance as soon as possible and, in any event, so as to be received either by post by Computershare Investor Services PLC at P.O. Box 859, The Pavilions, Bridgwater Road, Bristol BS99 1XZ or (during normal business hours) by hand only by Computershare Investor Services PLC at 7th Floor, Jupiter House, Triton Court, 14 Finsbury Square, London EC2A 1BR, no later than 3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 27 August 2002. Enquiries: Guinness Peat Group Tel: (020) 7484 3370 Blake Nixon UK Executive Director Mark Butcher Senior Investment Manager Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance Tel: (020) 7936 3000 Robin Binks Partner Weber Shandwick Square Mile Tel: (020) 7950 2800 Kevin Smith Director Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions set out in the offer document dated 12 July 2002 relating to the Offer apply in this announcement. Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance is acting for GPG in connection with the Offer and no-one else and will not be responsible to anyone other than GPG for providing the protections offered to clients of Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance nor for providing advice in relation to the Offer. Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance is a division of Deloitte & Touche which is authorised by the Financial Services Authority in respect of regulated activities. Deloitte & Touche can be contacted at its principal office: Stonecutter Court, 1 Stonecutter Street, London EC4A 4TR. The Offer is not being made directly or indirectly in or into the United States, Canada, Japan or Australia. Accordingly, copies of this announcement are not being, and must not be, mailed or otherwise distributed or sent in or into or from the United States, Canada, Japan or Australia. The availability of the Offer to persons outside the United Kingdom may be affected by the laws of other jurisdictions. Such persons should inform themselves about and observe any applicable requirements of those jurisdictions. The GPG Directors accept responsibility for the information contained in this announcement. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the GPG Directors (who have taken all reasonable care to ensure that such is the case), such information is in accordance with the facts and does not omit anything likely to affect the import of such information. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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