Rule 8 - Coats PLC

Guinness Peat Group PLC 31 March 2003 To: RNS Coats plc The following is the text of a Disclosure sent by Avenue Acquisition plc today to the Company Secretary of Coats plc. "Disclosure of Interest in Shares Pursuant to Rules 8.1 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers. Avenue Acquisition plc ("the Company") hereby notifies Coats plc ("Coats") that following a market purchase of 16,021,480 Ordinary 20 pence shares of Coats ("Shares") on 28 March 2003 at a price of 58.0p, the Company's interest in the Shares (and any person acting in concert with it holding Shares) now amounts to 293,280,632 representing 41.43% of the issued share capital. As stated in the RNS announcement of 6 March 2003, each of GPG (UK) Holdings plc, a subsidiary of Guinness Peat Group plc, RIT Capital Partners (and certain parties connected to it) and Chapman International Investments Limited are shareholders in Avenue Holdings Group Limited which is Avenue Acquisition plc's parent company and have entered into a shareholders' agreement, certain terms of which are described in that announcement. Accordingly, all of them should be regarded as being interested in the Shares in which Avenue Acquisition plc is itself interested, as referred to above. Please also accept this notification as a notification of the relevant interests of the parties referred to above pursuant to sections 198 to 202 of the Companies Act 1985." From: Richard Russell Company Secretary Guinness Peat Group PLC This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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Coats Group (COA)
UK 100

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