Issue of Equity/Acquisition

Harrier Group PLC 12 April 2000 HARRIER GROUP PLC PLACING AND OPEN OFFER PROPOSED ACQUISITION OF ZEUROS LIMITED Introduction It was announced today that the Company intends to raise £14.8 million (£14.2 million net of expenses) through a Placing and Open Offer by Peel Hunt of 5,903,337 Open Offer Shares at 250p per share to fund the proposed acquisition of Zeuros. The Placing and Open Offer has been fully underwritten by Peel Hunt. The Group has today conditionally agreed to acquire the entire issued share capital of Zeuros for a consideration comprising £14 million in loan stock and the Consideration Shares. The Consideration Shares will comprise 2,000,000 new Ordinary Shares or, if larger, such number of new Ordinary Shares that are worth £6,000,000 when valued by an average mid-market closing price formula for a short period prior to completion, subject to a maximum of 3,000,000 new Ordinary Shares. Information on the Enlarged Group Harrier Harrier provides consultancy led integrated software and hardware solutions in two growing markets; Internet and network security, and advanced data protection and storage management. It provides a complete range of services comprising consultancy, installation, training, maintenance and support as well as the resale of the hardware and software required to satisfy a particular contract. Harrier is independent of any product manufacturers, but has developed close business relationships with RSA Security Inc., Check Point Software Technologies Inc., AXENT Technologies Inc., Storage Technology Corporation and Legato Systems Inc., which are some of the world's leading manufacturers of products resold by Harrier. On 15 March 2000, Harrier expanded its Internet and network security division through the acquisition of Re-Net Limited, an IT consultancy and support services company that has developed relationships with a number of manufacturers including RSA Security Inc. and Citrix Systems Inc. Zeuros Zeuros was established by the Vendors in the early 1990s. The company is an independent, consultancy led provider of network and security solutions. Like Harrier, Zeuros also provides installation services and resells the required software and hardware for its solutions. Zeuros' specific areas of technological expertise include networking, personal authentication, data encryption and firewalls. The company is an accredited reseller for CISCO systems Inc., AXENT Technologies Inc., Nortel Networks Inc. and Check Point Software Technologies Inc. amongst others. Approximately 45 per cent. of Zeuros' revenue in the year ended 31 May 1999 was generated from professional services comprising installation, consultancy, support, maintenance and training. In particular, Zeuros manages, maintains and provides administration services for its clients' networks either on a remote or on-site basis. As at 29 February 2000, the Company had a total of 30 full time and part time employees, 24 of whom were revenue earning. In the year to 31 May 1999, Zeuros generated revenue of £3.7 million representing an increase of 34 per cent. over the previous year and generated pre-tax profit of £580,000 compared to £303,000 in the previous corresponding period. Zeuros generated revenue in the nine months ended 29 February 2000 of approximately £3.6 million. Reasons for the Acquisition As stated in the Company's AIM admission document dated 28 October 1999, a core part of the Directors' strategy is to enhance Harrier's organic growth through the acquisition of complementary businesses. The Directors believe that the acquisition of Zeuros will benefit the Company for the following reasons: The Directors believe that Zeuros has a well recognised name in the UK network security market which will increase the profile of Harrier in this field; Zeuros operates in the same market place as Harrier Networks and has a complementary skill base and product set. In particular, the technological expertise of Zeuros' employees in network management will broaden the range of network and security solutions that Harrier is able to offer; Approximately 45 per cent. of Zeuros' revenue in the year to 31 May 1999 was derived from professional services compared to approximately 33 per cent. for Harrier in the year to 31 December 1999. The Acquisition will therefore assist the Directors in achieving their stated aim of increasing the proportion of professional service revenues to 50 per cent. of Group turnover by 2002; Zeuros specialises in the provision of managed services which the Directors believe is a market with significant growth potential; The Enlarged Group will have a total of 48 revenue earning staff compared to the 28 revenue earning staff that Harrier employed at 29 February 2000; There is no significant overlap between the respective customer bases of Zeuros and Harrier, which the Directors believe will lead to considerable cross selling opportunities. The Directors believe that the acquisition of Zeuros will enhance significantly the Group's earnings per share in the current year. Terms of the Acquisition Agreement Under the Acquisition Agreement, the Group has conditionally agreed to acquire Zeuros in consideration for the issue to the Vendors at completion of £14 million in loan stock, the Consideration Shares and for the additional, incidental consideration referred to below. The Consideration Shares will Comprise 2,000,000 new Ordinary Shares or, if larger, such number of new Ordinary Shares that are worth £6,000,000 (rounded down to the nearest pound) when valued by an average mid-market closing price formula for a short period prior to completion, subject to a maximum of 3,000,000 new Ordinary Shares. The loan stock will be redeemable at the Vendors' election in whole or in part at any time after 31 December 2000. Completion of the Acquisition Agreement is conditional on Admission and on the Placing Agreement becoming unconditional in all other respects. On completion, each of the Vendors will enter into a two year service agreement with the Group. The Vendors have given the Group certain warranties and an indemnity in relation to Zeuros' tax liabilities under which their maximum liability (other than for wilful non-disclosure) is £7 million. They have also undertaken not to compete with the Zeuros business as carried on at completion for up to three years after completion. They have agreed not to dispose of any Consideration Shares following completion, other than in certain limited circumstances and other than for the disposal of up to 400,000 Consideration Shares following the first anniversary of completion. An additional consideration will be the issue to the Vendors of new voting, non-participating shares in the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Harrier Corporation Limited. The non-participating shares will carry the right to 11 per cent. of all votes exercisable at general meetings of Harrier Corporation Limited but will not carry any right to dividends or to capital on its winding up. They will not be transferable other than to another member of the Group and they will cease to confer any voting rights on the 6 April 2008, from when Harrier will have the right to acquire all of them for a nominal consideration. The Acquisition Agreement permits the payment by Zeuros to the Vendors, prior to completion, of an effective net cash dividend of approximately £800,000. Details of the Placing and Open Offer The Placing and Open Offer is intended to raise approximately £14.8 million (£14.2 million net of expenses) by the conditional placing of 5,903,337 Open Offer Shares subject to the rights of Qualifying Shareholders to apply for such shares under the Open Offer. Of the proceeds of the Placing and Open Offer, £ 14.0 million are to be used to fund the repayment of the loan stock being issued as part of the consideration for the proposed Acquisition, whilst the balance will be used to meet the Company's costs of the Placing and Open Offer and for working capital. Qualifying Shareholders will be given the opportunity to subscribe under the Open Offer for the Open Offer Shares at a price of 250p per share, payable in full on acceptance, up to a maximum entitlement calculated on the following basis: 2 Open Offer Shares for every 7 Ordinary Shares and so in proportion for any other number of Ordinary Shares held on the Record Date. Qualifying Shareholders may apply for any whole number of Open Offer Shares up to their maximum entitlement shown in Box 2 on the Application Form. Entitlements to Open Offer Shares will be rounded down to the nearest whole number of shares. The fractional entitlements which would otherwise have arisen will not be allotted to Qualifying Shareholders but will be aggregated and issued under the Placing. Application Forms are personal to Shareholders and may not be transferred except to satisfy bona fide market claims. The Open Offer Shares will be allotted credited as fully paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing Ordinary Shares, including the right to receive all dividends and other distributions declared, made or paid after the date of their issue. Peel Hunt has agreed that it will use its reasonable endeavours to procure placees for all of the Open Offer Shares, subject to the rights of Qualifying Shareholders to acquire such shares under the Open Offer. Peel Hunt will itself subscribe for any Open Offer Shares which are not taken up under the Open Offer or the Placing. The Placing and Open Offer is conditional, inter alia, on Admission becoming effective. It is expected that Admission of the Open Offer Shares will take place and that dealings in those shares will commence on 12 May 2000. Southwind Limited, certain Directors and Wayne Bugden, a senior manager of Harrier, have undertaken not to subscribe for their aggregate entitlement of 4,026,756 Open Offer Shares under the Open Offer (representing approximately 68 per cent. of the Open Offer Shares). Such shares have been conditionally placed firm with institutional and other investors. The remaining 1,876,581 Open Offer Shares (representing approximately 32 per cent. of the Open Offer Shares) have been conditionally placed with institutional and other investors, subject to clawback to satisfy valid applications under the Open Offer. The Board recognises that the Issue Price is at a significant discount to the current market price. The Board, which has been advised by Peel Hunt, considers that the Issue Price of 250p per Open Offer Share was the best price at which the Open Offer Shares could be conditionally placed given the market conditions prevailing at that time. It is expected that the proceeds of the Placing and Open Offer will be received by the Company on 12 May 2000.
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