Further re Open Offer

Creightons PLC 16 February 2000 Creightons plc ('Creightons' or the 'Company') Open Offer Waiver of Listing Rules 4.8 and 4.26 The Board of Creightons announced yesterday (the 'Announcement') that the Company proposes to raise approximately £1.3 million (net of cash expenses) through an open offer (the 'Open Offer') of up to 29,814,784 new ordinary shares of 1p nominal value in the Company ('Offer Shares') at an offer price of 5p per share ('Offer Price'). The Offer Price represents a discount of approximately 58 per cent. to the mid-market price of 12p at which the existing ordinary shares in the Company were quoted at the close of business on 31 January 2000 (being the last dealing date prior to the suspension from trading of the existing ordinary shares). Further to the Announcement, the Board of Creightons announces that the London Stock Exchange has granted Creightons a waiver in respect of certain of its listing rules ('Listing Rules'). Listing Rules 4.8 and 4.26 have been waived on the following basis. Rules 4.8 and 4.26 of the Listing Rules prohibit, in normal circumstances, the issue of securities to listing, other than by way of a rights issue, if the issue price is to be at a discount of more than 10 per cent. to the middle market price of those securities at the time of the announcement of the issue. The London Stock Exchange may grant a waiver to this rule if the issuer is in severe financial difficulties. The Company is in severe financial difficulty and the Board has explored and exhausted all alternative forms of finance available at present which might stabilise the Company. These include new bank facilities and/or accelerated asset disposals. Mr Hamilton, Chief Executive of Creightons, has recently indicated that he is considering a management buy-out of the business of the Company. Whilst the Board continues to consider this proposal, it is not presently on acceptable terms and the Board did not consider that satisfactory terms could be agreed within the required timeframe. Given the urgent need for additional working capital, the only alternative available to the Board is to raise funds by means of the Open Offer on the terms proposed in the Announcement, with the Company's immediate financing requirements being met out of the loan, also referred to in the Announcement, to be made by Oratorio Developments Limited, which owns approximately 21.6 per cent. of the issued share capital of Creightons. Without the immediate availablility of the loan facility from Oratorio Developments Limited, the Board would have had no alternative but to put the Company into receivership. On this basis, the London Stock Exchange has granted Creightons a waiver to Rules 4.8 and 4.26. The Board of Creightons notes that, as set out in the Announcement, irrevocable undertakings have been received in respect of a total of 18,698,185 Offer Shares, representing approximately 62.71 per cent. of the total Offer Shares, and that the remaining Offer Shares are the subject of underwriting arrangements.

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Creightons (CRL)
UK 100

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