Offer Update

GPG (UK) Holdings PLC
01 April 2003

For immediate release

Not for release, publication or distribution in whole or in part in or into the
                   United States, Canada, Japan or Australia


                                                                   1 April, 2003

        CASH OFFER BY AVENUE ACQUISITION PLC ('AVENUE ACQUISITION') FOR 
                               COATS PLC ('COATS)

                                 'Offer update'


Avenue Acquisition plc announces that, on 31 March, 2003, it acquired,
separately, 3,139,121 Coats Share at a price of 58.25 pence per Coats Share and
57,860,879 Coats Shares at a price of 58.50 pence per Coats Share. Taken
together with the 293,280,632 Coats Shares already held, Avenue Acquisition and
persons acting in concert with it now own a total of 354,280,632 Coats Shares,
representing 50.04 per cent. of the existing issued ordinary share capital of
Coats.

Accordingly, when posted, the Offer will be wholly unconditional.

END

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