Lewis Group IPO

GUS PLC 07 October 2004 7 October 2004 Not for publication, distribution or release in the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan (including its territories and possessions) GUS plc Lewis Group Initial Public Offer The following announcement was issued to the JSE Securities Exchange South Africa this morning. Enquiries GUS David Tyler Finance Director 020 7495 0070 Fay Dodds Director of Investor Relations Finsbury Rupert Younger 020 7251 3801 Rollo Head Lewis Group Limited ('Lewis') (Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa) (Formerly Rowmoor Investments 505 (Proprietary) Limited) (Registration number: 2004/009817/06) JSE share code: LEW ISIN: ZAE000058236 Exercise of the underwriters' option Further to the announcement of the results of the initial public offer (the 'Offer') on Thursday, 30 September 2004, Lewis announces that the underwriters have exercised their option in full to acquire 6,000,000 Lewis ordinary shares from GUS Holdings B.V., a company incorporated in Eindhoven, Netherlands (the 'Offeror'), a wholly-owned subsidiary of GUS plc, at R28.00 each, as set out in the prospectus issued on 14 September 2004. The option was exercised solely for the purpose of covering over-allotments made in connection with the Offer. After the exercise of the above option, the Offeror owns 54,000,001 Lewis ordinary shares (54% of the issued share capital of Lewis). The Offeror has further undertaken to transfer, as and when required, up to 4 million Lewis shares (4% of the issued share capital of Lewis) to Lewis' employees under Lewis share incentive schemes. Bookrunner, underwriter, financial adviser and sponsor UBS South Africa (Proprietary) Limited Co-lead managers and underwriters Cazenove South Africa (Proprietary) Limited Investec Bank Limited This announcement has been issued by, and is the sole responsibility of Lewis Group Limited ('Lewis'). UBS South Africa (Proprietary) Limited and its affiliates, Cazenove South Africa (Proprietary) Limited and its affiliates and Investec Bank Limited are acting for GUS plc, the Offeror and Lewis in relation to the partial initial public offer of Lewis and no-one else, and will not be responsible to anyone other than GUS plc, the Offeror and Lewis for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients or for providing advice in relation to the partial initial public offer. No offer or invitation to acquire shares of Lewis is being made by or in connection with this announcement. Any such offer was made solely by means of the prospectus which was issued on 14 September 2004 and any acquisition of shares should be made on the basis of the information contained in such prospectus. The value of shares can go down as well as up. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. Potential investors should consult a professional adviser. This announcement is not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act) and may not be offered or sold in the United States (as defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act) absent registration or an exemption from registration. No public offering of the shares has or will be made in the United States. Members of the public in the United Kingdom were not eligible to take part in the Offer. In the United Kingdom this announcement, in so far as it relates to the Offer, is directed only at persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments who fall within article 19(1) of The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2001 (as amended) (the 'Order') or are persons falling within article 49(1) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as 'Relevant Persons'). Any investment or inducement activity in so far as relating to participation in the Offer is available only to Relevant Persons and will be engaged in only with Relevant Persons. In jurisdictions outside of the Republic of South Africa the Offer was made only to selected institutional investors to whom it was specifically addressed. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell, exchange or transfer any securities of Lewis and has not and is not soliciting an offer to purchase, exchange or transfer such securities in or from the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan or any other jurisdiction where the dissemination of the prospectus or the offer, sale, exchange or transfer is not permitted or fails to conform to the laws of such jurisdiction or to any person or entity to whom it is unlawful to make that offer, sale, exchange or transfer. This announcement and the information contained herein are not for publication or distribution to persons in the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan or in any jurisdiction in which such publication or distribution is unlawful. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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