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Hilton Food Group PLC 17 May 2007 Hilton Food Group plc Admission to Official List This announcement and the information contained herein is not for publication, distribution or release, in whole or in part, in, or into, directly or indirectly, the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Japan or any other jurisdiction where such publication, distribution or release would be unlawful. This announcement is an advertisement and not a prospectus. Investors should not purchase any shares referred to in this announcement except on the basis of information in the prospectus published on 11 May 2007 (the 'Prospectus') by Hilton Food Group plc ('Hilton' or the 'Company' and, together with its subsidiaries, the 'Group') in connection with Admission (as defined below) and the offer of ordinary shares in the capital of the Company (the 'Shares') to certain institutional and other sophisticated investors and selected persons (the 'Offer'). The Prospectus has been delivered to the document viewing facility of the Financial Services Authority and is available from Hilton's registered office at 2-8 Interchange, Latham Road, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE29 6YE and from the office of Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited ('Panmure Gordon') at 155 Moorgate, London EC2M 6XB. HILTON FOOD GROUP PLC Admission to the Official List of the Financial Services Authority Hilton Food Group plc ('Hilton') announces that its Shares have been admitted to the Official List of the Financial Services Authority and to trading on the main market of the London Stock Exchange plc ('Admission') and that dealings in the Shares commenced at 8:00 a.m. today under the ticker symbol 'HFG'. Panmure Gordon is acting as sponsor, financial adviser and sole bookrunner in connection with the Admission and Offer. Commenting on today's announcement, Robert Watson, Chief Executive of Hilton Food Group plc, said: 'We are delighted to be joining the main market of the London Stock Exchange today following the successful Offer. The Board would like to extend a warm welcome to all the Company's new shareholders, and looks forward to updating them and the market on our progress in due course. This is an exciting time for Hilton and we look forward to a successful future as a listed company.' - ENDS - For further information: Hilton Food Group plc 01480 387 214 Gordon Summerfield, Chairman Robert Watson, Chief Executive Nigel Majewski, Finance Director Panmure Gordon 020 7459 3600 Mark Lander Amer Khan Giles Stewart Citigate Dewe Rogerson 020 7638 9571 Tom Baldock Fiona Mulcahy Nicola Smith Summary information on Hilton Food Group plc • Hilton is a leading specialist meat-packing business supplying major international food retailers, primarily Tesco, Ahold, Albert Heijn and ICA, from modern, efficient facilities located in the UK, the Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Sweden and Poland. • Since it was established in 1994, Hilton has grown to become one of the largest dedicated packers of red meat in Europe based on revenue. With its headquarters in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, the Group employs approximately 1,300 people across its five sites. • Hilton's core business activities involve the processing, preparing, packaging and delivering of fresh and value-added beef, lamb and pork products. The Group operates to the high standards of traceability, hygiene, food safety, shelf life and overall product quality required by its customers. • Hilton has a strong financial track record. For the year ended 31 December 2006, the Group generated revenue of £527m and a pre-tax profit of £15.5m, increases of 17.6% and 13.7% respectively on the previous year. Hilton is a cash generative business with modern, well invested facilities. • Hilton has benefited from the consumer trend in a number of European markets towards convenience and one-stop shopping. The Group's continuing growth has been achieved principally by geographical expansion, product range extensions and the underlying growth in the market achieved by Hilton's retail customers. • The directors of Hilton, most of whom have been with the business since its inception in 1994, have over 100 years experience between them in the meat industry. They have built strong relationships with the Group's customers and believe that Hilton is well placed to take advantage of significant potential growth opportunities as follows: o further geographic expansion within Europe in conjunction with existing customers; o line extension to capitalise on consumer led trends. Examples include premium, value added and organic product ranges; o engaging new customers. The directors of the Company believe that Hilton is an attractive potential supplier due to its reputation, track record and historically high customer service levels; and o continued competitiveness. Important Information No offer or invitation to purchase securities of the Company is being made at this time. Any such offer or invitation is made solely in or by reference to the Prospectus and any acquisition of securities of the Company should be made only on the basis of the information contained in the Prospectus and any supplement or amendment thereto. The contents of this announcement, which have been prepared by and are the sole responsibility of the Company, have been approved by Panmure Gordon solely for the purposes of section 21(2)(b) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Panmure Gordon is regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority and Panmure Gordon is acting for the Company and the Selling Shareholders and no-one else in connection with the Offer and Admission and will not regard any other person (whether or not a recipient of this announcement) as its client, nor will it be responsible to anyone other than the Company or the Selling Shareholders for providing the protections afforded to the clients of Panmure Gordon, nor for providing advice in relation to the Offer, the contents of this announcement or any transaction, arrangement or other matter referred to herein. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities of the Company in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities law of any such jurisdiction. The Offer is being made in the United Kingdom and elsewhere outside the United States by means of an Offer to certain institutional and other sophisticated investors and selected persons to whom it may be lawfully made. This announcement and the information contained herein is not for publication, distribution or release in, or into, directly or indirectly, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada or Japan and does not constitute, or form part of, an offer of the securities for sale in or into the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada or Japan. The Offer and the distribution of this announcement may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions and persons into whose possession any document or other information referred to herein comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restriction. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The securities referred to in this announcement have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 'Securities Act') and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. The Company does not intend to offer publicly any securities in the United States or to register any securities under the Securities Act. This announcement does not constitute a recommendation concerning the Offer. The value of shares can go down as well as up. Potential investors should consult a professional advisor as to the suitability of the Offer for the individual concerned. Forward looking statements The contents of this announcement include statements that are, or may be deemed to be 'forward looking statements'. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including, without limitation, the terms 'believes', 'estimates', 'anticipates', 'expects', 'intends', 'may', 'will' or 'should'. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. A number of factors could cause the Company's actual results and performance to differ materially from the impression created by the forward-looking statements including, without limitation, the factors to be described in the risk factors section of the Prospectus. Save as required by law or by the Listing Rules of the Financial Services Authority, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements. No statement in this announcement is intended to be a profit forecast or be relied upon as a guide to future performance. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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