Grant of a Call Option

Molins PLC 29 February 2008 29 February 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MOLINS PLC Grant of a call option re the Disposal of the Saunderton Property (the 'Disposal') On 18 July 2007, the Board of Molins PLC ('Molins') announced that it had conditionally agreed to dispose of the tobacco machinery site at Haw Lane, Saunderton (the 'Property') to e-shelter facility services GmbH (the 'Purchaser ') for a cash consideration, if the transaction had completed, of £18.85m. This original agreement has now been cancelled by mutual consent. A new conditional agreement (the 'Disposal Agreement') dated 28 February 2008, between Molins and the Purchaser, has now been entered into which takes the form of a call option to purchase the Property, exercisable by the Purchaser on or before 30 September 2008 with completion on or before 3 October 2008, for a cash consideration of £17.5m. After estimated transaction expenses of £0.4m and tax on capital gains of £1.4m, net cash proceeds would be approximately £15.7m. The Disposal Agreement contains a number of the same commercial terms as the previous agreement, including the lease back of buildings on a rent free basis for up to three years. However, a number of terms have been amended. In particular, all environmental contamination remediation obligations in respect of the Property will become the responsibility of the Purchaser on completion in return for which the cash consideration has been reduced to £17.5m. The Disposal Agreement also incorporates the call option noted above and disapplies all previous conditions, except for that relating to Molins obtaining the approval of its Shareholders to complete the Disposal, as set out below. As at 31 December 2007, the Property had a net book value of £13.2m and an associated deferred tax liability of £0.6m, resulting in a net carrying value of £12.6m at that date. In the year ended 31 December 2007, the Group earned income from third parties from the Property of £0.2m before tax, prior to the allocation of central costs and specific operating costs relating to the leased buildings. Net of specific operating costs, the Property generated profit from third parties of £0.1m in the year ended 31 December 2007. If the sale of the Property is completed, the net proceeds of the Disposal will be used to reduce existing indebtedness of the Company, improve the funding of the Molins UK Pension Fund by £1m and for investment in new products and facilities within the Group. Once complete, the Disposal would have the effect of increasing the Group's net assets by approximately £3.7m. The sale of the Property is expected to be earnings enhancing for the Group. Shareholder approval Molins shareholders are being asked to approve the Disposal at a general meeting of the Company on 18 March 2008 for two reasons. First, the approval of shareholders is required as the Disposal constitutes a class 1 transaction for the purposes of the Listing Rules, as a result of the size of the Disposal relative to that of the market capitalisation of Molins. In this regard, we stated at the time of the original announcement that shareholder approval would be sought once the transaction had progressed sufficiently. Secondly, the Purchaser has indicated that it is only prepared to progress the work necessary for it to determine whether to exercise the call option to purchase the Property once shareholder approval has been obtained. Notice of the general meeting to be held at the offices of Molins PLC at 11 Tanners Drive, Blakelands, Milton Keynes, MK14 5LU and a circular giving more detail on the Disposal will be sent to Molins shareholders today. The circular will be available for inspection at the offices of Kimbells, Power House, Harrison Close, Knowlhill, Milton Keynes, MK5 8PA and at the UKLA's Document Viewing Facility, which is situated at Financial Services Authority, 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HS The Purchaser The Purchaser is a subsidiary of Investa Immobiliengruppe, a German privately owned project development firm that has managed investments in excess of €3 billion since its inception. The Purchaser is the largest provider of data centre services in Germany, and the intended purchase of the Property is part of the execution of its strategy to enter the UK market. Its main facility is in Frankfurt, which provides 60,000 square metres of data centre space, and it also has sites in Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. Results for the year ended 31 December 2007 Molins announced its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2007 today. Enquiries: Molins PLC Tel: 020 7638 9571 Dick Hunter, Chief Executive, David Cowen, Group Finance Director N M Rothschild & Sons Limited Tel 020 7280 5000 John Byrne Issued by: Citigate Dewe Rogerson Tel: 020 7638 9571 N M Rothschild & Sons Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom, is acting for Molins and no one else in relation to the Disposal and will not be responsible to anyone other than Molins for providing the protections afforded to clients of N M Rothschild & Sons Limited nor for providing advice in relation to the Disposal. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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