Re Agreement

Millfield Group PLC 05 December 2003 Date 5 December On behalf of: The Millfield Group plc Embargoed until: 0701hrs MILLFIELD ANNOUNCES DEAL WITH NORWICH UNION TO TRANSFORM LIFETIME BUSINESS • Norwich Union finalises £10m investment • Creation of £2.2m Economic Gain on Lifetime Investment for Millfield The Board of Millfield Group plc ("Millfield") today announces the completion of an agreement with Norwich Union Life and Pensions Limited ("Norwich Union") for the UK's largest insurer to invest in, and become a full partner in, Lifetime Group ("Lifetime"). The deal is set to transform the Lifetime business and delivers a £0.8m economic gain for Millfield in its interim results announced today and a further £1.4m in the second half of its financial year which will be taken directly to reserves. Lifetime will provide an integrated investment and asset management platform designed by IFAs for IFAs and their clients. The platform, which is being developed to be used across the financial services industry, will incorporate features such as asset registry, allocation tools and a fully integrated tax / product wrap capability. Lifetime has issued a further 11,736,354 shares to Norwich Union for a consideration of £8.0m taking its shareholding to 49.9%. Millfield retains a shareholding of 41.3%. The remaining 8.8% of the shares are held by the founders. Norwich Union's present intention is to at least retain its shareholding at 49.9% as further investors in Lifetime are sought. As a result of the investment by Norwich Union, the business plan has been upgraded to incorporate the substantial distribution benefits Norwich Union brings. This plan developed in conjunction with Norwich Union will deliver a platform that will add value to the IFA proposition. It will bring together key elements of a client's assets to create an overall 'wealth picture' that is current and readily accessible, on-line, by advisers and their clients. Lifetime is expected to be launched in the next six months. Paul Tebbutt, Chief Executive of Millfield Group, said: "We know that the Lifetime Portfolio wrap service will provide the financial services industry with the tool needed to enable advisers to service their customers efficiently and effectively. It has always been our stated strategy to develop the business by extending the Lifetime investor base with partners such as Norwich Union who bring both financial support and many additional benefits such as the opportunity to forge wider relationships across the long term savings industry. Our foresight in investing in this platform since inception is delivering strong returns for all Millfield's stakeholders and we welcome this significant landmark in the platform's development." Robert Fletcher, Norwich Union's director of distribution strategy, said: "Norwich Union offers a wide range of products and services through a range of distribution channels and we see wraps as complementary to these. We see wraps as playing an important role in the development of the advisory market going forward. Our investment in the Lifetime wrap platform is an important part of our longer term planning. We look forward to working with Lifetime and other shareholders to ensure the success of this venture." Jeremy Bradburne, Chief Executive of Lifetime, said: "We are delighted to have completed the agreement with Norwich Union. It allows us to complete the development of an on-line, real time platform offering attractive services to financial advisers and their clients including asset allocation, business efficiencies and managing client relationships in the UK. The enhanced distribution channels opened by Norwich Union will allow Lifetime to flourish. - Ends - Enquiries to Millfield Group plc Paul Tebbutt, Chief Executive Tel: 020 8604 2607 Harry Roome, Finance & Operations Director Tel: 020 8604 2623 Norwich Union Life James Evans, Head of Media Relations Tel: 01904 452791 Ian Beggs, Media Relations Manager Tel: 01904 452828 Lifetime Group Jeremy Bradburne Tel: 0771 044 4754 Redleaf Communications (on behalf of Millfield) Emma Kane Tel: 020 7955 1410 Nick Lambert Tel: 020 7955 1410 Lansons Communications (on behalf of Lifetime) Helen Proud Tel: 020 7294 3624 Notes to Editors About Millfield • Millfield Group plc was floated on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange in March 2001. • Millfield is a national independent financial advisory company in the UK, offering truly independent advice, primarily in the pensions, life insurance, investment and mortgage sectors, as well as long-term care provision, personal wealth management and the corporate financial planning arena. Millfield also has specialist divisions dealing with offshore investment, insurance and employee benefits. • On 24 July, Millfield announced an agreement in principle with Norwich Union Life and Pensions Limited ("Norwich Union") for them to invest in and become a full partner in developing Millfield's Lifetime joint venture. • As a result, Millfield converted preference shares to ordinary shares and Lifetime issued 1,024,998 new ordinary 1p shares to Norwich Union for £2.0m. • Following these transactions; Millfield held 45.17% of the shares in Lifetime as an investment and 31.17% for resale, and Norwich Union held 7.41%. These transactions resulted in the value of Millfield's share in the Joint Venture increasing by £0.8m and this increase in the net assets has been included in the half year results as a movement on reserves. About Lifetime The Lifetime Portfolio proposition will provide an integrated investment and asset management service enabling effective asset allocation which has been identified as having the greatest impact on a client's financial health. Investors will work in conjunction with their financial adviser to aggregate their investments onto the Lifetime Platform. The Lifetime proposition will bring key elements of a client's assets together creating an overall wealth picture. Both client and adviser will be able to assess existing assets according to different criteria (e.g. risk rating or tax efficiency). The information will be current, in one place (on-line) and readily accessible. Most financial services organizations have been focused on selling more of a particular product rather than ensuring that their clients receive independent advice. Lifetime will enable advisers to make informed judgments about future plans based on accurate, timely and complete information with regard to their clients' current assets and liabilities. It is these clients (and their advisers) that the Lifetime Group is focusing on particularly investors in pension plans, unit trusts, OEICs (and other collectives), shareholders and homeowners. In short, effective wealth management is not just for the rich, it should be available to everyone prepared to commit existing income and capital for future independence and prosperity. Wrap propositions have proved to be popular and successful with both clients and advisers in the Australian and US retail financial services markets. While there are differences in the way markets operate across international boundaries, the underlying business drivers remain the same. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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