NOT FOR
RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY
OR INDIRECTLY, IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO
WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF
SUCH JURISDICTION.
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
28 November
2024
THG PLC
(the "Company")
Posting of Circular and Notice of
General Meeting
The Company confirms that the following
documents are today being posted or otherwise made available to the
Company's Shareholders:
· a
circular dated 28 November 2024 (the "Circular"), incorporating notice of a
general meeting of the Company (the "General Meeting") to be held in
connection with the proposed demerger of the Company's Ingenuity
business into an independent private company;
· the
associated Form of Proxy; and
· the
associated Form of Election.
Copies of each of these documents will today be
submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be
available for inspection at:
https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.
A copy of the Circular is available to view on
the Company's website at https://www.thg.com/investor-relations/ingenuity-demerger.
and copies of the Ingenuity Shareholders' Agreement and the
Ingenuity Articles will also be available to view on the Company's
website at:
https://www.thg.com/investor-relations/ingenuity-demerger from 2
December 2024.
Shareholders will be able to participate in the
Demerger by electing to redesignate Ordinary Shares as B Shares,
with such B Shares giving the holder the right to receive a
preferential distribution in specie of Ingenuity Shares (with a
Demerger Ratio of one Ingenuity Share for each B Share held).
Shareholders should refer to the Circular for the full terms of the
Demerger and a description of the action they should
take.
Capitalised terms used in this announcement
shall, unless otherwise defined, have the same meanings as set out
in the Circular. All references to times in this announcement are
to London time unless stated otherwise.
Important
information regarding the General Meeting
The General Meeting will be held at the offices
of Clifford Chance LLP, 10 Upper Bank Street, London E14 5JJ on
Friday 27 December 2024 at 12 p.m.
Details of how to participate in, and the
Resolution that will be tabled for Shareholder approval at, the
General Meeting are set out in the Notice of General
Meeting.
Expected
timetable of principal events
The Demerger is anticipated to complete on 2
January 2025, once the Ingenuity Distribution has been made. The
expected timetable of principal events is set out below.
Event
|
Time and/or date
|
Publication of Circular
|
28 November
2024
|
Ex date for receipt of B Shares
|
18 December
2024
|
Election Return Time (being the latest time for
return of Forms of Election/settlement of TTE Instructions from
CREST holders in respect of the B Shares)
|
1 p.m. on 19 December
2024
|
Record date for receipt of B Shares
|
6 p.m. on 19 December
2024
|
Latest time and date for receipt of Forms of
Proxy
|
12 p.m. on 23
December 2024
|
Voting Record Time
|
6.30 p.m. on 23
December 2024
|
General Meeting
|
12 p.m. on 27
December 2024
|
Announcement of the results of the General
Meeting and the results of elections for B Shares
|
27 December
2024
|
Electing Ordinary Shares redesignated as B
Shares
|
30 December
2024
|
CREST accounts credited with unsuccessfully
elected Ordinary Shares
|
30 December
2024
|
Payment Date of Ingenuity
Distribution
|
2 January
2025
|
CREST accounts of relevant Electing
Shareholders credited with Ingenuity Shares
|
2 January
2025
|
Completion of
Demerger
|
2 January 2025
|
B Shares convert into Deferred 1
Shares
|
2 January
2025
|
Return of share certificates or balance share
certificates in respect of unsuccessfully elected Ordinary
Shares
|
By 16 January
2025
|
Despatch of share certificates in respect of
Ingenuity Shares
|
By 16 January
2025
|
Deferred 1 Shares repurchased by the Company
and cancelled
|
No earlier than 2
January 2026
|
Note: Each of the
times and dates set out above is based on current expectations and
is subject to change. If any of the above times and/or dates is
changed, the revised times and/or dates will be notified to
Shareholders by announcement through a regulatory information
service.
For further information please
contact:
Investor
enquiries:
Greg Feehely, SVP Investor Relations
Kate Grimoldby, Director of Investor Relations
and Strategic Projects
|
investor.relations@thg.com
|
Media
enquiries:
Sodali &
Co - Financial PR adviser
Victoria Palmer-Moore
Russ Lynch
|
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7250 1446
thg@sodali.com
|
THG
PLC
Viki Tahmasebi
|
viki.tahmasebi@thg.com
|
Barclays
(Joint Corporate Broker)
Alastair Blackman
Callum West
Dominic Harper
|
+44 (0)20 7623 2323
|
Jefferies
International Limited (Joint Corporate Broker)
Philip Noblet
Ed Matthews
Gavriel Lambert
|
+44 (0)20 7029 8000
|
Peel Hunt LLP
(Joint Corporate Broker)
George Sellar
Andrew Clark
Ella Hastings
|
+44 (0)20 7418 8900
|
Further
Information
This announcement is for information purposes
only and is not intended to and does not constitute or form part of
any offer or invitation to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe
for, sell, otherwise dispose of or issue, or any solicitation of
any offer to sell, otherwise dispose of, issue, purchase, otherwise
acquire or subscribe for, any security.
Prior to making any decision in relation to the
Demerger, Shareholders should read the Circular in its entirety.
Shareholders must rely upon their own examination, analysis and
enquiries of the Company and the terms of the Circular, including
the merits and risks involved.
Barclays Bank PLC, acting through its
Investment Bank ("Barclays"), which is authorised by the
Prudential Regulation Authority (the "PRA") and regulated in the United
Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority (the "FCA") and the PRA, Jefferies
International Limited ("Jefferies") and Peel Hunt LLP
("Peel Hunt"), each of
which is authorised and regulated by the FCA, are acting
exclusively for the Company and no one else in connection with the
Demerger and will not be responsible to anyone other than the
Company for providing the protections afforded to the respective
clients of Barclays, Jefferies and Peel Hunt, or for providing
advice in connection with the Demerger, the contents of this
announcement or any other matter referred to in this
announcement.
Information
regarding forward-looking statements
Certain statements made in this announcement
are forward-looking statements and, by their nature, all such
forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty.
Forward-looking statements include all matters that are not
historical facts and often use words such as "expects", "may",
"will", "could", "should", "intends", "plans", "predicts",
"envisages" or "anticipates" or other words of similar
meaning.
These forward-looking statements are based on
current beliefs and expectations based on information that is known
to the Company at the date of this announcement. Actual results of
the THG Group may differ from those expressed or implied in the
forward-looking statements as a result of any number of known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are
difficult to predict and are generally beyond the control of the
Company and the THG Group (as applicable). Persons receiving this
announcement should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking
statements. Unless otherwise required by applicable law or
regulation, the Company and its advisers disclaim any obligation or
undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.