| Tue 17 May 2005, 17:34 | | Jse - Gus Plc Offer Of Remaining Stake In Lewis Gr |
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Jse - Gus Plc Offer Of Remaining Stake In Lewis Group
Release Date: 17/05/2005 17:02:02 Code(s): JSE
JSE - Gus plc offer of remaining stake in Lewis Group
Not for release, publication or distribution in, or into the United States,
Canada, Australia or Japan
17 May 2005
GUS plc
Offer of remaining stake in Lewis Group
GUS plc, the retail and business services group, today announces its intention
to dispose of its entire remaining interest in its South African business, Lewis
Group Limited (`Lewis`) of 50,000,001 Lewis shares, comprising 50% of the issued
share capital of Lewis (the `Offering`). The Offering excludes the four million
Lewis shares which will be transferred to the Lewis Employee Share Incentive
Trust. The Offering will be implemented through a bookbuilding procedure
commencing today and is expected to close on or before the close of business on
20 May 2005.
The initial public offering of Lewis was successfully completed on 4 October
2004 as part of GUS` strategy to release value for its shareholders, while
enhancing the development opportunities for Lewis. The Board of GUS believes
that now is the appropriate time to divest its remaining shareholding in Lewis
in line with this strategy.
The proceeds from the sale will be used by GUS to reduce debt. Lewis will not
receive any of the proceeds from the Offering.
John Peace, Group Chief Executive of GUS, commented:
`The plan to sell our remaining stake in Lewis is another important step in
reshaping the GUS portfolio. The operational and financial performance of Lewis
is strong. With its excellent management team, we believe it is well positioned
for further growth.`
Enquiries
GUS
David Tyler Finance Director 020 7495 0070
Fay Dodds Director of Investor Relations
Finsbury
Rupert Younger 020 7251 3801
Rollo Head
Notes to editors
Founded in 1934, the Lewis group operates in Southern Africa selling furniture,
household and electrical goods, mainly on credit, together with associated
financial products. It trades under the `Lewis` brand in 400 furniture stores,
under the `Best Electric` brand in 58 specialist electrical stores and under the
`Lifestyle Living` brand in 17 more up-market furniture and electronic goods
stores. The `Lewis` brand is the largest single brand by number of stores in
the retail furniture industry in South Africa.
Global co-ordinator and sole bookrunner: UBS
Co-lead managers: Investec and JP Morgan
Important notes
This announcement has been issued by GUS plc and is the sole responsibility of
GUS. UBS South Africa (Proprietary) Limited (`UBS`), Investec Bank Limited
(`Investec`) and JP Morgan Securities Limited (`JP Morgan`) are acting
exclusively for GUS and no one else in connection with the Offering and will not
be responsible to anyone other than GUS for providing the protections afforded
to clients of UBS, Investec and JP Morgan nor for providing any advice in
relation to the Offering or any other matters referred to in this announcement.
This announcement is for information purposes and does not constitute an offer
of, or an invitation by or on behalf of GUS plc, Lewis, UBS, Investec or JP
Morgan to subscribe for or purchase any shares and may not be used for the
purpose of an offer to, or a solicitation by, anyone in any jurisdiction or in
any circumstances in which such offer or solicitation is not authorised or is
unlawful. This announcement and the Offering do not constitute an offer in or
from the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan or any other jurisdiction where
the dissemination of this announcement or the making of the offer may be illegal
or fails to conform to the laws of such jurisdiction.
The announcement is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United
Kingdom or (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(1) of the
United Kingdom Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion)
Order 2001 (the `Order`) or (iii) high net worth entities, and other persons to
whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(1) of the Order
(all such persons together being referred to as `relevant persons`). The offer
shares have not been offered or sold nor will they be offered or sold in
circumstances which have resulted or will result in an offer to the public in
the United Kingdom within the meaning of the United Kingdom Public Offers of
Securities Regulations 1995 and are only available to, and any invitation, offer
or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire any offer shares will
be engaged in only with, relevant persons and where all applicable provisions of
the United Kingdom Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (`FSMA`) have been
complied with. Any person in the United Kingdom who is not a relevant person
should not act or rely on this announcement or any of its contents. In addition
no person may communicate or cause to be communicated any invitation or
inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of
FSMA) received by it in connection with the issue or sale of any offer shares
except in circumstances in which section 21(1) of FSMA does not apply.
The offer shares have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United
States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the `Securities Act`), or any
securities laws of any state of the United States, and such shares are not and
may not be offered or sold within the United States.
The offer shares may not, directly or indirectly, be offered, sold, transferred
to or delivered in the Netherlands, whether at their initial distribution or at
any time thereafter, and neither this announcement nor any other document in
respect of the Offering may be distributed or circulated in the Netherlands,
other than to individuals or legal entities who or which trade or invest in
securities in the conduct of their profession or trade (which includes banks,
investment institutions, securities intermediaries, insurance companies, pension
funds, other institutional investors and treasury departments and finance
companies of large enterprises).
This announcement does not constitute a prospectus within the meaning of Article
652a of the Swiss Code of Obligations of March 30, 1911. Accordingly, the offer
shares may not be offered or distributed in or from Switzerland on the basis of
a `public solicitation` and neither this announcement nor any offering material
relating to the offer shares may be distributed in connection with any offer or
distribution which may constitute such a solicitation.
