| Tue 24 May 2005, 12:09 | | WITHDRAWAL OF CORPORATE RATING |
|
Liberty International Plc - Capital Shopping Centres Plc: Withdrawal Of
Corporate Rating And Offer To Purchase Unsecured Bonds
LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL PLC
(Registration number UK3685527)
ISIN Code: GB0006834344
JSE Code: LBT
Issuer Code: LILI
24 May 2005
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION INTO THE UNITED STATES OR ITALY
LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL PLC
CAPITAL SHOPPING CENTRES PLC: WITHDRAWAL OF CORPORATE RATING AND OFFER TO
PURCHASE UNSECURED BONDS
Since 2000, when Capital Shopping Centres PLC (the `Company` or `CSC`) became a
wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty International PLC, the Company has moved
significantly away from its previous strategy of raising debt finance through
the unsecured markets. The corporate credit and senior unsecured bond ratings
(the `Corporate Rating`) of CSC began in 1997, when CSC was separately listed on
the London Stock Exchange and the Company issued unsecured bonds in 1998 and in
1999.
Of the GBP350 million of unsecured bonds originally issued, Liberty
International PLC has acquired over recent years GBP252.5 million in aggregate
which it does not intend to reissue. As of the date of this announcement,
GBP65.3 million of the 5.75 per cent. Bonds due 2009 (the `2009 Bonds`) and
GBP32.2 million of the 6.875 per cent. Bonds due 2013 (the `2013 Bonds`)
(together, the `Unsecured Bonds`) remain outstanding compared with the original
issue amounts of GBP150 million and GBP200 million respectively.
As a result of the above, the Company has agreed with Standard & Poor`s (`S&P`)
that its Corporate Rating should now be discontinued and believes that it would
be appropriate at this time to provide an opportunity for holders of the
Unsecured Bonds to exit through an offer to purchase by private treaty any of
the remaining Unsecured Bonds.
The offers are being made available to holders of the Unsecured Bonds on the
following basis:
2009 Bonds: a spread of 1.25 per cent. over 4% Treasury Stock due 2009
2013 Bonds: a spread of 1.65 per cent. over 5% Treasury Stock due 2014
The actual price payable to holders wishing to sell their Unsecured Bonds will
be based on the trading level of the relevant Gilt at the time of their
transaction with the Company`s agent.
Holders of the bonds wishing to sell their Unsecured Bonds should contact either
UBS Limited or Merrill Lynch International, who are acting as agents for CSC.
The offers will remain open until 14 June 2005.
Aidan Smith, Finance Director of Liberty International PLC, commented:
`The amount of Unsecured Bonds which remain outstanding is now relatively small,
both in relation to the size of the original issues and in relation to the
group`s overall debt. We believe that it is now appropriate to discontinue
CSC`s Corporate Rating, but we are offering to purchase the remaining Unsecured
Bonds to allow any holders of the Unsecured Bonds to exit their holdings at
levels above current market prices should they wish to do so.`
For further information, please contact:
Liberty International PLC / Capital
Shopping Centres PLC +44 (0)20 7960 1210
Aidan Smith
UBS Limited (acting as agent for CSC)
Duane Hebert +44 (0)20 7567 7480
Rob Ritchie +44 (0)20 7567 3348
Merrill Lynch International (acting as
agent for CSC) +44 (0)20 7995 3715
Asar Mashkoor +44 (0)20 7995 3759
Simon Davy
This announcement does not constitute, or form part of, any solicitation of any
offer or invitation to sell any securities in any jurisdiction nor shall it (or
any part of it), or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of or be relied
on in connection with any contract therefore. No indications of interest in the
solicitation of offers to sell are sought by this announcement. Offers to
purchase are not made to, and any offers will not be accepted from, or on behalf
of, persons in any jurisdiction in which the making of such offers will not be
in compliance with the laws or regulations of such jurisdiction.
The solicitation of offers to sell with respect to the Unsecured Bonds is not
being made and will not be made directly or indirectly in or into, or by use of
the mail of, or by any means or instrumentality of interstate or foreign
commerce of, or any facilities of a national securities exchange of, the United
States of America, its territories and possessions, any state of the United
States of America and the District of Columbia (the `United States`) or to U.S.
persons (each a `U.S. person`) as defined in Regulation S under the United
States Securities Act of 1933. This includes but is not limited to, facsimile
transmission, electronic mail, telex, telephone and the internet. Accordingly,
copies of any documents or material related to such solicitations of offers to
sell are not being, and must not be, directly or indirectly, mailed or otherwise
transmitted, distributed or forwarded in or into the United States or to any
U.S. person. Any purported offer in response to such solicitations of offers to
sell resulting directly or indirectly from a violation of these restrictions
will be invalid, and offers to sell made by a resident of the United States or
any agent, fiduciary or other intermediary acting on a non-discretionary basis
for a principal giving instructions from within the United States or any U.S.
person will not be accepted.
ADDITIONAL NOTES ON LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL PLC GROUP FOR INFORMATION:
Liberty International PLC is the UK`s third largest listed property company with
investment properties exceeding GBP6 billion and a constituent of the FTSE-100
Index of the UK`s leading listed companies. Liberty International owns 100 per
cent of Capital Shopping Centres, the premier UK regional shopping centre
business, and Capital & Counties, a commercial and retail property investment
and development company concentrating in Central London, South East England and
California, USA.
Date: 24/05/2005 11:52:30 AM
Produced by the JSE SENS Department
