THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, INCLUDING THE APPENDICES, AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS RESTRICTED AND IS 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
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU 596/2014). UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
25 FEBRUARY 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RECOMMENDED OFFER
for
RhythmOne plc
by
Taptica International Ltd
to be effected by means of a Scheme of Arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act
Publication of Scheme Document
Unless otherwise defined, all capitalised terms in this announcement shall have the meaning given to them in the Scheme Document.
On 4 February 2019, the boards of RhythmOne plc ("RhythmOne") and Taptica International Ltd ("Taptica") announced that they had reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash acquisition by which the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of RhythmOne will be acquired by Taptica (the "Acquisition"). The Acquisition is to be effected by means of a Court approved scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006 (the "Scheme").
RhythmOne is pleased to announce that the scheme document containing the full terms and conditions of the Acquisition, a notice of a meeting of the shareholders of RhythmOne convened by the Court to approve the Scheme (the "Court Meeting") and a notice of a general meeting of RhythmOne (the "General Meeting") (the "Scheme Document"), together with Forms of Proxy relating to the Court Meeting and the General Meeting, are being published today and sent to RhythmOne Shareholders and, for information only, to persons with information rights.
The Scheme Document, which sets out amongst other things, a letter from the Chairman of RhythmOne, the full terms and conditions of the Scheme, an explanatory statement pursuant to section 897 of the Companies Act 2006, an indicative timetable of principal events, notices of the required meetings and details of the action to be taken by RhythmOne Shareholders, will be made available on RhythmOne's website at https://investor.rhythmone.com/legal_notice up to and including the Effective Date. The contents of this website are not incorporated into, and do not form part of, this announcement.
The directors of RhythmOne (the "RhythmOne Directors"), who have been so advised by Whitman Howard as to the financial terms of the Acquisition, consider the proposals described in the Scheme Document to be fair and reasonable and in the best interests of RhythmOne and the shareholders of RhythmOne (the "RhythmOne Shareholders") as a whole. In providing advice to the RhythmOne Directors, Whitman Howard has taken into account the commercial assessments of the RhythmOne Directors. Whitman Howard is providing independent financial advice to the RhythmOne Directors for the purposes of Rule 3.1 of the Takeover Code.
Accordingly, the RhythmOne Directors have unanimously agreed to recommend that RhythmOne Shareholders vote or procure votes in favour of the Scheme at the Court Meeting and in favour of the resolution at the General Meeting, and Mr Eric Singer (being a RhythmOne Director who holds shares in RhythmOne ("RhythmOne Shares")), and his related interests have irrevocably undertaken to do so in respect of their beneficial holding of 4,057,323 RhythmOne Shares, representing approximately 5.16 per cent. of the existing ordinary share capital of RhythmOne. Mr John Mutch (being a RhythmOne Director who holds RhythmOne shares) has also irrevocably undertaken to do so in respect of his own beneficial holding of 15,294 RhythmOne Shares, representing approximately 0.02 per cent. of the existing ordinary share capital of RhythmOne.
Notices of Court Meeting and General Meeting
As described in the Scheme Document, to become effective the Scheme will require, amongst other things, the approval of RhythmOne Shareholders at the Court Meeting, the passing of the Resolution at the General Meeting and the subsequent sanction of the Court. The Scheme is also subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions and further terms that are set out in the Scheme Document.
Notices of the Court Meeting and the General Meeting, which will be held at the offices of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, Tower 42, Level 21, 25 Old Broad Street,
Timetable
The Scheme Document contains an expected timetable of principal events relating to the Scheme, which is also attached as an Appendix to this announcement. Subject to obtaining the approval of RhythmOne Shareholders at the Court Meeting and the General Meeting, the sanction of the Court and the satisfaction or, where applicable, waiver of the other conditions (as set out in part 3 of the Scheme Document), the Scheme is expected to become effective on 1 April 2019.
If any of the key dates set out in the expected timetable change, an announcement will be made through a Regulatory Information Service and any such announcement will be made available on RhythmOne's website at https://investor.rhythmone.com/legal_notice
If the Scheme is approved as outlined above, it is expected that RhythmOne Shares will be delisted from AIM by 7:00 a.m. (
The Directors of RhythmOne accept responsibility for the information contained in this announcement. To the best of their knowledge and belief (having taken all reasonable care to ensure such is the case), the information contained in this announcement is in accordance with the facts and does not omit anything likely to affect the import of such information.
For further information please contact:
RhythmOne plc Mark Bonney
|
IR@rhythmone.com
|
Whitman Howard Limited Financial Adviser and Broker to RhythmOne Nick Lovering / Christopher Furness
|
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7659 1234
|
Grant Thornton Nominated Adviser to RhythmOne Philip Secrett / Jen Clarke
|
+44 (0)20 7383 5100
|
Important information
This announcement is not intended to, and does not, constitute, represent or form part of any offer, invitation or solicitation of an offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, sell or otherwise dispose of, any securities whether pursuant to this announcement or otherwise.
The distribution of this announcement in jurisdictions outside the
Whitman Howard Limited ("Whitman Howard"), which is authorised and regulated in the
Grant Thornton
Disclosure requirements of the Code
Under Rule 8.3(a) of the Code, any person who is interested in 1% or more of any class of relevant securities of an offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror (being any offeror other than an offeror in respect of which it has been announced that its offer is, or is likely to be, solely in cash) must make an Opening Position Disclosure following the commencement of the offer period and, if later, following the announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is first identified. An Opening Position Disclosure must contain details of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s). An Opening Position Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(a) applies must be made by no later than 3.30 pm (
Under Rule 8.3(b) of the Code, any person who is, or becomes, interested in 1% or more of any class of relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror must make a Dealing Disclosure if the person deals in any relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror. A Dealing Disclosure must contain details of the dealing concerned and of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s), save to the extent that these details have previously been disclose under Rule 8. A Dealing Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(b) applies must be made by no later than 3.30 pm (
If two or more persons act together pursuant to an agreement or understanding, whether formal or informal, to acquire or control an interest in relevant securities of an offeree company or a securities exchange offeror, they will be deemed to be a single person for the purpose of Rule 8.3.
Opening Position Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company and by any offeror and Dealing Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company, by any offeror and by any persons acting in concert with any of them (see Rules 8.1, 8.2 and 8.4). Details of the offeree and offeror companies in respect of whose relevant securities Opening Position Disclosures and Dealing Disclosures must be made can be found in the Disclosure Table on the Takeover Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk, including details of the number of relevant securities in issue, when the offer period commenced and when any offeror was first identified. You should contact the Panel's Market Surveillance Unit on +44 (0)20 7638 0129 if you are in any doubt as to whether you are required to make an Opening Position Disclosure or a Dealing Disclosure.
Publication of this announcement
In accordance with Rule 26.1 of the Code, a copy of this announcement will be made available, subject to certain restrictions relating to persons resident in restricted jurisdictions, at https://investor.rhythmone.com/ as soon as possible and, in any event, by no later than 12 noon (
The contents of RhythmOne's website are not incorporated into and do not form part of this announcement.
You may request a hard copy of this announcement by contacting the Company Secretary of RhythmOne at IR@rhythmone.com.
You may also request that all future documents, announcements and information to be sent to you in relation to the offer should be in hard copy form.
Rule 2.9 disclosure
In accordance with Rule 2.9 of the Code, RhythmOne announces that, as at the date of this announcement, it has 78,652,306 ordinary shares of
The International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) for RhythmOne's ordinary shares is GB00BYW0RC64.
APPENDIX
EXPECTED TIMETABLE OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS
The following indicative timetable sets out the expected dates for implementation of the Scheme. All times shown are
Event |
Time/date |
Voting Record Time for the Court Meeting and the RhythmOne General Meeting......................................................................................... |
6:00 p.m. on 20 March 2019 |
Court Meeting........................................................................................... |
10:00 a.m. on 22 March 2019 |
RhythmOne General Meeting.................................................................. |
10:15 a.m. on 22 March 2019 |
Last day of dealings in, and for registration of transfers of, and disablement in CREST of, RhythmOne Shares......................................... |
29 March 2019 |
Court Hearing to sanction the Scheme...................................................... |
29 March 2019 |
Scheme Record Time................................................................................ |
6:00 p.m. on 29 March 2019 |
Effective Date of the Scheme.................................................................. |
1 April 2019 |
Delisting of RhythmOne Shares ................................................................ |
7:00 a.m. on 2 April 2019 |
Admission of the New Taptica Shares to trading on AIM.................................. |
8:00 a.m. on 2 April 2019 |
New Taptica Shares issued to RhythmOne Shareholders ........................ |
by 8:00 a.m. on 2 April 2019 |
CREST accounts of RhythmOne Shareholders to be credited with New Taptica Shares........................................................................................... |
2 April 2019 |
Despatch of share certificates in respect of New Taptica Shares.............. |
Within 14 days of the Effective Date |
Long Stop Date ......................................................................................... |
30 April 2019 |
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the