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
15 December 2023
RECOMMENDED CASH ACQUISITION
of
SMOOVE PLC
by
DIGCOM
(an indirect subsidiary undertaking of PEXA Group Limited)
Court Sanction of Scheme of Arrangement
On 4 October 2023, the boards of Smoove plc ("Smoove") and Digcom
Unless otherwise defined, all capitalised terms in this announcement shall have the meanings given to them in the scheme document published by Smoove on 16 October 2023 in connection with the Scheme (the "Scheme Document").
Court Sanction of the Scheme
The Board of Smoove is pleased to announce that the Court has today issued the Court Order sanctioning the Scheme pursuant to which the Acquisition is being implemented.
All of the Conditions to the Acquisition have been satisfied or waived other than the delivery of a copy of the Court Order to the Registrar of Companies. This is expected to take place on 19 December 2023, at which point the Scheme will become Effective.
Next Steps
Following the sanctioning of the Scheme, the Board of Smoove confirms that it has allotted 43,666 new ordinary shares of
The last day and time for dealings in, and for registrations of transfers , and disablement in CREST, of Smoove Shares is expected to be 18 December 2023. Trading in Smoove Shares on AIM will be suspended with effect from 7.30 a.m. on 19 December 2023.
It is expected that, subject to the Scheme becoming Effective, the cancellation of admission to trading of Smoove Shares on AIM will take effect from 7.00 a.m. on 20 December 2023.
A further announcement will be made when the Scheme becomes Effective.
If any of the expected times and/or dates change, the revised time and/or dates will be notified to Smoove Shareholders by announcement through a Regulatory Information Service.
Enquiries:
Smoove plc Jesper With-Fogstrup, CEO |
Via Walbrook PR
|
|
|
Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (Rule 3 Adviser) Adrian Hadden / George Lawson / Hamish Waller |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7220 0500 |
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Panmure Gordon ( Dominic Morley |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7886 2500 |
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Deutsche Numis (Financial adviser to PEXA) |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7260 1000 |
Simon Willis, Stuart Ord, William Wickham |
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Walbrook PR Limited Tom Cooper/ Nick Rome |
smoove@walbrookpr.com or Tel: 020 7933 8780
|
Shoosmiths LLP is acting as legal adviser to Smoove.
Addleshaw Goddard LLP is acting as legal adviser to PEXA and Digcom.
IMPORTANT NOTICES
Further information
This announcement is for information purposes only and is not intended to, and does not constitute, or form any part of any offer, invitation or the solicitation of an offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, sell or otherwise dispose of any securities, or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction, pursuant to the Acquisition or otherwise, nor shall there be any sale, issuance, exchange or transfer of securities of Smoove or such solicitation in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law. The Acquisition is made and will be implemented solely pursuant to the terms of the Scheme Document and the accompanying Forms of Proxy. Any approval or decision in respect of, or other response to, the Acquisition should be made only on the basis of the information contained in the Scheme Document.
Smoove and Digcom urge Smoove Shareholders to read the Scheme Document because it contains important information relating to the Acquisition.
This announcement does not constitute a prospectus, prospectus equivalent document or an exempted document.
The statements contained in this announcement are made as at the date of this announcement, unless some other time is specified in relation to them, and publication of this announcement shall not give rise to any implication that there has been no change in the facts set forth in this announcement since such date.
Disclaimers
Numis Securities Limited ("Deutsche Numis"), which is authorised and regulated in the
Cavendish Securities plc ("Cavendish") is acting for Smoove and no one else in connection with the matters set out in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Smoove for providing the protections afforded to clients of Cavendish for providing advice in relation to the possible offer, the contents of this announcement or any other matters referred to in this announcement.
Overseas jurisdictions
This announcement has been prepared in accordance with, and for the purposes of complying with, English law, the Takeover Code, the Market Abuse Regulation and the AIM Rules, and information disclosed may not be the same as that which would have been disclosed if this announcement had been prepared in accordance with the laws of jurisdictions outside of
The release, publication or distribution of this announcement in, into or from jurisdictions other than the
The availability of the Acquisition to Smoove Shareholders who are not resident in and citizens of the
Unless otherwise determined by Digcom or required by the Takeover Code, and permitted by applicable law and regulation, the Acquisition will not be made available, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in, into or from a Restricted Jurisdiction where to do so would constitute a violation of the relevant laws or regulations of such jurisdiction. Copies of this announcement and any formal documentation relating to the Acquisition are not being, and must not be, directly or indirectly, mailed or otherwise forwarded, distributed or sent in or into or from any Restricted Jurisdiction and persons receiving such documents (including custodians, nominees and trustees) must not mail or otherwise forward, distribute or send it in or into or from any Restricted Jurisdiction.
The Acquisition is subject to English law and the jurisdiction of the Court, and the applicable requirements of the Takeover Code, the Panel, the London Stock Exchange (including pursuant to the AIM Rules) and the Registrar of Companies.
Notice to US investors in Smoove
The Acquisition relates to the shares of an English company with a quotation on AIM and is being made by means of a scheme of arrangement provided for under English company law. A transaction effected by means of a scheme of arrangement is not subject to the tender offer rules or the proxy solicitation rules under the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Accordingly, the Acquisition is subject to the disclosure requirements and practices applicable in the
Financial information included in this announcement and the Scheme Document has been or will have been prepared in accordance with accounting standards applicable in the
The receipt of cash pursuant to the Acquisition by a US holder of Smoove Shares as consideration for the transfer of its Scheme Shares pursuant to the Scheme may be a taxable transaction for US federal income tax purposes and under applicable US state and local, as well as foreign and other, tax laws.
It may be difficult for US holders of Smoove Shares to enforce their rights and any claim arising out of the US federal laws in connection with the Acquisition, since Digcom and Smoove are located in, and organised under the laws of, a non-US jurisdiction, and some or all of their officers and directors may be residents of a non-US jurisdiction. US holders of Smoove Shares may not be able to sue a non-US company or its officers or directors in a non-US court for violations of the US securities laws. Further, it may be difficult to compel a non-US company and its affiliates to subject themselves to a US court's jurisdiction or judgement.
In accordance with normal
Dealing and Opening Position Disclosure Requirements
Under Rule 8.3(a) of the Takeover Code, any person who is interested in one per cent. 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 p.m. (
Under Rule 8.3(b) of the Takeover Code, any person who is, or becomes, interested in one per cent. 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 disclosed 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 p.m. (
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 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 on website
In accordance with Rule 26.1 of the Takeover Code a copy of this announcement and the documents required to be published under Rule 26 of the Takeover Code, will be made available free of charge, subject to certain restrictions relating to persons resident in Restricted Jurisdictions, on PEXA's website at https://investors.pexa.com.au/investor-centre and Smoove's website at www.hellosmoove.com/investorrelations by no later than 12 noon (
Neither the contents of PEXA's website, nor those of Smoove's website, nor those of any other website accessible from hyperlinks on either PEXA's or Smoove's websites, are incorporated into or form part of this announcement.
Requesting hard copy documents
In accordance with Rule 30.3 of the Takeover Code, Smoove Shareholders, persons with information rights and participants in the Smoove Share Plans may request a hard copy of this announcement by contacting Smoove's registrars, Equiniti, by: (i) submitting a request in writing to Equiniti, Aspect House, Spencer Road, Lancing,
For persons who receive a copy of this announcement in electronic form or via a website notification, a hard copy of this announcement will not be sent unless so requested. Such persons may also request that all future documents, announcements and information to be sent to them in relation to the Acquisition should be in hard copy form.
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