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Results of Placing

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RNS Number : 0537A
Serco Group PLC
23 May 2019
 

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, INCLUDING THE APPENDIX, AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE SAME WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE AT THE END OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

23 May 2019

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 ("MAR").  Upon publication of this announcement, the inside information is now considered to be in the public domain for the purposes of MAR.

 

Serco Group plc

Results of Placing

Serco Group plc (the "Company" or "Serco") announces the successful completion of the placing of ordinary shares announced earlier today (the "Placing").

The Placing raised gross proceeds of approximately £140 million for the Company. A total of 111,216,400 new ordinary shares in the Company (the "Placing Shares") have been placed by Merrill Lynch International ("BofA Merrill Lynch") and Barclays Bank PLC ("Barclays", together with BofA Merrill Lynch, the "Joint Bookrunners") at a price of 126.0 pence per Placing Share (the "Placing Price"). The Placing Price represents a premium of 4.0 per cent to the closing share price of 121.1 pence on 22 May 2019 and a discount of 7.0 per cent, post expenses directly attributable to the Placing, to the middle market price at the time at which the Company and the Joint Bookrunners agreed the Placing Price. The Placing Shares being issued represent approximately 10 per cent of the issued ordinary share capital of Serco.

The Placing Shares will, when issued, be credited as fully paid and rank pari passu in all respects with the existing ordinary shares of two pence in the capital of the Company.

Applications have been made for the admission of the Placing Shares to the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority and to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange plc ("Admission"). It is expected that Admission will become effective at 8.00 a.m. on 28 May 2019. The Placing is conditional upon, amongst other things, Admission becoming effective and upon the placing agreement not being terminated in accordance with its terms.

Following Admission, the total number of shares in issue in the Company will be 1,223,380,637. Serco currently holds no shares as treasury shares, and, therefore, following Admission, the total number of voting shares in Serco in issue will be 1,223,380,637.

BofA Merrill Lynch and Barclays are acting as Joint Bookrunners in respect of the Placing. Rothschild & Co is acting as Financial Adviser to Serco.

 

Serco                                                                                                                               +44 (0)7738 894 788

Stuart Ford, Head of Investor Relations                                                 

BofA Merrill Lynch (Joint Corporate Broker and Joint Bookrunner)                       +44 (0) 20 7628 1000

Tim Waddell

Kieran Millar

Daniel Burton-Morgan

Barclays (Joint Bookrunner)                                                                                        +44 (0) 20 7567 8000

Andrew Tusa

Lawrence Jamieson

Richard Probert

Rothschild & Co (Financial Adviser to the Company)                                                +44 (0) 20 7280 5000

John Deans

Shannon Nicholls

David Weinberg

Serco media enquiries:

Marcus De Ville, Head of Media Relations                                                                +44 (0)7738 898 550

Notes to Editors

About Serco

Serco is a leading provider of public services. Our customers are governments or others operating in the public sector.  We gain scale, expertise and diversification by operating internationally across five sectors and four geographies: Defence, Justice & Immigration, Transport, Health and Citizen Services, delivered in UK & Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

More information can be found at www.serco.com 

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE

This information contained in this Announcement, including the Appendix, is restricted and is not for release, publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, in, into or from the United States (including its territories and possessions, any state of the United States and the District of Columbia, collectively the "United States") Australia, Canada, Japan or South Africa or any jurisdiction in which the same would be unlawful. This Announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or issue or the solicitation of an offer to buy, acquire or subscribe for shares in the capital of the Company in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan or South Africa or any other jurisdiction where such offer or solicitation may be restricted, unlawful or unauthorised. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of such jurisdictions. Subject to certain exemptions, the securities referred to herein may not be offered or sold in Canada, Australia, Japan or South Africa or to, or for the account or benefit of any national resident or citizen of Canada, Australia, Japan or South Africa. The Placing Shares have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("Securities Act") or the securities laws of any other jurisdiction of the United States, and may not be offered, sold or transferred, directly or indirectly, in the United States absent registration under the Securities Act or an available exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and the securities laws of any other jurisdiction of the United States. Any offering of the Placing Shares to be made in the United States will be made only to a limited number of "qualified institutional buyers" within the meaning of Rule 144A under the Securities Act pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements under the Securities Act in a transaction not involving any public offering and outside the United States in offshore transactions within the meaning of, and in reliance on, Regulation S under the Securities Act. No public offering of the shares referred to in this Announcement is being made in the United States, United Kingdom or elsewhere.

This Announcement has been issued by, and is the sole responsibility, of the Company. No representation or warranty express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by Merrill Lynch International ("BofA Merrill Lynch"),  Barclays Bank PLC ("Barclays", and together with BofA Merrill Lynch, the "Joint Bookrunners") or N.M. Rothschild & Sons Limited ("Rothschild & Co") or by any of their respective Affiliates or agents (or any of their respective directors, officers, employees or advisers) as to or in relation to, the accuracy or completeness of this Announcement or any other written, visual, electronic or oral information made available to or publicly available to any interested party or its advisers, or any other statement made or purported to be made by or on behalf of either Joint Bookrunner, Rothschild & Co or any of their respective Affiliates in connection with the Company, the Placing Shares, the Placing or the Acquisition and any liability therefor is expressly disclaimed. No reliance may be placed by any person for any purpose on the information contained in this Announcement, which is subject to change, or its accuracy, fairness or completeness.

No prospectus will be made available in connection with the matters contained in this Announcement and no such prospectus is required (in accordance with the Prospectus Directive) to be published. Persons needing advice should consult an independent financial adviser.

This Announcement does not identify or suggest, or purport to identify or suggest, the risks (direct or indirect) that may be associated with an investment in the Placing Shares. Any investment decision to buy Placing Shares in the Placing must be made solely on the basis of publicly available information, which has not been independently verified by the Joint Bookrunners or Rothschild & Co.

Rothschild & Co, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom, is acting for the Company and no one else in relation to the Placing and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of Rothschild & Co nor for providing advice in relation to the proposed transaction.

BofA Merrill Lynch and Barclays, which are authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, are each acting exclusively as Joint Bookrunners for the Company in connection with the Placing and no one else in connection with the Placing and/or any other matter referred to in this Announcement; will not regard any other person as a client; and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of the Joint Bookrunners nor for providing advice in relation to the Placing and/or any other matter referred to in this Announcement. Apart from the responsibilities and liabilities, if any, which may be imposed on the Joint Bookrunners by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 or by the regulatory regime established under it, none of  BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays or Rothschild & Co nor any of their respective Affiliates accepts any responsibility whatsoever for the contents of the information contained in this Announcement or for any other statement made or purported to be made by or on behalf of BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays or Rothschild & Co or any of their respective Affiliates in connection with the Company, the Placing Shares, the Placing or the Acquisition. BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays and Rothschild & Co and each of their respective Affiliates accordingly disclaim all and any liability, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise (save as referred to above) in respect of any statements or other information contained in this Announcement and no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made by BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays or Rothschild & Co or any of their respective Affiliates as to the accuracy, completeness or sufficiency of the information contained in this Announcement.

The distribution of this Announcement and the offering of the Placing Shares in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. No action has been taken by the Company or the Joint Bookrunners that would permit an offering of such shares or possession or distribution of this Announcement or any other offering or publicity material relating to such shares in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required. Persons into whose possession this Announcement comes are required by the Company and the Joint Bookrunners to inform themselves about, and to observe, such restrictions.

The price of shares and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the full amount invested on disposal of the shares.

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO TAKE PART IN THE PLACING. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT (INCLUDING THE APPENDIX) AND THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET OUT HEREIN ARE FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND ARE DIRECTED ONLY AT: (A) PERSONS IN MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA WHO ARE QUALIFIED INVESTORS (AS DEFINED IN ARTICLE 2(1)(E) OF EU DIRECTIVE 2003/71/EC (AND AMENDMENTS THERETO, INCLUDING THE 2010 PD AMENDING DIRECTIVE, TO THE EXTENT IMPLEMENTED IN THE RELEVANT MEMBER STATE) (THE "PROSPECTUS DIRECTIVE")); AND/OR (B) PERSONS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM WHO ARE QUALIFIED INVESTORS AND PERSONS WHO ARE (I) INVESTMENT PROFESSIONALS FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 19(5) OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000 (FINANCIAL PROMOTION) ORDER 2005 (THE "ORDER"); OR (II) PERSONS FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 49(2)(A) TO (D) ('HIGH NET WORTH COMPANIES, UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATIONS, ETC') OF THE ORDER; OR (III) PERSONS TO WHOM IT MAY OTHERWISE BE LAWFULLY COMMUNICATED (ALL SUCH PERSONS IN (A) AND (B) TOGETHER BEING REFERRED TO AS "RELEVANT PERSONS"). THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET OUT HEREIN MUST NOT BE ACTED ON OR RELIED ON BY PERSONS WHO ARE NOT RELEVANT PERSONS. ANY INVESTMENT OR INVESTMENT ACTIVITY TO WHICH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT (INCLUDING THE APPENDIX) AND THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET OUT HEREIN RELATE IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO RELEVANT PERSONS AND WILL BE ENGAGED IN ONLY WITH RELEVANT PERSONS. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT (INCLUDING THE APPENDIX) DOES NOT ITSELF CONSTITUTE AN OFFER FOR SALE OR SUBSCRIPTION OF ANY SECURITIES IN THE COMPANY.

Persons (including individuals, funds or otherwise) by whom or on whose behalf a commitment to acquire Placing Shares has been given ("Placees") will be deemed to have read and understood this Announcement, including the Appendix, in its entirety and to be making such offer on the terms and conditions, and to be providing the representations, warranties, acknowledgements, and undertakings contained in the Appendix. In particular, each such Placee represents, warrants and acknowledges that it: (i) is outside the United States and is subscribing for the Placing Shares in an 'offshore transaction' (within the meaning of Regulation S under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act")) or (ii) (a) is a 'qualified institutional buyer' (as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act), and (b) subscribing for the Placing Shares pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements under the Securities Act and (c) acknowledges that the Placing Shares have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act or with any State or other jurisdiction of the United States.

The information in this Announcement may not be forwarded or distributed to any other person and may not be reproduced in any manner whatsoever. Any forwarding, distribution, reproduction, or disclosure of this information in whole or in part is unauthorised. Failure to comply with this directive may result in a violation of the Securities Act or the applicable laws of other jurisdictions.

This Announcement contains (or may contain) certain forward-looking statements with respect to certain of the Company's current expectations and projections about future events. These statements, which sometimes use words such as "aim", "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "plan" "estimate", "expect" and words of similar meaning, reflect the directors' beliefs and expectations and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results and performance to differ materially from any expected future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking statement. Statements contained in this Announcement regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. The information contained in this Announcement is subject to change without notice and, except as required by applicable law, the Company does not assume any responsibility or obligation to update publicly or review any of the forward-looking statements contained herein. Each of the Joint Bookrunners and their respective Affiliates expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update, review or revise any forward-looking statement contained in this Announcement whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Announcement. No statement in this Announcement is or is intended to be a profit forecast or profit estimate or to imply that the earnings of the Company for the current or future financial years will necessarily match or exceed the historical or published earnings of the Company. The price of shares and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the full amount invested on disposal of the shares.

The relevant clearances have not been, and nor will they be, obtained from the securities commission of any province or territory of Canada; no prospectus has been lodged with, or registered by, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission or the Japanese Ministry of Finance; and the Placing Shares have not been, and nor will they be, registered under or offered in compliance with the securities laws of any state, province or territory of Canada, Australia, Japan or South Africa. Accordingly, the Placing Shares may not (unless an exemption under the relevant securities laws is applicable) be offered, sold, resold or delivered, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan or South Africa or any other jurisdiction outside the United Kingdom.

The Placing Shares have not been approved or disapproved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), any State securities commission or any other regulatory authority in the United States, nor have any of the foregoing authorities passed upon or endorsed the merits of the Placing or the accuracy or adequacy of this Announcement. Any representation to the contrary is unlawful. Persons (including, without limitation, nominees and trustees) who have a contractual or other legal obligation to forward a copy of the Appendix or this Announcement should seek appropriate advice before taking any action.

The Placing Shares to be issued pursuant to the Placing will not be admitted to trading on any stock exchange other than the London Stock Exchange.

In connection with the Placing, each of the Joint Bookrunners and any of their respective Affiliates, may take up a portion of the shares in the Placing as a principal position and in that capacity may retain, purchase, sell, offer to sell for their own accounts such shares and other securities of the Company or related investments in connection with the Placing or otherwise. Accordingly, references to Placing Shares being offered, acquired, placed or otherwise dealt in should be read as including any issue or offer to, or acquisition, placing or dealing by, the Joint Bookrunners and any of their respective Affiliates acting in such capacity. In addition, the Joint Bookrunners and any of their respective Affiliates may enter into financing arrangements (including swaps) with investors in connection with which the Joint Bookrunners and any of their respective Affiliates may from time to time acquire, hold or dispose of shares. The Joint Bookrunners do not intend to disclose the extent of any such investment or transactions otherwise than in accordance with any legal or regulatory obligations to do so.

Neither the content of the Company's website nor any website accessible by hyperlinks on the Company's website is incorporated in, or forms part of, this Announcement.

Information to Distributors

Solely for the purposes of the product governance requirements contained within: (a) EU Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments, as amended ("MiFID II"); (b) Articles 9 and 10 of Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2017/593 supplementing MiFID II; and (c) local implementing measures (together, the "MiFID II Product Governance Requirements"), and disclaiming all and any liability, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise, which any "manufacturer" (for the purposes of the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements) may otherwise have with respect thereto, the Placing Shares have been subject to a product approval process, which has determined that the Placing Shares are: (i) compatible with an end target market of (a) retail investors, (b) investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and (c) eligible counterparties, each as defined in MiFID II; and (ii) eligible for distribution through all distribution channels as are permitted by MiFID II (the "Target Market Assessment"). Notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, distributors should note that: the price of the Placing Shares may decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment; the Placing Shares offer no guaranteed income and no capital protection; and an investment in the Placing Shares is compatible only with investors who do not need a guaranteed income or capital protection, who (either alone or in conjunction with an appropriate financial or other adviser) are capable of evaluating the merits and risks of such an investment and who have sufficient resources to be able to bear any losses that may result therefrom. The Target Market Assessment is without prejudice to the requirements of any contractual, legal or regulatory selling restrictions in relation to the Placing. Furthermore, it is noted that, notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, the Joint Bookrunners will only procure investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Target Market Assessment does not constitute: (a) an assessment of suitability or appropriateness for the purposes of MiFID II; or (b) a recommendation to any investor or group of investors to invest in, or purchase, or take any other action whatsoever with respect to the Placing Shares.

Each distributor is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the Placing Shares and determining appropriate distribution channels.

This Announcement does not constitute a recommendation concerning the Placing.

 

 

 


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