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
1 October 2024
Recommended Cash
Acquisition
of
Virgin Money UK PLC ("Virgin
Money")
by
Nationwide Building Society
("Nationwide")
Scheme of Arrangement Becomes
Effective
The boards of Virgin Money and Nationwide are
pleased to announce that, following the delivery of a copy of the
Court Order to the Registrar of Companies today, the scheme of
arrangement between Virgin Money and its shareholders under Part 26
of the Companies Act (the "Scheme") to implement the recommended
cash acquisition of the entire issued and to be issued share
capital of Virgin Money by Nationwide (the "Acquisition") has now become Effective
and the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Virgin
Money is now owned by Nationwide.
Full details of the Acquisition are set out in
the scheme document published on 22 April 2024 (the "Scheme Document"). Unless otherwise
defined, all capitalised terms in this announcement have the
meaning given to them in the Scheme Document.
Cancellation
of Listing and Trading
Applications have been made to the Financial
Conduct Authority and the London Stock Exchange in relation to the
de-listing of Virgin Money Ordinary Shares from the Official List
and the cancellation of the trading of Virgin Money Ordinary Shares
on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities,
which are expected to take effect from 8:00 a.m. (London time)
today. An application has been made to the Australian Securities
Exchange in relation to the cancellation of listing of Virgin Money
on the Australian Securities Exchange, which is expected to take
effect today, 1 October 2024.
A further announcement will be made when the
listing and trading of the Virgin Money Ordinary Shares have been
cancelled.
Settlement of
Consideration
Scheme Shareholders on the register of members
of Virgin Money at the Scheme Record Time, being 6.00 p.m. (London
time) on 27 September 2024, are entitled to receive 218 pence in
cash for each Virgin Money Share held.
Virgin Money CDI Holders on the CDI Register at
the CDI Record Time, being 7.00 p.m. (AEST) on 27 September 2024,
will receive the Consideration in respect of the Virgin Money
Ordinary Shares underlying Virgin Money CDIs to the exclusion of
CDN, the holder of those Virgin Money Ordinary Shares as depositary
nominee. The attention of Virgin Money Shareholders is drawn to
paragraph 14(A) of Part 2 (Explanatory Statement) of the Scheme
Document which provides details on the currency in which payments
will be made.
Settlement of the Consideration to which each
Scheme Shareholder and Virgin Money CDI Holder is entitled, and the
relevant portion of the Consideration to which each Virgin Money
Share Plan Account Holder and Virgin Money Share Account Holder is
entitled, will be paid in accordance with the timetable announced
on 6 September 2024 and as outlined below:
Latest date for despatch of cheques in respect
of the Consideration and for settlement of the Consideration
through CREST or other form of payment to Virgin Money Ordinary
Shareholders and Virgin Money CDI Holders
|
By 15 October
2024
|
Expected date for the crediting to mandated
bank accounts in respect of any Consideration due to Virgin Money
Share Plan Account Holders
|
No later than 20
October 2024
|
Expected date for the crediting to mandated
bank accounts of, or issuing of cheques in respect of, any
Consideration due to Virgin Money Share Account Holders
|
No later than 29
October 2024
|
Board
Changes
As the Scheme has now become Effective, Virgin
Money duly announces that, as of today's date, David Duffy has
stepped down as Chief Executive Officer and as an Executive
Director of Virgin Money and the appointment of Chris Rhodes as an
Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer has become
effective.
Virgin Money's LEI Number is
213800ZK9VGCYYR6O495.
Announcement authorised for release by Lorna
McMillan, Group Company Secretary of Virgin Money.
Enquiries:
Virgin
Money UK PLC
Investors and
Analysts
Richard Smith
Head of Investor Relations &
Sustainability
Company Secretary
Lorna McMillan
Group Company Secretary
Media Relations
Press Office
Goldman Sachs International (joint Rule
3 independent financial adviser and joint corporate broker to
Virgin Money)
Anthony Gutman
Nimesh Khiroya
Ronan Breen
Bertie Whitehead
J.P. Morgan Cazenove (joint Rule 3
independent financial adviser and joint corporate broker to Virgin
Money)
Conor Hillery
Dwayne Lysaght
Claire Brooksby
Ravin Mehta
Teneo (public relations adviser to
Virgin Money)
Douglas Campbell (UK)
Julia Henkel (Australia)
|
+44 (0)7483
399303
richard.smith@virginmoney.com
+44 (0)7834
585436
lorna.mcmillan@virginmoney.com
+44 (0)800 066
5998
press.office@virginmoney.com
+44 (0)20 7774
1000
+44 (0)20 3493
8000
+44 (0)7753
136628
+61 406
918080
|
Nationwide Building
Society
|
+44 (0) 7587 886500
|
Sarah Abercrombie, Head of Treasury Funding
& External Relations
|
|
|
Media enquiries:
|
Nationwide-UK@fgsglobal.com
|
Investor enquiries:
|
Nationwide.treasury@Nationwide.co.uk
|
|
|
UBS (financial adviser to
Nationwide) Sam Small
Ben Crystal
David Sissons
|
+44 (0)20 7567
8000
|
FGS Global (public relations adviser to
Nationwide) James Murgatroyd
Charlie Chichester
Richard Webster-Smith
Sophia Johnston
|
+44 (0)20 7251
3801
|
|
| |
Slaughter and May is acting as legal adviser to
Nationwide in connection with the Acquisition.
Clifford Chance LLP is acting as legal adviser
to Virgin Money in connection with the Acquisition.
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 or transfer of securities of Virgin
Money in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law. The
Acquisition is made and implemented solely pursuant to the terms of
the Scheme Document, which contains the full terms and conditions
of the Acquisition. This announcement does not constitute a
prospectus or a prospectus equivalent 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
Goldman Sachs
International, which is authorised by the PRA and regulated by the
FCA and the PRA in the United Kingdom, is acting as joint financial
adviser for Virgin Money and no one else in connection with the
Acquisition and the distribution of this announcement and will not
be responsible to anyone other than Virgin Money for providing the
protections afforded to clients of Goldman Sachs International, or
for giving advice in connection with the Acquisition or any matter
referred to herein.
J.P. Morgan
Securities plc, which conducts its UK investment banking business
as J.P. Morgan Cazenove ("J.P.
Morgan Cazenove"), is authorised in the United Kingdom by
the PRA and regulated in the United Kingdom by the PRA and the FCA.
J.P. Morgan Cazenove is acting as joint financial adviser
exclusively for Virgin Money and no one else in connection with the
matters set out in this announcement and will not regard any other
person as its client in relation to the matters in this
announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than
Virgin Money for providing the protections afforded to clients of
J.P. Morgan Cazenove or its affiliates, nor for providing advice in
relation to any matter referred to herein.
UBS AG,
London Branch ("UBS") is
authorised and regulated by the Financial Market Supervisory
Authority in Switzerland. It is authorised by the PRA and subject
to regulation by the FCA and limited regulation by the PRA in the
United Kingdom. UBS is acting exclusively for Nationwide and no one
else in connection with the Acquisition. In connection with such
matters, UBS will not regard any other person as its client, nor
will it be responsible to any other person for providing the
protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in
relation to the Acquisition, the contents of this announcement or
any other matter referred to herein.
Information for Overseas
Shareholders
Copies of
this announcement and all documents relating to the Acquisition are
not being, and must not be, directly or indirectly, mailed or
otherwise forwarded, distributed or sent in, into or from a
Restricted Jurisdiction, and persons receiving this announcement
and all other documents relating to the Acquisition (including
custodians, nominees and trustees) must not mail or otherwise
distribute or send them in, into or from any Restricted
Jurisdiction.
It is the
responsibility of each Overseas Shareholder to satisfy himself or
herself as to the full observance of the laws of the relevant
jurisdiction in connection with the Acquisition, including the
obtaining of any governmental, exchange control or other consents
which may be required, or the compliance with other necessary
formalities which are required to be observed and the payment of
any issue, transfer or other taxes due in such
jurisdiction.
Neither the
US Securities and Exchange Commission nor any US state securities
commission has approved or disapproved of the Acquisition, or
passed comment upon the adequacy or completeness of this
announcement. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal
offence.
Notice to Australian Virgin Money
Shareholders
This
announcement is not a disclosure document for the purposes of the
Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the "Australian Corporations Act"), and is
not required to, and does not, contain all the information which
would be required in a disclosure document under the Australian
Corporations Act. This announcement has not been and will not be
lodged or registered with the Australian Securities and Investments
Commission, ASX Limited or any other regulatory body or agency in
Australia.
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 Nationwide's website at
www.nationwide.co.uk/investor-relations/virgin-money-terms-of-access/
and Virgin Money's website
at
www.virginmoneyukplc.com/investor-relations/announcements/
by no later than 12 noon
(London time) on the first Business Day following the date of this
announcement. For the avoidance of doubt, neither the contents of
these websites nor the contents of any websites accessible from any
hyperlinks are incorporated into or form part of this
announcement.
Electronic
communications
Please be
aware that addresses, electronic addresses and certain other
information provided by Virgin Money Shareholders, persons with
information rights and other relevant persons for the receipt of
communications from Virgin Money may be provided to Nationwide
during the offer period as required under Section 4 of Appendix 4
to the Takeover Code.
General
If you are in
any doubt about the contents of this announcement or the action you
should take, you are recommended to seek your own independent
financial advice immediately from your stockbroker, bank manager,
solicitor, accountant or independent financial adviser duly
authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 if you
are taking advice in the United Kingdom or, if not, from another
appropriately authorised independent financial
adviser.