BATE Bateman Eng

 

TIDMBATE 
 
RNS Number : 2552P 
Bateman Engineering N.V. 
23 March 2009 
 

 
 
Bateman Engineering N.V. 
("Bateman" or the "Company") 
 
 
Proposed De-Listing 
 
 
The Company announced on 16 March 2009 that the board of Bateman (the "Board") 
had been approached by Global Minerals B.V. ("Global Minerals"), the majority 
shareholder in the Company, with a request that the Board convene a meeting of 
shareholders and depositary interest holders at which a resolution for the 
Company's delisting from AIM (the "Delisting") should be proposed and 
considered. In accordance with the Company's Articles of Association, the Board 
is convening an Extraordinary General Meeting ("EGM") for this purpose. The EGM 
will be held on 16 April 2009. Global Minerals has indicated that it intends to 
vote in favour of the requisite resolution at the EGM to approve the Delisting 
in respect of all of its interests in ordinary shares of the Company, amounting 
(as at the date of this announcement) to 69.12 per cent. of the Company's issued 
share capital. The Board believes that the level of Global Mineral's interest in 
the ordinary shares of the Company is such that it is highly unlikely that the 
relevant resolution will not be passed. 
 
 
Background to the De-Listing 
 
 
In its request to the Board that an EGM be convened to consider the proposed 
Delisting, Global Minerals identified the following as its reasons for why 
it believes it is in the interest of shareholders to delist the Company from 
AIM: 
 
 
Over the last 12 months, the financial position of Bateman has deteriorated 
significantly and its share price has dropped substantially. In the opinion of 
Global Minerals, it is unlikely that the Company will be able to raise capital 
in the equity markets in the current environment. In addition, Global Minerals 
believes that the lower market capitalisation of the Company will make it more 
difficult to secure appropriate bank facilities. There is low liquidity and a 
small free float in the Company shares and Global Minerals sees little prospect 
of this changing in the foreseeable future. 
 
 
It is Global Mineral's view, therefore, that the costs of being listed on AIM 
outweigh any benefits and that the Company should delist. Global Minerals 
believes that the Delisting would create the following benefits for the Company 
and all its shareholders: 
 
 
  *  It would allow management to increase their focus on the business with the 
  regulatory, reporting and filing requirements reduced; 
  *  It would create improved flexibility in financing;  and 
  *  It would reduce costs and conserve cash. 
 
Global Minerals has indicated to the Board that it is committed to supporting 
the business of the Company and believes greater value will be created by 
operating the Company off market. 
 
 
Given the intention of Global Minerals to vote in favour of the resolution to 
approve the Delisting and the extent of its interest in the Company's ordinary 
shares, the Board makes no recommendation as to the merits of the Delisting. 
 
The Delisting 
 
 
In accordance with AIM Rule 41, the Company hereby notifies shareholders and 
holders of depositary interests that, subject to shareholder approval at the EGM 
to be held on 16 April 2009, it is expected that the Company's listing on AIM 
will be cancelled from 7.00 a.m. on 24 April 2009. 
 
 
Extraordinary General Meeting 
 
 
A circular containing a notice of the EGM of Bateman Engineering N.V., to be 
held at the offices of the Company at Amsteldijk 166 in Amsterdam, the 
Netherlands at 12.00 p.m. (CET) on 16 April 2009 is being sent to shareholders 
and holders of depositary interests today. A copy of the Circular is available 
from the Company's website at www.batemanengineering.com or is otherwise 
available from the Company's offices at Amsteldijk 166, 1079LH Amsterdam. 
 
 
23 March 2009 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Enquiries: 
 
+-------------------------------------------+----------------------------+ 
| Bateman Engineering                       |       Tel: +31 20 502 2370 | 
+-------------------------------------------+----------------------------+ 
| Eddie du Rand, Chief Executive Officer    |                            | 
|                                           |                            | 
+-------------------------------------------+----------------------------+ 
| Philippe Monier, Chief financial Officer  |                            | 
| (Designate)                               |                            | 
+-------------------------------------------+----------------------------+ 
|                                           |                            | 
+-------------------------------------------+----------------------------+ 
| Shore Capital and Corporate Limited       |  Tel: +44 (0) 20 7408 4090 | 
+-------------------------------------------+----------------------------+ 
| Christian Littlewood                      |                            | 
+-------------------------------------------+----------------------------+ 
| Edward Mansfield                          |                            | 
+-------------------------------------------+----------------------------+ 
|                                           |                            | 
+-------------------------------------------+----------------------------+ 
| College Hill                              |  Tel: +44 (0) 20 7457 2020 | 
+-------------------------------------------+----------------------------+ 
| Mark Garraway                             |                            | 
+-------------------------------------------+----------------------------+ 
| Adam Aljewicz                             |                            | 
+-------------------------------------------+----------------------------+ 
 
 
 
 
 
This information is provided by RNS 
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange 
   END 
 
 MSCPUUGPWUPBGMU 
 

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