Acquisition
August 16 2004 - 3:01AM
UK Regulatory
RNS Number:9775B
Libertas Capital Group PLC
15 August 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 13th August 2004
Libertas Capital Group plc ("LBR")
Proposed acquisition of Green Park Investment Limited ("Green Park")
The Directors of Libertas Capital Group plc ("Libertas Capital" or "the Group"),
an FSA regulated financial services group, are pleased to announce the proposed
acquisition of a 70 % holding in Green Park for a total consideration of #1.4
million, valuing Green Park at #2m.
Commenting on the transaction, Jakob Kinde, Executive Chairman of Libertas
Capital, said: "We are delighted with this acquisition which is of significant
strategic importance to Libertas Capital and it fits well into our business
model. This acquisition will be earnings enhancing."
Summary information on Green Park
Green Park sources capital for hedge funds and was formed in April 2004. It has
a team of experienced sales and marketing specialists representing a select
group of hedge funds in raising funds from large and small institutional
European investors. It currently has approximately #0.115m of total assets which
are the subject of the transaction. Green Park has not traded pending approval
to commence business from the Financial Services Authority ("FSA").
Green Park is very selective of the funds with which it works and, with fees
generated from performance, its interests are aligned with the investors'
interests in the specific funds being marketed.
Green Park has a successful senior management team with international experience
from a number of leading investment banks, including Lehman Brothers, Credit
Lyonnais, UBS and Deutsche Bank.
The current directors of Green Park are:
John Davies -Chief Executive Officer. Prior to co-founding Altius Partners in
2001, John was Global Head of Sales at Credit Lyonnais, having held a similar
role at Lehman Brothers where he worked for nine years. John has an MA (Hons) in
Law from Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
Jonathan Lee - Director. Jonathan has over ten years investment banking
experience, most recently at Deutsche Bank, having previously worked for seven
years at Cable and Wireless. Jonathan has both a BA (Hons) in Geography and a
MBA from Durham University.
Hako Finckenstein - Director. Hako was an Executive Director at UBS in London,
responsible for the distribution of Pan - European equities to German
institutional investors. Hako received a Masters in Business Management from the
Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich in 1987.
Transaction details
The #1.4 million consideration is to be satisfied by a cash injection of
#800,000 and the issue by Libertas Capital of 2,000,000 new ordinary shares of
1p each, fully paid ("New Shares") at 30p per New Share. Application for the New
Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM will be made following the granting of
regulatory approval by the FSA, necessary due diligence (such as shareholder
agreement, service contracts and independent valuation) and shareholder approval
at a duly convened extraordinary general meeting. The remaining 30% will be
owned by the current directors of Green Park.
Acquisition benefits to Libertas Capital
This acquisition is significant in the implementation of Libertas Capital's
strategy as outlined in the IPO prospectus dated 13th July 2004 when the Group
was listed on AIM.
Green Park will, inter alia, provide Libertas Capital with the following
benefits:
- Earnings enhancing and a regular revenue stream;
- An experienced and established management team; and
- Significant additional distribution capability into alternative
assets classes and related product areas.
Other matters
The CEO and current major shareholder of Green Park is John Davies, who is also
a director of Libertas Capital, and accordingly the transaction falls under Rule
12 of the AIM rules as a related party transaction. The Directors of Libertas
Capital, other than Mr Davies, having consulted with Grant Thornton, the Group's
nominated adviser, consider that the terms of the transaction are fair and
reasonable insofar as its shareholders are concerned.
Subject to shareholder approval, Mr John Davies will hold 1,150,000 ordinary
shares in Libertas Capital, representing 3.13% of the enlarged issued share
capital.
The quantum of the related party nature of the proposed transaction requires
shareholder approval, and accordingly an Extraordinary General Meeting will be
held at the offices of Grant Thornton, Grant Thornton House, Melton Street,
London NW1 2EP at 16:00 on Monday 6th September. The Directors, other than Mr
Davies, who own 57.58% of the current issued share capital intend to vote in
favour of the resolution.
For further information contact:
Libertas Capital Group plc
Jakob Kinde, Executive Chairman +44(0)20 7908 2816
Henry Okereke, CEO +44(0)20 7908 2817
Green Park Investment Limited +44(0)20 7898 9047
John Davies, CEO
Grant Thornton
Graeme Thom +44(0)20 7383 5100
Daniel Stewart
Tom Jenkins/Alex Davies +44(0)20 7374 6789
Buchanan Communications
Charles Ryland /Mary-Jane Johnson +44(0)20 7466 5000
Notes to Editors
About Libertas Capital Group plc
Libertas Capital, based in the UK, provides a range of financial services to
corporate entities and investment institutions in the UK, Northern Europe and
the Nordic region and North America. The Company was established to take
advantage of the recovery in the equity capital markets and to maximise the
opportunities in the small to medium sized company sector.
Libertas Capital is focussed on environmental sciences, medical technology and
technology (software and services) sectors. The Company's strategy is to
differentiate itself from its competitors and build a niche financial services
group which provides corporate advisory, institutional distribution and research
services.
The Company recently formed as the Group's holding company, has four wholly
owned subsidiaries - Libertas Capital Corporate Finance Limited, Libertas
Capital Securities Limited, (formerly Equity Growth Research Limited) Libertas
Capital Asset Management Limited and Libertas Capital Ventures Limited. In
addition it is the Directors' intention to seek suitable partners to maximise
possible opportunities in the Nordic region via Libertas Capital Nordic and in
North America via a division to be established in the USA.
Libertas Capital Corporate Finance (formerly Libertas Capital Limited) traded
profitably for the period to 31 December 2003 and has traded profitably since
that date. Libertas Capital has an experienced management team led by Jakob
Kinde, Executive Chairman and Henry Okereke, CEO. The Directors believe that
their past experience, network of contacts and track record of successfully
completed transactions with companies in their core regions and sectors referred
to above will result in a strong flow of introductions.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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