SDL Sdl Plc

TIDMSDL

RNS Number : 6999U

SDL PLC

16 July 2018

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

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU NO. 596/2014).

SDL plc

Acquisition of Donnelley Language Solutions

Proposed ABB Placing to raise up to GBP36.2 million

SDL plc, ("SDL" or the "Company" and, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group" / LSE: SDL) an international provider of services in language translation technology and content management, is pleased to announce that it has agreed to acquire the business and assets of Donnelley Language Solutions ("DLS") (including the shares of certain entities in Luxembourg and Spain) on a cash-free, debt-free basis for a cash consideration of US$77.5 million (GBP60.1 million) from Donnelley Financial Solutions Inc. (NYSE: DFIN) and its subsidiaries (the "Acquisition").

SDL proposes that the Acquisition will be funded through the drawdown on new debt facilities and a proposed placing of up to 8,234,400 new ordinary shares of 1p each in the capital of the Company (the "Placing Shares"), representing approximately 10 per cent. of the existing issued share capital of the Company, at a price of 440p per share (the "Placing Price") to raise gross proceeds of up to GBP36.2 million (the "Placing").

The Acquisition and the Placing taken together are expected to be earnings enhancing in the first full year of ownership, being the year ending 31 December 2019 ("FY19").

The Placing is being conducted by means of an accelerated bookbuild process ("ABB"), which will be launched immediately following this Announcement.

Transaction highlights

-- SDL has agreed to acquire DLS, a leading specialist Language Service and Linguistics Provider, operating in SDL's focus premium sectors of Financial Services and Life Sciences for US$77.5 million on a cash-free, debt free basis

-- In the year to 31 December 2017 ("FY17"), DLS delivered approximately 5 per cent. revenue growth, generating revenues of US$71.4 million and Adjusted EBITDA of US$5.8 million(1) . Revenue and profit growth has been delivered to date in the year ending 31 December 2018 ("FY18")

-- The Acquisition will accelerate SDL's Premium Solutions Strategy, with the majority of DLS' FY17 billings being in the Financial Services and Life Sciences sectors

-- The Acquisition provides opportunities to generate synergies through cross selling and the use of machines translation and linguistic insourcing

-- The consideration for the Acquisition will be funded by a combination of the proceeds of the Placing and the drawdown of new debt facilities

-- Placing of up to 8,234,400 Placing Shares at 440p per Placing Share to be conducted by way of an ABB to raise up to GBP36.2 million

-- The Acquisition and Placing taken together is expected to be earnings enhancing in the first full year of ownership, being the year ending 31 December 2019

Adolfo Hernandez, CEO of SDL, commented:

"The acquisition of DLS is aligned with SDL's strategy of focusing on 'premium' industries and regulated content. The combination of our businesses will strengthen SDL's market position in financial services and life sciences, which on a combined basis, account for approximately 30 per cent. of the language services market. Together, we will be able to develop more differentiated industry-focused solutions by leveraging DLS' specialist services expertise and SDL's technologies. In addition, DLS brings us further skills and industry presence in Asian markets.

Over time, DLS and SDL will seek to increase cross-selling across our customer bases and both businesses will be able to benefit from SDL's investments in Machine Translation, in-house linguists, 'Helix': our business process automation platform and administrative efficiencies, to drive margins towards our stated targets. We are delighted to welcome our new employees and customers to SDL."

For further information:

SDL plc 01628 410 100

Adolfo Hernandez, CEO

Xenia Walters, CFO

Investec Bank plc ("Investec") 0207 597 5970

David Flin

Neil Coleman

Nplus1 Singer Advisory LLP ("N+1 Singer") 020 7496 3000

Shaun Dobson

Ben Farrow

FTI Consulting 0203 727 1000

Edward Bridges

Emma Hall

Acquisition of DLS and proposed ABB placing to raise up to GBP36.2 million

   1.   Introduction 

SDL plc an international provider of services in language translation technology and content management, is pleased to announce that it has agreed to acquire the business and assets of DLS (including the shares of certain entities in Luxembourg and Spain) on a cash free, debt free basis for a cash consideration of US$77.5 million (GBP60.1 million) from Donnelley Financial Solutions Inc. (NYSE: DFIN) and its subsidiaries.

SDL also announces the Placing of up to 8,234,400 Placing Shares at a price of 440p per Placing Share to raise up to GBP36.2 million to part fund the Acquisition. The Placing will be conducted by way of an ABB by Investec and N+1 Singer, acting as joint bookrunners (the "Joint Bookrunners"). The ABB will open immediately following the release of this Announcement and the Appendix to this Announcement contains the terms and conditions of the Placing.

SDL proposes that the consideration for the Acquisition will be part funded through the net proceeds of the Placing. The balance of the consideration for the Acquisition will be funded from the drawdown of part of the Group's new GBP70 million five year multi-currency banking facility with HSBC UK Bank plc and Lloyds Bank plc entered into in connection with the Acquisition.

   2.   Background to and reasons for the Acquisition and Placing 

DLS is a growing and profitable business, with a majority of its billings in FY17 being in the Financial Services and Life Sciences sectors. Accordingly, SDL believes that the Acquisition will accelerate its premium solutions strategy as well as creating a platform for generating business in other regulated industries.

Furthermore, the Directors believe that SDL and DLS have complementary business models, offerings and client bases. The Acquisition of DLS will enable the combination of DLS' industry expertise with SDL's technology solutions (including Machine Translation), in-house linguists and scale. There is also a low customer overlap between the two businesses, with only approximately US$3 million of DLS' revenues in FY17 generated with clients that are also clients of SDL(2) .

The combination of SDL and DLS provides the opportunity to generate synergies, which SDL believe can be realised across four main areas:

Cross-selling

Over time there is an opportunity to generate additional revenue through selling SDL's technology to DLS' clients as well as selling DLS' services to SDL's clients. A three year master purchase and referral agreement with Donnelley Financial Solutions Inc. has been entered into as part of the Acquisition.

Gross margin

DLS' like-for-like(3) gross margin for FY17 was 35.1 per cent. (based on like-for-like gross profit of US$25.1 million) while for the same period SDL's gross margin in the Language Services segment was 40.5 per cent. SDL believes its own Language Services gross margin reflects a higher use of Machine Translation and linguistic insourcing, combined with lower project management costs as a percentage of Language Services revenues.

Accordingly, there is the opportunity to increase the use of Machine Translation and in-sourced translation, and to adopt SDL's automation programme, 'Helix', in the long term.

Staff overhead

In FY17 DLS' staff overhead costs were US$25.4 million(4) . Post-Acquisition there will be the opportunity to improve the overall efficiency of the organisation.

Occupancy costs

In FY17 DLS' occupancy costs were US$4.4 million(5) . Following the Acquisition, SDL will look to consolidate the number of offices that DLS operates by combining offices where there is an overlap with SDL's existing office locations, which is the case in seven locations.

The Acquisition will also provide SDL with a number of new geographic locations, notably in London, New York and Hong Kong, reflecting DLS' financial services focus. In addition, DLS has developed a multi-function centre in Madrid with over 100 employees.

SDL plans to optimise its geographic and facilities footprint, looking to use the most appropriate locations and centres for the longer term.

   3.   Information on DLS 

DLS was established in 2002 within R.R. Donnelley. In 2013 DLS became a division of Donnelley Financial Solutions Inc., providing translation, creation and management of content services. Donnelley Financial Solutions Inc.'s business, including DLS, was demerged from R.R Donnelley in 2016.

DLS has approximately 400 employees and utilises freelancers and third-party agencies to provide its translation work. It operates from 15 countries across North America, Europe and Asia, including offices in key financial locations including London, New York and Hong Kong.

The majority of DLS' FY17 billings were in the Financial Services and Life Sciences sectors, which accounted for 38 per cent. and 32 per cent. of FY17's billing respectively. The remainder of the DLSs FY17 billings were in the Corporate Communications (24 per cent.) and Legal & Institutional (6 per cent) sectors.

In FY17 DLS served over 1,800 customers with the top 25 customers generating approximately 50 per cent. of billings(6) . In FY17 the top 50 customers accounted for 62.3 per cent. of total billings with the largest customer accounting for 17.5 per cent.

In FY17, DLS generated revenues of US$71.4 million and was break-even at profit before taxation after the allocation of corporate costs and back office costs(7) . Adjusted EBITDA for the same period was US$5.8 million(1) . As at 31 December 2017 DLS had gross assets of US$36.1 million.

   4.   Integration 

SDL has put in place a detailed integration plan across IT, Finance, HR, Facilities, Marketing, Product and Legal departments. This will be led by SDL's experienced in-house integration project management team, who will be supported by DLS' management team.

It is intended that SDL will initially adopt a 'Lift and Shift' approach, reflecting a focus on continuity in the first six months for both DLS' employees and clients. A short-term transitional service agreement has been agreed with Donnelley Financial Solutions Inc. to provide IT, Finance and Facilities support immediately following completion of the Acquisition. From the start of FY19 DLS will begin to be more integrated in SDL's existing business.

As part of the Acquisition, Christophe Djaouani, currently Senior VP and Managing Director of DLS, and Nicolas Bosovsky, currently VP and Managing Director - Global Operations of DLS are expected to join SDL as Senior Vice President and VP, Operations respectively.

Additionally, SDL has entered into a 3 year master purchase and referral agreement with Donnelley Financial Solutions Inc., which encompasses the mutual re-selling of services by SDL and Donnelley Financial Solutions Inc. on a worldwide basis. This agreement will allow Donnelley Financial Solutions to continue to offer Language Solutions to its existing and future client base, supplied by SDL.

   5.   SDL's current trading 

At the time of its Annual General Meeting held on 26 April 2018, SDL confirmed that trading in the first quarter of FY18 was in line with management expectations and that it had now signed the majority, by value, of the license deals that (as previously reported) had slipped from FY17.

The Board of SDL can also confirm that trading to the end of May 2018 has also been in line with management expectations and that the outlook for FY18 remains in line with its expectations.

Additionally, SDL has engaged PwC on a cost benchmarking and cost reduction programme for the standalone SDL business, with the focus being on SDL's general administration costs.

Finally, SDL is please to confirm that it's automation programme, 'Helix' is on track, with the system processing the number of words required in order to meet the business case.

   6.   Terms of the Acquisition 

SDL and Donnelley Financial Solutions Inc. (amongst other respective group companies) have today entered into an agreement for the Acquisition ("Acquisition Agreement"), pursuant to which SDL and other members of the Group will acquire the business and assets (including the shares of certain entities in Luxembourg and Spain) of DLS (including the related goodwill) on a cash free, debt free basis for a cash consideration of US$77.5 million (GBP60.1 million).

Completion of the Acquisition is not subject to any conditions and is expected to occur by 5 pm EST on 23 July 2018.

Under the terms of the Acquisition, Donnelley Financial Solutions Inc. (for itself and on behalf of its relevant group companies) has given certain customary warranties and indemnities in relation to the business (including shares and assets) the subject of the Acquisition.

   7.   Details of the Placing 

SDL is proposing to raise up to GBP36.2 million (before expenses) through the issue of the Placing Shares at the Placing Price in order to part fund the Acquisition. The Placing Price represents a discount of approximately 0.8 per cent. to the closing mid-market price of 443.5p per ordinary share of 1p each in the capital of the Company ("Ordinary Share") on 13 July 2018, being the last practicable day prior to the publication of this Announcement. The Placing Shares will represent approximately 10 per cent. of the SDL's current share capital.

In order to effect the Placing, the Company intends to utilise the authorities granted to it at its Annual General Meeting held on 26 April 2018 which enable it to issue up to 8,234,400 new Ordinary Shares (representing approximately 10 per cent. of its issued share capital of the Company as at 26 March 2018) on a non pre-emptive basis in connection with financing a transaction which the directors of the Company determine to be an acquisition or other specified capital investment of a kind contemplated by the 2015 Statement of Principles on Disapplying Pre-Emption Rights published by the Pre-Emption Group.

The Placing is not conditional upon completion of the Acquisition. If one or more conditions to the Acquisition are not satisfied and completion of the Acquisition does not occur, the Company will consider, in the best interests of shareholders as a whole, how best to use the net proceeds of the Placing. The Placing is being conducted, subject to the terms and conditions set out in the Appendix.

The Placing Shares will, when issued, be credited as fully paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing issued Ordinary Shares. This includes the right to receive all dividends and other distributions declared or paid in respect of such Ordinary Shares after the date of issue of the Placing Shares.

Application has been made for the Placing Shares to be admitted to the premium segment of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") and to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange (together "Admission"). It is expected that Admission will take place at 8.00 a.m. on 18 July 2018 (or such date as may be agreed between the Company and the Joint Bookrunners). The Placing is conditional upon, amongst other things, Admission becoming effective. The Placing is also conditional on the placing agreement between the Company and the Joint Bookrunners not being terminated in accordance with its terms prior to Admission.

Notes:

1. DLS' financial statements for FY17 (unaudited) state that "internal EBITDA" (defined in DLS' financial statements as "total internal EBIT" before depreciation and amortisation and before corporate costs and back office costs) was US$7.4m. SDL is of the view that, for the purposes of determining Adjusted EBITDA attributable to DLS, it would be necessary to deduct a further $1.6m of IT and Finance costs which SDL estimates were required to operate DLS.

2. For the purposes of this revenue analysis, any customer who generated revenue for SDL in the January 2017 - June 2017 period is treated as a current customer. Such listings have been compared against the top 150 DLS customers for FY17.

3. DLS Gross Profit assessed to be like-for-like by SDL and equating to DLS revenues less external costs of sales and staff cost of sales. Under DLS' accounting policies, gross profit for FY17 was reported as $19.4m and included items treated as operating costs under SDL's accounting policies.

4. In DLS' financial statements for FY17 (unaudited) Staff overheads include direct staff costs, indirect staff costs, temporary workers and DLS HR and Finance.

5. In DLS' financial statements for FY17 (unaudited) occupancy costs include direct and indirect occupancy costs.

6. Billings are used as a proxy for revenue for the client and sector analysis on the basis it ties to the P&L with reconciling differences to revenue to the P&L of $4.4m in FY17 due to accruals/deferrals (project typically occur within the month).

7. DLS' financial statements for FY17 (unaudited) state the "total internal EBIT" (defined for the purposes of DLS' financial statements prepared under US GAAP as the total gross profit minus total sales & admin expenses) of DLS was US$0.5m. SDL is of the view that, for the purposes of determining the profit before tax attributable to DLS, it would be necessary to deduct a further US$0.5m which is the amount identified by DLS as certain additional relevant HR / Finance personnel costs.

The Appendix to this Announcement (which forms part of this Announcement) sets out further information relating to the ABB and the terms and conditions of the Placing. Persons who have chosen to participate in the Placing, by making an oral or written offer to acquire Placing Shares, will be deemed to have read and understood this Announcement in its entirety (including the Appendix) and to be making such offer on the terms and subject to the conditions herein, and to be providing the representations, warranties, agreements, acknowledgements and undertakings contained in the Appendix.

IMPORTANT NOTICES

Neither this Announcement, nor any copy of it, may be taken or transmitted, published or distributed, directly or indirectly, in, or into the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, or the Republic of South Africa or to any persons in any of those jurisdictions or any other jurisdiction where to do so would constitute a violation of the relevant securities laws of such jurisdiction. 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 any shares in the capital of the Company in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan or the Republic of South Africa or any other state or jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is not authorised or to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such offer or solicitation. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of securities laws of such jurisdictions. The Placing Shares have not been, and will not be, registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act") or under any securities laws of any state of other jurisdiction of the United States and may not be offered, sold, resold, transferred or delivered, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States except pursuant to an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the US Securities Act and in compliance with the securities laws of any state of other jurisdiction of the United States.

There is no intention to register any portion of the Placing in the United States or to conduct any public offering of securities in the United States or elsewhere. All offers of Placing Shares will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Prospectus Directive 2003/71/EC, as amended from time to time, including by Directive 2010/73/EC to the extent implemented in the relevant member state and includes any relevant implementing directive measure in any member state (the "Prospectus Directive") from the requirement to produce a prospectus.

Recipients of this Announcement should conduct their own investigation, evaluation and analysis of the business, data and property described in this Announcement. This Announcement does not constitute a recommendation concerning any investor's options with respect to the Placing. The price and value of securities can go down as well as up. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The contents of this Announcement are not to be construed as legal, business, financial or tax advice. Each shareholder or prospective investor should consult with his or her or its own legal adviser, business adviser, financial adviser or tax adviser for legal, financial, business or tax advice.

Members of the public are not eligible to take part in the Placing. This Announcement and the terms and conditions set out in the Appendix are for information purposes only and are directed only at: (a) persons in Member States of the Economic European Area who are qualified investors within the meaning of article 2(1)(e) of the Prospectus Directive ("Qualified Investors"); and (b) in the United Kingdom, Qualified Investors who are persons who (i) have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within the definition of "investments professional" in article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the "Order"); (ii) are persons falling within article 49(2)(a) to (d) ("high net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc") of the Order; or (iii) are persons to whom it may otherwise be lawfully communicated; (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). This Announcement must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not Relevant Persons.

This Announcement is not being distributed by, nor has it been approved for the purposes of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended ("FSMA") by, a person authorised under FSMA. This Announcement is being distributed and communicated to persons in the United Kingdom only in circumstances in which section 21(1) of FSMA does not apply. 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.

Persons (including without limitation, nominees and trustees) who have a contractual right or other legal obligations to forward a copy of this Announcement should seek appropriate advice before taking any action.

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 by Investec or N+1 Singer, or by any of their respective partners, directors, officers, employees, advisers, consultants or affiliates as to or in relation to, the accuracy or completeness of this Announcement or any other written or oral information made available to any interested person or its advisers, and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed. None of the information in this Announcement has been independently verified or approved by Investec or N+1 Singer any of their respective partners, directors, officers, employees, advisers, consultants or affiliates. Save for any responsibilities or liabilities, if any, imposed on Investec or N+1 Singer by FSMA or by the regulator regime established under it, no responsibility or liability is accepted by either Investec or N+1 Singer or any of their respective partners, directors, officers, employees, advisers, consultants or affiliates for any errors, omissions or inaccuracies in such information or opinions or for any loss, cost or damage suffered or incurred howsoever arising, directly or indirectly, from any use of this Announcement or its contents or otherwise in connection with this Announcement or from any acts or omissions of the Company in relation to the Placing.

Investec, which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (the "PRA") and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA and the PRA, is acting solely for the Company and no-one else in connection with the transactions and arrangements described in this Announcement and will not regard any other person (whether or not a recipient of this Announcement) as a client in relation to the transactions and arrangements described in this Announcement. Investec is not responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of Investec or for providing advice in connection with the contents of this Announcement or the transactions and arrangements described herein.

N+1 Singer, which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA, is acting for the Company and no-one else in connection with the transactions and arrangements described in this Announcement and will not regard any other person (whether or not a recipient of this Announcement) as a client in relation to the transactions and arrangements described in this Announcement. N+1 Singer is not responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to clients of N+1 Singer or for providing advice in connection with the contents of this Announcement or the transactions and arrangements described herein.

The distribution of this Announcement (including the appendix) and the offering of the Placing Shares in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. No action has been taken by the Company, Investec and/or N+1 Singer 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, Investec and N+1 Singer to inform themselves about, and to observe, such restrictions.

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.

In connection with the Placing, each of the Joint Bookrunners and any of their affiliates, acting as investors for their own account, 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 the 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 affiliates acting in such capacity. In addition, the Joint Bookrunners and any of their 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.

For the purposes of this Announcement, an exchange rate of 1.29 has been applied on the conversion of pounds sterling (GBP) to United States Dollars (US$).

Cautionary statements

This Announcement may contain and the Company may make verbal statements containing "forward-looking statements" with respect to certain of the Company's plans and its current goals and expectations relating to its future financial condition, performance, strategic initiatives, objectives and results. Forward-looking statements sometimes use words such as "aim", "anticipate", "target", "expect", "estimate", "intend", "plan", "goal", "believe", "seek", "may", "could", "outlook" or other words of similar meaning. By their nature, all forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances which are beyond the control of the Company. As a result, the actual future financial condition, performance and results of the Company may differ materially from the plans, goals and expectations set forth in any forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements made in this Announcement by or on behalf of the Company speak only as of the date they are made. The information contained in this Announcement is subject to change without notice and except as required by applicable law or regulation, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to publish any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this Announcement to reflect any changes in the Company's expectations with regard thereto or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.

Neither the content of the Company's website (or any other website) nor the content of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into or forms part of this Announcement.

This Announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014 ("MAR"). The person responsible for arranging release of this information on behalf of the Company is Pamela Pickering. In addition, market soundings (as defined in MAR) were taken in respect of the Placing with the result that certain persons became aware of inside information (as defined in MAR), as permitted by MAR. This inside information is set out in this Announcement. Therefore, those persons that received inside information in a market sounding are no longer in possession of such inside information relating to the Company and its securities.

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 retail investors and investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and 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 have only procured 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.

APPIX

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE PLACING

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON THE PLACING FOR INVITED PLACEES ONLY.

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO TAKE PART IN THE PLACING. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, INCLUDING THIS APPIX AND THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET OUT HEREIN (TOGETHER, THIS "ANNOUNCEMENT") (WHICH IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY) ARE DIRECTED ONLY AT: (A) PERSONS IN MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA (THE "EEA") WHO ARE QUALIFIED INVESTORS WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 2(1)(E) OF DIRECTIVE 2003/71/EC, AS AMED FROM TIME TO TIME, INCLUDING BY DIRECTIVE 2010/73/EC TO THE EXTENT IMPLEMENTED IN THE RELEVANT MEMBER STATE AND INCLUDES ANY RELEVANT IMPLEMENTING DIRECTIVE MEASURE IN ANY MEMBER STATE (THE "PROSPECTUS DIRECTIVE") ("QUALIFIED INVESTORS"); AND (B) IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, QUALIFIED INVESTORS WHO ARE PERSONS WHO (I) HAVE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN MATTERS RELATING TO INVESTMENTS WHO FALL WITHIN ARTICLE 19(5) OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000 (FINANCIAL PROMOTION) ORDER 2005 AS AMED (THE "ORDER")(INVESTMENT PROFESSIONALS); (II) ARE PERSONS FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 49(2)(A) TO (D) (HIGH NET WORTH COMPANIES, UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATIONS, ETC) OF THE ORDER; OR (III) ARE PERSONS TO WHOM IT MAY OTHERWISE BE LAWFULLY COMMUNICATED (ALL SUCH PERSONS TOGETHER BEING REFERRED TO AS "RELEVANT PERSONS").

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION IN IT MUST NOT BE ACTED ON OR RELIED ON BY PERSONS WHO ARE NOT RELEVANT PERSONS. PERSONS DISTRIBUTING THIS ANNOUNCEMENT MUST SATISFY THEMSELVES THAT IT IS LAWFUL TO DO SO. ANY INVESTMENT OR INVESTMENT ACTIVITY TO WHICH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT RELATES IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO RELEVANT PERSONS AND WILL BE ENGAGED IN ONLY WITH RELEVANT PERSONS. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT ITSELF CONSTITUTE AN OFFER FOR THE SALE OR SUBSCRIPTION OF ANY SECURITIES IN THE COMPANY.

This Announcement is not for publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States of America. This Announcement is not an offer of securities for sale into the United States.

The Placing Shares have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act") or under any securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States and may not be offered, sold, resold, transferred or delivered, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States except pursuant to an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the US Securities Act and in compliance with the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States. The Placing Shares are being offered and sold only (i) outside of the United States in accordance with Regulation S under the US Securities Act ("Regulation S") and otherwise in accordance with applicable laws and; (ii) in the United States only to a limited number of investors that are both (a) "qualified institutional buyers" ("QIBs") as defined in Rule 144A under the US Securities Act and (b) "major US institutional investors" ("Major US Institutional Investors") within the meaning of Rule 15a-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the US Securities Act. Any offer or sale of placing shares in the United States will be made only by broker-dealers who are registered as such under the U.S. Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. There will be no public offer of the securities mentioned herein in the United States.

This Announcement and the information contained herein is restricted and is not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into or from Australia, Canada, Japan, the Republic of South Africa or any other jurisdiction in which such release publication or distribution would be unlawful.

Each Placee should consult with its own advisors as to legal, tax, business and related aspects of a purchase of Placing Shares.

The distribution of this Announcement and/or the Placing and/or the issue of the Placing Shares in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. No action has been taken by the Company, the Joint Bookrunners or any of their respective affiliates, agents directors, officers or employees that would permit an offer of the Placing Shares or possession or distribution of this Announcement or any other offering or publicity material relating to such Placing 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 any such restrictions.

This Announcement or any part of it does not constitute or form part of any offer to issue or sell, or the solicitation of an offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for any securities in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan or the Republic of South Africa or any other jurisdiction in which the same would be unlawful. No public offering of the Placing Shares is being made in any such jurisdiction.

The relevant clearances have not been, 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; the relevant clearances have not been, and will not be, obtained for the South Africa Reserve Bank or any other applicable body in the Republic of South Africa in relation to the Placing Shares and the Placing Shares have not been, nor will they be registered under or offered in compliance with the securities laws of any state, province or territory of Australia, Canada, Japan or the Republic of 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 Australia, Canada, Japan or the Republic of South Africa or any other jurisdiction outside the EEA.

Persons (including without limitation, nominees and trustees) who have a contractual right or other legal obligations to forward a copy of this Announcement should seek appropriate advice before taking any action.

This Announcement should be read in its entirety. In particular, you should read and understand the information provided in the "Important Notice" section of this Announcement.

By participating in the Bookbuild and the Placing, each Placee will be deemed to have read and understood this Announcement in its entirety, to be participating, making an offer and acquiring Placing Shares on the terms and conditions contained herein and to be providing the representations, warranties, indemnities, acknowledgements and undertakings contained in this Appendix.

In particular, each such Placee represents, warrants, undertakes, agrees and acknowledges (amongst other things) that:

1. it is a Relevant Person and undertakes that it will acquire, hold, manage or dispose of any Placing Shares that are allocated to it for the purposes of its business;

2. in the case of a Relevant Person in a member state of the EEA which has implemented the Prospectus Directive (each, a "Relevant Member State") who acquires any Placing Shares pursuant to the Placing:

(a) it is a Qualified Investor within the meaning of Article 2(1)(e) of the Prospectus Directive; and

(b) in the case of any Placing Shares acquired by it as a financial intermediary, as that term is used in Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive:

(i) the Placing Shares acquired by it in the Placing have not been acquired on behalf of, nor have they been acquired with a view to their offer or resale to, persons in any Relevant Member State other than Qualified Investors or in circumstances in which the prior consent of the Joint Bookrunners have been given to the offer or resale;

(ii) where Placing Shares have been acquired by it on behalf of persons in any Relevant Member State other than Qualified Investors, the offer of those Placing Shares to it is not treated under the Prospectus Directive as having been made to such persons;

3. it is acquiring the Placing Shares for its own account or is acquiring the Placing Shares for an account with respect to which it has authority to exercise, and is exercising, investment discretion and has the authority to make and does make the representations, warranties, indemnities, acknowledgements, undertakings and agreements contained in this Announcement;

4. it understands (or if acting for the account of another person, such person has confirmed that such person understands) the resale and transfer restrictions set out in this Appendix; and

5. except as otherwise permitted by the Company and subject to any available exemptions from applicable securities laws, it (and any person on whose account it is acting, as referred to in paragraph 4 above) is either:

(a) located outside the United States and is acquiring the Placing Shares in an "offshore transaction" as defined in, and in accordance with, Regulation S; or

(b) both a QIB and a Major US Institutional Investor.

No prospectus

The Placing Shares are being offered to a limited number of specifically invited persons only and will not be offered in such a way as to require any prospectus or other offering document to be published. No prospectus or other offering document has been or will be submitted to be approved by the FCA in relation to the Placing or the Placing Shares and Placees' commitments will be made solely on the basis of their own assessment of the Company, the Placing Shares and the Placing based on information contained in this Announcement, the announcement of the results of the Placing (the "Placing Results Announcement") (together, the "Placing Documents") and any other information publicly announced through a regulatory information service ("RIS") by or on behalf of the Company on or prior to the date of this Announcement (the "Publicly Available Information") and subject to any further terms set forth in the contract note sent to individual Placees.

Each Placee, by participating in the Placing, agrees that the content of the Placing Documents is exclusively the responsibility of the Company and confirms that it has neither received nor relied on any information (other than the Publicly Available Information), representation, warranty or statement made by or on behalf of the Joint Bookrunners or the Company or any other person and none of the Joint Bookrunners, the Company nor any other person acting on such person's behalf nor any of their respective affiliates has or shall have any responsibility or liability for any Placee's decision to participate in the Placing based on any other information, representation, warranty or statement. Each Placee acknowledges and agrees that it has relied on its own investigation of the business, financial or other position of the Company in accepting a participation in the Placing. No Placee should consider any information in this Announcement to be legal, tax or business advice. Each Placee should consult its own attorney, tax advisor, and business advisor for legal, tax and business advice regarding an investment in the Placing Shares. Nothing in this paragraph shall exclude the liability of any person for fraudulent misrepresentation.

Details of the Placing Agreement and the Placing Shares

The Joint Bookrunners are acting as joint bookrunners in connection with the Placing and have today entered into the Placing Agreement with the Company under which, on the terms and subject to the conditions set out in the Placing Agreement, the Joint Bookrunners, as agents for and on behalf of the Company, have severally (and not jointly or jointly and severally) agreed to use their respective reasonable endeavours to procure placees for the Placing Shares.

The final number of Placing Shares will be set out in a share placing supplement agreed between the Joint Bookrunners and the Company following the Bookbuild (the "Placing Supplement").

The Placing is not underwritten by the Joint Bookrunners.

The Placing Shares will, when issued, be credited as fully paid up and will be issued subject to the Company's articles of association and rank pari passu in all respects with the existing Ordinary Shares, including the right to receive all dividends and other distributions declared, made or paid on or in respect of the Ordinary Shares after the date of issue of the Placing Shares, and will on issue be free of all claims, liens, charges, encumbrances and equities.

Applications for listing and admission to trading

Applications have been made to the FCA for admission of the Placing Shares to the premium listing segment of the Official List of the UK Listing Authority (the "Official List") and to the London Stock Exchange plc (the "London Stock Exchange") for admission to trading of the Placing Shares on its main market for listed securities (together, "Admission").

It is expected that Admission of the Placing Shares will occur at or before 8.00 a.m. (London time) on 18 July 2018 (or such later time and/or date as the Joint Bookrunners may agree with the Company) and that dealings in the Placing Shares will commence at that time.

Bookbuild

The Joint Bookrunners will today commence the accelerated bookbuilding process to determine demand for participation in the Placing by Placees (the "Bookbuild"). This Announcement gives details of the terms and conditions of, and the mechanics of participation in, the Placing. No commissions will be paid to Placees or by Placees in respect of any Placing Shares.

The Joint Bookrunners and the Company shall be entitled to effect the Placing by such alternative method to the Bookbuild as they may, in their absolute discretion, determine.

Participation in, and principal terms of, the Placing

1. The Joint Bookrunners are arranging the Placing severally, and not jointly, or jointly and severally, as bookrunners and placing agents of the Company. Participation in the Placing will only be available to persons who may lawfully be, and are, invited to participate by either of the Joint Bookrunners. Each of the Joint Bookrunners may itself agree to be a Placee in respect of all or some of the Placing Shares or may nominate any member of its group to do so.

2. To bid in the Bookbuild, Placees should communicate their bid by telephone to their usual sales contact at one of the Joint Bookrunners. Each bid should state the number of Placing Shares which the prospective Placee wishes to subscribe for at the Placing Price. Bids may be scaled down by the Joint Bookrunners on the basis referred to in paragraph 14 below.

3. A bid in the Bookbuild will be made on the terms and subject to the conditions in this Appendix and will be legally binding on the Placee on behalf of which it is made and except with the Joint Bookrunners' consent will not be capable of variation or revocation after the time at which it is submitted. Each Placee will also have an immediate, separate, irrevocable and binding obligation, owed to the Company and the Joint Bookrunners, to pay to them (or as the Joint Bookrunners may direct) in cleared funds an amount equal to the product of the Placing Price and the number of Placing Shares that such Placee has agreed to subscribe for and the Company has agreed to allot and issue to that Placee. Each prospective Placee's obligations will be owed to the Company and the Joint Bookrunners.

4. The Bookbuild is expected to close no later than 5.00 p.m. (BST) on 16 July 2018, but may be closed earlier or later at the discretion of the Joint Bookrunners and the Company. The Joint Bookrunners may, in agreement with the Company, accept bids, either in whole or in part, that are received after the Bookbuild has closed.

5. The number of Placing Shares will be agreed by the Joint Bookrunners (in consultation with the Company) following completion of the Bookbuild. Subject to the execution of the Placing Supplement the number of Placing Shares to be issued will be announced on an RIS following the completion of the Bookbuild via the Placing Results Announcement.

6. Allocations of the Placing Shares will be determined by the Joint Bookrunners after consultation with the Company (the proposed allocations having been supplied by the Joint Bookrunners to the Company in advance of such consultation). Subject to the execution of the Placing Supplement, allocations will be confirmed orally by the Joint Bookrunners and a contract note will be despatched as soon as possible thereafter. A Joint Bookrunner's oral confirmation to such Placee constitutes an irrevocable legally binding commitment upon such person (who will at that point become a Placee), in favour of the Joint Bookrunners and the Company, to acquire the number of Placing Shares allocated to it and to pay the Placing Price in respect of such shares on the terms and conditions set out in this Appendix and in accordance with the Company's articles of association. Except with the relevant Joint Bookrunner's consent, such commitment will not be capable of variation or revocation after the time at which it is submitted.

7. Each Placee's allocation and commitment will be evidenced by a contract note issued to such Placee by the relevant Joint Bookrunner. The terms of this Appendix will be deemed incorporated in that contract note.

8. Irrespective of the time at which a Placee's allocation pursuant to the Placing is confirmed, settlement for all Placing Shares to be subscribed for pursuant to the Placing will be required to be made at the same time, on the basis explained below under "Registration and Settlement".

9. All obligations under the Bookbuild and the Placing will be subject to fulfilment or (where applicable) waiver of the conditions referred to below under "Conditions of the Placing" and to the Placing not being terminated on the basis referred to below under "Right to terminate under the Placing Agreement".

10. By participating in the Placing, each Placee agrees that its rights and obligations in respect of the Placing will terminate only in the circumstances described below and will not be capable of rescission or termination by the Placee.

11. To the fullest extent permissible by law, neither the Joint Bookrunners, nor the Company, nor any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees shall have any responsibility or liability to Placees (or to any other person whether acting on behalf of a Placee or otherwise). In particular, none of the Joint Bookrunners, nor the Company, nor any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees shall have any responsibility or liability (including to the extent permissible by law, any fiduciary duties) in respect of the Joint Bookrunners' conduct of the Placing or of such alternative method of effecting the Placing as the Joint Bookrunners and the Company may determine.

12. The Placing Shares will be issued subject to the terms and conditions of this Announcement and each Placee's commitment to subscribe for Placing Shares on the terms set out herein will continue notwithstanding any amendment that may in future be made to the terms and conditions of the Placing and Placees will have no right to be consulted or require that their consent be obtained with respect to the Company's or the Joint Bookrunners' conduct of the Placing.

13. All times and dates in this Announcement may be subject to amendment. The Joint Bookrunners shall notify the Placees and any person acting on behalf of the Placees of any changes.

14. The Joint Bookrunners may choose to accept bids, either in whole or in part, on the basis of allocations determined in agreement with the Company and may scale down any bids for this purpose on such basis as they may determine. The Joint Bookrunners may also, notwithstanding paragraphs 6 and 7 above, and subject to prior agreement with each other, (a) allocate Placing Shares after the time of any initial allocation to any person submitting a bid after that time and (b) allocate Placing Shares after the Bookbuild has closed to any person submitting a bid after that time. The Company reserves the right (upon agreement with the Joint Bookrunners) to reduce or seek to increase the amount to be raised pursuant to the Placing at its discretion.

Conditions of the Placing

The Placing is conditional upon the Placing Agreement becoming unconditional and not having been terminated in accordance with its terms. The Joint Bookrunners' obligations under the Placing Agreement are conditional on customary conditions including (amongst others) (the "Conditions"):

   1.               certain announcement obligations; 

2. the performance by the Company of its obligations under the Placing Agreement in so far as the same fall to be performed prior to Admission;

3. the Acquisition Agreement having become or being unconditional in all respects and the Acquisition Agreement not having been amended, terminated or rescinded prior to Admission and the Company having no reason to believe it has any claim for a breach of the Acquisition Agreement;

4. the Facility Agreement not having been amended or rescinded prior to Admission and no event of default having occurred or subsisting;

5. the warranties contained in the Placing Agreement being true and accurate in every respect and not misleading on and as of the date of the Placing Agreement, and Admission, as though they had been given and made on such dates by reference to the facts and circumstances then subsisting;

6. in the opinion of the Joint Bookrunners (acting in good faith), there having been no Material Adverse Change since the date of Placing Agreement (whether or not foreseeable at the date of the Placing Agreement); and

   7.               Admission occurring no later than 8.00 a.m. (London time) on 18 July 2018. 

8. The Joint Bookrunners (if they both agree) may, at their discretion and upon such terms as they think fit, waive compliance by the Company with the whole or any part of any of the Company's obligations in relation to the Conditions or extend the time or date provided for fulfilment of any such Conditions in respect of all or any part of the performance thereof, provided that the time for satisfaction of the condition in the Placing Agreement relating to Admission shall not be extended beyond 8.00 a.m. on 30 July 2018. The condition in the Placing Agreement relating to Admission taking place and certain announcement obligations may not be waived. Any such extension or waiver will not affect Placees' commitments as set out in this Announcement.

If: (i) any of the Conditions are not fulfilled or (where permitted) waived by the Joint Bookrunners by the relevant time or date specified (or such later time or date as the Company and the Joint Bookrunners may agree); or (ii) the Placing Agreement is terminated in the circumstances specified below under "Right to terminate under the Placing Agreement", the Placing will not proceed and the Placees' rights and obligations hereunder in relation to the Placing Shares shall cease and terminate at such time and each Placee agrees that no claim can be made by it or on its behalf (or any person on whose behalf the Placee is acting) in respect thereof.

None of the Joint Bookrunners, nor the Company, nor any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees shall have any liability to any Placee (or to any other person whether acting on behalf of a Placee or otherwise) in respect of any decision they may make as to whether or not to waive or to extend the time and/or date for the satisfaction of any Condition to the Placing, nor for any decision they may make as to the satisfaction of any Condition or in respect of the Placing generally, and by participating in the Placing each Placee agrees that any such decision is within the absolute discretion of the Joint Bookrunners.

Right to terminate under the Placing Agreement

Each of the Joint Bookrunners is entitled, at any time before Admission, to terminate the Placing Agreement in accordance with its terms in certain circumstances, including (amongst other things):

1. the Company fails to comply in any material respect with any of its obligations under the Placing Agreement;

2. it shall come to the knowledge of either of the Joint Bookrunners that any of the warranties under the Placing Agreement was untrue or inaccurate or misleading when made and/or that any of the warranties would be untrue or inaccurate or misleading if they were to be repeated at any time prior to Admission by reference to the facts, matters and circumstances then subsisting; or

3. in the opinion of either of the Joint Bookrunners, acting in good faith, there shall have occurred, happened or come into effect any material adverse change in the financial markets in the United States, the United Kingdom, any member of the European Union, or the international financial markets; any incident of terrorism or the outbreak or escalation of hostilities, declaration of emergency, martial law or war; or the occurrence of any other calamity or crisis resulting in a change in financial, political, market or economic conditions or currency exchange rates.

Upon termination, the parties to the Placing Agreement shall be released and discharged (except for any liability arising before or in relation to such termination) from their respective obligations under or pursuant to the Placing Agreement, subject to certain exceptions.

By participating in the Placing, each Placee agrees that the exercise by either of the Joint Bookrunners of any right of termination or of any other discretion under the Placing Agreement shall be within the absolute discretion of such Joint Bookrunner and that it need not make any reference to, or consult with, Placees and that it shall have no liability to Placees whatsoever in connection with any such exercise or failure to so exercise.

Lock-up Arrangements

The Company has undertaken to the Joint Bookrunners that, save in respect of the grant or exercise of options under the Group's share option and incentive schemes (details of which are set out in the Group's annual report and accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2017), in accordance with the terms of such schemes and normal practice, it shall not during the period from the date of the Placing Agreement until 90 days after the date of Admission or, if the Placing Agreement is terminated prior to Admission, 30 days after such termination offer, issue, sell, contract to sell, issue options in respect of or otherwise dispose of any securities of the Company (or any interest therein or in respect thereof) or any other securities exchangeable for, or convertible into, or substantially similar to, Ordinary Shares or enter into any transaction having substantially the same effect or agree to do any of the foregoing other than with the prior written consent of the Joint Bookrunners (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed) or as otherwise contemplated by the Placing Agreement. For these purposes it shall be considered unreasonable to withhold consent to a grant of an award under any long-term incentive plan which is consistent with the parameters for such a plan agreed between the Company and the Joint Bookrunners.

By participating in the Placing, Placees agree that the exercise by any Joint Bookrunner of any power to grant consent to the undertaking by the Company of a transaction which would otherwise be subject to the lock-up provisions under the Placing Agreement shall be within the absolute discretion of that Joint Bookrunner and that it need not make any reference to, or consult with, Placees and that it shall have no liability to Placees whatsoever in connection with any such exercise of the power to grant consent.

Registration and Settlement

Settlement of transactions in the Placing Shares (ISIN: GB0009376368) following Admission will take place within the system administered by Euroclear UK & Ireland Limited ("CREST"), subject to certain exceptions. The Joint Bookrunners reserve the right to require settlement for, and delivery of, the Placing Shares (or any part thereof) to Placees by such other means that they may deem necessary if delivery or settlement is not possible or practicable within the CREST system or would not be consistent with the regulatory requirements in the Placee's jurisdiction.

Following the close of the Bookbuild, each Placee to be allocated Placing Shares in the Placing will be sent a contract note in accordance with the standing arrangements in place with the relevant Joint Bookrunner stating the number of Placing Shares allocated to them at the Placing Price, the aggregate amount owed by such Placee to the Joint Bookrunner and settlement instructions. Each Placee agrees that it will do all things necessary to ensure that delivery and payment is completed in accordance with the standing CREST or certificated settlement instructions in respect of the Placing Shares that it has in place with the relevant Joint Bookrunner.

The Company will deliver the Placing Shares to a CREST account operated by the relevant Joint Bookrunner as agent for the Company and the relevant Joint Bookrunner will enter its delivery instruction into the CREST system. The input to CREST by a Placee of a matching or acceptance instruction will then allow delivery of the relevant Placing Shares to that Placee against payment.

It is expected that settlement in respect of the Placing Shares will take place on 18 July 2018 on a delivery versus payment basis.

Interest is chargeable daily on payments not received from Placees on the due date in accordance with the arrangements set out above at the rate of two percentage points above LIBOR as determined by the Joint Bookrunners.

Each Placee is deemed to agree that, if it does not comply with these obligations, the relevant Joint Bookrunner may sell any or all of the Placing Shares allocated to that Placee on such Placee's behalf and retain from the proceeds, for the Company's account and benefit, an amount equal to the aggregate amount owed by the Placee plus any interest due. The relevant Placee will, however, remain liable for any shortfall below the aggregate amount owed by it and will be required to bear any stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax or other taxes or duties (together with any interest or penalties) imposed in any jurisdiction which may arise upon the sale of such Placing Shares on such Placee's behalf.

If Placing Shares are to be delivered to a custodian or settlement agent, Placees should ensure that the contract note is copied and delivered immediately to the relevant person within that organisation. Insofar as Placing Shares are issued in a Placee's name or that of its nominee or in the name of any person for whom a Placee is contracting as agent or that of a nominee for such person, such Placing Shares should, subject as provided below, be so registered free from any liability to UK stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax. If there are any circumstances in which any stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax or other similar taxes or duties (including any interest and penalties relating thereto) is payable in respect of the allocation, allotment, issue, sale, transfer or delivery of the Placing Shares (or, for the avoidance of doubt, if any stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax is payable in connection with any subsequent transfer of or agreement to transfer Placing Shares), none of the Joint Bookrunners nor the Company shall be responsible for payment thereof.

Representations, warranties, undertakings and acknowledgements

By participating in the Placing each Placee (and any person acting on such Placee's behalf) irrevocably acknowledges, confirms, undertakes, represents, warrants and agrees (as the case may be) with the Joint Bookrunners (in their capacity as bookrunners and placing agents of the Company in respect of the Placing) and the Company, in each case as a fundamental term of their application for Placing Shares, the following:

General

1. it has read and understood this Announcement in its entirety and its subscription for Placing Shares is subject to and based upon all the terms, conditions, representations, warranties, acknowledgements, agreements and undertakings and other information contained herein and it has not relied on, and will not rely on, any information given or any representations, warranties or statements made at any time by any person in connection with the Placing, the Company, the Placing Shares or otherwise other than the information contained in the Placing Documents and the Publicly Available Information;

2. the Ordinary Shares are listed on the premium listing segment of the Official List and are admitted to trading on the main market of the London Stock Exchange and that the Company is therefore required to publish certain business and financial information in accordance with the rules and practices of the FCA, which includes a description of the Company's business and the Company's financial information, including balance sheets and income statements, and that it is able to obtain or has access to such information without undue difficulty, and is able to obtain access to such information or comparable information concerning any other publicly traded companies, without undue difficulty;

3. the person whom it specifies for registration as holder of the Placing Shares will be (a) itself or (b) its nominee, as the case may be. None of the Joint Bookrunners nor the Company will be responsible for any liability to stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax or other similar taxes or duties imposed in any jurisdiction (including interest and penalties relating thereto) ("Indemnified Taxes"). Each Placee and any person acting on behalf of such Placee agrees to indemnify the Company and the Joint Bookrunners on an after-tax basis in respect of any Indemnified Taxes;

4. neither the Joint Bookrunners nor any of their respective affiliates agents, directors, officers and employees accepts any responsibility for any acts or omissions of the Company or any of the directors of the Company or any other person (other than the relevant Joint Bookrunner) in connection with the Placing;

   5.               time is of the essence as regards its obligations under this Announcement; 

6. any document that is to be sent to it in connection with the Placing will be sent at its risk and may be sent to it at any address provided by it to the Joint Bookrunners;

No distribution of Announcement

7. it will not redistribute, forward, transfer, duplicate or otherwise transmit this Announcement or any part of it, or any other presentational or other material concerning the Placing (including electronic copies thereof) to any person and represents that it has not redistributed, forwarded, transferred, duplicated, or otherwise transmitted any such materials to any person;

No prospectus

8. no prospectus or other offering document is required under the Prospectus Directive, nor will one be prepared in connection with the Bookbuild, the Placing or the Placing Shares and it has not received and will not receive a prospectus or other offering document in connection with the Bookbuild, the Placing or the Placing Shares;

Purchases by Joint Bookrunners for their own account

9. in connection with the Placing, the Joint Bookrunners and any of their affiliates acting as an investor for its own account may subscribe for Placing Shares in the Company and in that capacity may retain, purchase or sell for its own account such Placing Shares in the Company and any securities of the Company or related investments and may offer or sell such securities or other investments otherwise than in connection with the Placing. Accordingly, references in this Announcement to the Placing Shares being issued, offered or placed should be read as including any issue, offering or placement of such shares in the Company to each of the Joint Bookrunners or any of their affiliates acting in such capacity;

10. each of the Joint Bookrunners and their affiliates may enter into financing arrangements and swaps with investors in connection with which each of the Joint Bookrunners and any of their affiliates may from time to time acquire, hold or dispose of such securities of the Company, including the Placing Shares;

11. the Joint Bookrunners do not intend to disclose the extent of any investment or transactions referred to in paragraphs 9 and 10 above otherwise than in accordance with any legal or regulatory obligation to do so;

No fiduciary duty or client of the Joint Bookrunners

12. the Joint Bookrunners do not owe any fiduciary or other duties to any Placee in respect of any representations, warranties, undertakings or indemnities in the Placing Agreement;

13. its participation in the Placing is on the basis that it is not and will not be a client of any of the Joint Bookrunners in connection with its participation in the Placing and that the Joint Bookrunners have no duties or responsibilities to it for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients or customers or for providing advice in relation to the Placing nor in respect of any representations, warranties, undertakings or indemnities contained in the Placing Agreement nor for the exercise or performance of any of their respective rights and obligations thereunder including any rights to waive or vary any conditions or exercise any termination right;

No responsibility of the Joint Bookrunners for information

14. the content of the Placing Documents and the Publicly Available Information has been prepared by and is exclusively the responsibility of the Company and neither Joint Bookrunner nor their respective affiliates agents, directors, officers or employees nor any person acting on behalf of any of them is responsible for or has or shall have any responsibility or liability for any information, representation or statement contained in, or omission from, the Placing Documents, the Publicly Available Information or otherwise nor will they be liable for any Placee's decision to participate in the Placing based on any information, representation, warranty or statement contained in the Placing Documents, the Publicly Available Information or otherwise, provided that nothing in this paragraph excludes the liability of any person for fraudulent misrepresentation made by such person;

Reliance on information regarding the Placing

15.

(a) the only information on which it is entitled to rely on and on which such Placee has relied in committing itself to subscribe for Placing Shares is contained in the Placing Documents, or any Publicly Available Information (save that in the case of Publicly Available Information, a Placee's right to rely on that information is limited to the right that such Placee would have as a matter of law in the absence of this paragraph 15(a)), such information being all that such Placee deems necessary or appropriate and sufficient to make an investment decision in respect of the Placing Shares;

(b) it has neither received nor relied on any other information given, or representations, warranties or statements, express or implied, made, by any of the Joint Bookrunners or the Company nor any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees acting on behalf of any of them (including in any management presentation delivered in respect of the Bookbuild) with respect to the Company, the Placing or the Placing Shares or the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of any information contained in the Placing Documents, or the Publicly Available Information or otherwise;

(c) none of the Joint Bookrunners, nor the Company, nor any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees or any person acting on behalf of any of them has provided, nor will provide, it with any material or information regarding the Placing Shares or the Company or any other person other than the information in the Placing Documents or the Publicly Available Information; nor has it requested any of the Joint Bookrunners, the Company, any of their respective affiliates or any person acting on behalf of any of them to provide it with any such material or information; and

(d) none of the Joint Bookrunners or the Company will be liable for any Placee's decision to participate in the Placing based on any other information, representation, warranty or statement,

provided that nothing in this paragraph excludes the liability of any person for fraudulent misrepresentation made by that person;

Conducted own investigation and due diligence

16. it may not rely, and has not relied, on any investigation that the Joint Bookrunners, any of their affiliates or any person acting on their behalf, may have conducted with respect to the Placing Shares, the terms of the Placing or the Company, and none of such persons has made any representation, express or implied, with respect to the Company, the Placing, the Placing Shares or the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information in the Placing Documents, the Publicly Available Information or any other information;

   17.             in making any decision to subscribe for Placing Shares it: 

(a) has such knowledge and experience in financial and business matters to be capable of evaluating the merits and risks of subscribing for the Placing Shares;

(b) will not look to the Joint Bookrunners for all or part of any such loss it may suffer;

(c) is experienced in investing in securities of this nature in this sector and is aware that it may be required to bear, and is able to bear, the economic risk of an investment in the Placing Shares;

   (d)             is able to sustain a complete loss of an investment in the Placing Shares; 
   (e)             has no need for liquidity with respect to its investment in the Placing Shares; 

(f) has made its own assessment and has satisfied itself concerning the relevant tax, legal, currency and other economic considerations relevant to its investment in the Placing Shares; and

(g) has conducted its own due diligence, examination, investigation and assessment of the Company, the Placing Shares and the terms of the Placing and has satisfied itself that the information resulting from such investigation is still current and relied on that investigation for the purposes of its decision to participate in the Placing;

Capacity and authority

18. it is subscribing for the Placing Shares for its own account or for an account with respect to which it exercises sole investment discretion and has the authority to make and does make the acknowledgements, representations and agreements contained in this Announcement;

19. it is acting as principal only in respect of the Placing or, if it is acting for any other person, it is:

(a) duly authorised to do so and has full power to make the acknowledgments, representations and agreements herein on behalf of each such person; and

(b) and will remain liable to the Company and/or the Joint Bookrunners for the performance of all its obligations as a Placee in respect of the Placing (regardless of the fact that it is acting for another person);

20. it and any person acting on its behalf is entitled to subscribe for the Placing Shares under the laws and regulations of all relevant jurisdictions that apply to it and that it has fully observed such laws and regulations, has capacity and authority and is entitled to enter into and perform its obligations as a subscriber of Placing Shares and will honour such obligations, and has obtained all such governmental and other guarantees, permits, authorisations, approvals and consents which may be required thereunder and complied with all necessary formalities to enable it to commit to this participation in the Placing and to perform its obligations in relation thereto (including, without limitation, in the case of any person on whose behalf it is acting, all necessary consents and authorities to agree to the terms set out or referred to in this Announcement) and will honour such obligations and that it has not taken any action or omitted to take any action which will or may result in the Joint Bookrunners, the Company or any of their respective directors, officers, agents, employees or advisers acting in breach of the legal or regulatory requirements of any jurisdiction in connection with the Placing;

21. where it is subscribing for Placing Shares for one or more managed accounts, it is authorised in writing by each managed account to subscribe for the Placing Shares for each managed account;

22. it irrevocably appoints any duly authorised officer of each Joint Bookrunner as its agent for the purpose of executing and delivering to the Company and/or its registrars any documents on its behalf necessary to enable it to be registered as the holder of any of the Placing Shares for which it agrees to subscribe for upon the terms of this Announcement;

Excluded territories

23. the Placing Shares have not been and will not be registered or otherwise qualified and that a prospectus will not be cleared in respect of any of the Placing Shares under the securities laws or legislation of the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan or the Republic of South Africa, or any state, province, territory or jurisdiction thereof;

24. the Placing Shares may not be offered, sold, or delivered or transferred, directly or indirectly, in or into the above jurisdictions or any jurisdiction (subject to certain exceptions) in which it would be unlawful to do so and no action has been or will be taken by any of the Company, the Joint Bookrunners or any person acting on behalf of the Company or the Joint Bookrunners that would, or is intended to, permit a public offer of the Placing Shares in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan or the Republic of South Africa or any country or jurisdiction, or any state, province, territory or jurisdiction thereof, where any such action for that purpose is required;

25. unless otherwise specifically agreed with the Joint Bookrunners, it is not and at the time the Placing Shares are subscribed for, neither it nor the beneficial owner of the Placing Shares will be, a resident of, nor have an address in, Australia, Japan, the Republic of South Africa or any province or territory of Canada;

   26.             it may be asked to disclose in writing or orally to the Joint Bookrunners: 
   (a)             if he or she is an individual, his or her nationality; or 

(b) if he or she is a discretionary fund manager, the jurisdiction in which the funds are managed or owned;

Compliance with US securities laws

27. it is and the prospective beneficial owner of the Placing Shares is, and at the time the Placing Shares are subscribed for will be (i) outside the United States and is acquiring the Placing Shares in an "offshore transaction" as defined in, and in accordance with, Regulation S under the US Securities Act or (ii) both a QIB and a Major US Institutional Investor and will duly execute a US investor letter and deliver the same to one of the Joint Bookrunners or its affiliates;

28. it understands that the Placing Shares have not been, and will not be, registered under the US Securities Act and may not be offered, sold or resold in or into or from the United States except pursuant to an effective registration under the US Securities Act, or pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the US Securities Act and in accordance with applicable state securities laws;

29. no representation has been made as to the availability of the exemption provided by Rule 144, Rule 144A or any other exemption under the US Securities Act for the reoffer, resale, pledge or transfer of the Placing Shares;

30. it will not distribute, forward, transfer or otherwise transmit this Announcement or any part of it, or any other presentational or other materials concerning the Placing in or into or from the United States (including electronic copies thereof) to any person, and it has not distributed, forwarded, transferred or otherwise transmitted any such materials to any person;

Compliance with EEA selling restrictions and the Prospectus Directive

31. if in a member state of the EEA, unless otherwise specifically agreed with the Joint Bookrunners in writing, it is a Qualified Investor;

32. it has not offered or sold and will not offer or sell any Placing Shares to persons in the EEA except to Qualified Investors or otherwise in circumstances which have not resulted in and which will not result in an offer to the public in any member state of the EEA within the meaning of the Prospectus Directive;

33. if a financial intermediary, as that term is used in Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive, the Placing Shares subscribed for by it in the Placing will not be acquired on a non-discretionary basis on behalf of, nor will they be acquired with a view to their offer or resale to, persons in a member state of the EEA which has implemented the Prospectus Directive other than Qualified Investors, or in circumstances in which the prior consent of the Joint Bookrunners has been given to each proposed offer or resale;

Compliance with FSMA, the UK financial promotion regime and MAR

34. if in the United Kingdom, that it is a person (i) having professional experience in matters relating to investments who falls within the definition of "investment professionals" in Article 19(5) of the Order or (ii) who falls within Article 49(2) (a) to (d) ("High Net Worth Companies, Unincorporated Associations, etc") of the Order, or (iii) to whom it may otherwise lawfully be communicated;

35. it has not offered or sold and will not offer or sell any Placing Shares to persons in the United Kingdom, except to persons whose ordinary activities involve them in acquiring, holding, managing or disposing of investments (as principal or agent) for the purposes of their business or otherwise in circumstances which have not resulted and which will not result in an offer to the public in the United Kingdom within the meaning of section 85(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended ("FSMA");

36. it has only communicated or caused to be communicated and will only communicate or cause to be communicated any invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of FSMA) relating to the Placing Shares in circumstances in which section 21(1) of FSMA does not require approval of the communication by an authorised person and it acknowledges and agrees that the Placing Documents have not and will not have been approved by either Joint Bookrunner in its capacity as an authorised person under section 21 of the FSMA and it may not therefore be subject to the controls which would apply if it was made or approved as a financial promotion by an authorised person;

37. it has complied and will comply with all applicable laws with respect to anything done by it or on its behalf in relation to the Placing Shares (including all applicable provisions in FSMA and Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on market abuse ("MAR")) in respect of anything done in, from or otherwise involving, the United Kingdom);

Compliance with laws

38. if it is a pension fund or investment company, its subscription for Placing Shares is in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

39. it has complied with its obligations under the Criminal Justice Act 1993 and Articles 8, 10, 12, 14 and 15 of MAR and in connection with money laundering and terrorist financing under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (as amended), the Terrorism Act 2000, the Terrorism Act 2006 and the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any government agency having jurisdiction in respect thereof (the "Regulations") and the Money Laundering Sourcebook of the FCA and, if making payment on behalf of a third party, that satisfactory evidence has been obtained and recorded by it to verify the identity of the third party as required by the Regulations;

40. in order to ensure compliance with the Regulations, each Joint Bookrunner (for itself and as agent on behalf of the Company) or the Company's registrars may, in their absolute discretion, require verification of its identity. Pending the provision to the relevant Joint Bookrunner or the Company's registrars, as applicable, of evidence of identity, definitive certificates in respect of the Placing Shares may be retained at the relevant Joint Bookrunner's absolute discretion or, where appropriate, delivery of the Placing Shares to it in uncertificated form may be delayed at the relevant Joint Bookrunner's or the Company's registrars', as the case may be, absolute discretion. If within a reasonable time after a request for verification of identify the relevant Joint Bookrunner (for itself and as agent on behalf of the Company) or the Company's registrars have not received evidence satisfactory to them, either the relevant Joint Bookrunner and/or the Company may, at its absolute discretion, terminate its commitment in respect of the Placing, in which event the monies payable on acceptance of allotment will, if already paid, be returned without interest to the account of the drawee's bank from which they were originally debited;

Depositary receipts and clearance services

41. the allocation, allotment, issue and delivery to it, or the person specified by it for registration as holder, of Placing Shares will not give rise to a stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax liability under (or at a rate determined under) any of sections 67, 70, 93 or 96 of the Finance Act 1986 (depositary receipts and clearance services) and that the Placing Shares are not being acquired in connection with arrangements to issue depositary receipts or to issue or transfer Placing Shares into a clearance service;

Undertaking to make payment

42. it (and any person acting on its behalf) has the funds available to pay for the Placing Shares for which it has agreed to subscribe and acknowledges and agrees that it will make payment in respect of the Placing Shares allocated to it in accordance with this Announcement on the due time and date set out herein, failing which the relevant Placing Shares may be placed with other subscribers or sold as the Joint Bookrunners may in their sole discretion determine and without liability to such Placee, who will remain liable for any amount by which the net proceeds of such sale falls short of the product of the Placing Price and the number of Placing Shares allocated to it and will be required to bear any stamp duty, stamp duty reserve tax or other taxes or duties (together with any interest, fines or penalties) imposed in any jurisdiction which may arise upon the sale of such Placee's Placing Shares;

Money held on account

43. any money held in an account with the relevant Joint Bookrunners on behalf of the Placee and/or any person acting on behalf of the Placee and/or any person acting on behalf of the Placee will not be treated as client money within the meaning of the relevant rules and regulations of the FCA made under the FSMA. Each Placee acknowledges that the money will not be subject to the protections conferred by the client money rules: as a consequence this money will not be segregated from the relevant Joint Bookrunner's money in accordance with the client money rules and will be held by it under a banking relationship and not as trustee;

Allocation

44. its allocation (if any) of Placing Shares will represent a maximum number of Placing Shares which it will be entitled, and required, to subscribe for, and that the Joint Bookrunners or the Company may call upon it to subscribe for a lower number of Placing Shares (if any), but in no event in aggregate more than the aforementioned maximum;

No recommendation

45. none of the Joint Bookrunners, nor any of their respective affiliates, nor any person acting on behalf of them, is making any recommendations to it, advising it regarding the suitability of any transactions it may enter into in connection with the Placing;

Inside information

46. if it has received any 'inside information' (for the purposes of MAR and section 56 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993) in relation to the Company and its securities in advance of the Placing, it confirms that it has received such information within the market soundings regime provided for in article 11 of MAR and associated delegated regulations and it has not:

(a) used that inside information to acquire or dispose of securities of the Company or financial instruments related thereto or cancel or amend an order concerning the Company's securities or any such financial instruments;

(b) used that inside information to encourage, require, recommend or induce another person to deal in the securities of the Company or financial instruments related thereto or to cancel or amend an order concerning the Company's securities or such financial instruments; or

(c) disclosed such information to any person, prior to the information being made publicly available;

Rights and remedies

47. the rights and remedies of the Company and the Joint Bookrunners under the terms and conditions in this Announcement are in addition to any rights and remedies which would otherwise be available to each of them and the exercise or partial exercise of one will not prevent the exercise of others; and

Governing law and jurisdiction

48. these terms and conditions of the Placing and any agreements entered into by it pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Placing, and all non-contractual or other obligations arising out of or in connection with them, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and it submits (on behalf of itself and on behalf of any person on whose behalf it is acting) to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts as regards any claim, dispute or matter arising out of any such contract (including any dispute regarding the existence, validity or termination of such contract or relating to any non-contractual or other obligation arising out of or in connection with such contract), except that enforcement proceedings in respect of the obligation to make payment for the Placing Shares (together with any interest chargeable thereon) may be taken by either the Company or the Joint Bookrunners in any jurisdiction in which the relevant Placee is incorporated or in which any of its securities have a quotation on a recognised stock exchange.

The foregoing representations, warranties, confirmations, acknowledgements, agreements and undertakings are given for the benefit of the Company as well as each of the Joint Bookrunners and are irrevocable. The Joint Bookrunners, the Company and their respective affiliates and others will rely upon the truth and accuracy of the foregoing representations, warranties, confirmations, acknowledgements, agreements and undertakings. Each prospective Placee, and any person acting on behalf of such Placee, irrevocably authorises the Company and the Joint Bookrunners to produce this Announcement, pursuant to, in connection with, or as may be required by any applicable law or regulation, administrative or legal proceeding or official inquiry with respect to the matters set forth herein.

Indemnity

By participating in the Placing, each Placee (and any person acting on such Placee's behalf) agrees to indemnify on an after tax basis and hold the Company, the Joint Bookrunners and their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers and employees harmless from any and all costs, claims, liabilities and expenses (including legal fees and expenses) arising out of or in connection with any breach of the representations, warranties, acknowledgements, agreements and undertakings given by the Placee (and any person acting on such Placee's behalf) in this Announcement or incurred by the Joint Bookrunners, the Company or each of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees arising from the performance of the Placees' obligations as set out in this Announcement, and further agrees that the provisions of this Announcement shall survive after completion of the Placing.

Taxation

The agreement to allot and issue Placing Shares to Placees (and/or to persons for whom such Placee is contracting as agent) free of stamp duty and stamp duty reserve tax relates only to their allotment and issue to Placees, or such persons as they nominate as their agents, direct from the Company for the Placing Shares in question. Such agreement also assumes that the Placing Shares are not being acquired in connection with arrangements to issue depositary receipts or to issue or transfer the Placing Shares into a clearance service. If there are any such arrangements, or the settlement relates to any other dealing in the Placing Shares, stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax or other similar taxes or duties may be payable, for which neither the Company nor the Joint Bookrunners will be responsible and the Placees shall indemnify the Company and the Joint Bookrunners on an after-tax basis for any stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax or other similar taxes or duties (together with interest, fines and penalties) in any jurisdiction paid by the Company or the Joint Bookrunners in respect of any such arrangements or dealings. If this is the case, each Placee should seek its own advice and notify the Joint Bookrunners accordingly. Placees are advised to consult with their own advisers regarding the tax aspects of the subscription for Placing Shares.

The Company and the Joint Bookrunners are not liable to bear any taxes that arise on a sale of Placing Shares subsequent to their acquisition by Placees, including any taxes arising otherwise than under the laws of the United Kingdom. Each prospective Placee should, therefore, take its own advice as to whether any such tax liability arises and notify the Joint Bookrunners and the Company accordingly. Furthermore, each prospective Placee agrees to indemnify on an after-tax basis and hold each of the Joint Bookrunners and/or the Company and their respective affiliates harmless from any and all interest, fines or penalties in relation to stamp duty, stamp duty reserve tax and all other similar duties or taxes in any jurisdiction to the extent that such interest, fines or penalties arise from the unreasonable default or delay of that Placee or its agent.

In addition, Placees should note that they will be liable for any stamp duty and all other stamp, issue, securities, transfer, registration, documentary or other duties or taxes (including any interest, fines or penalties relating thereto) payable, whether inside or outside the UK, by them or any other person on the subscription, acquisition, transfer or sale by them of any Placing Shares or the agreement by them to subscribe for, acquire, transfer or sell any Placing Shares.

No statement in the Placing Documents is intended to be a profit forecast or estimate, and no statement in the Placing Documents should be interpreted to mean that earnings per share of the Company for the current or future financial years would necessarily match or exceed the historical published earnings per share of the Company. Past performance is no guide to future performance, and persons needing advice should consult an independent financial adviser.

The price of shares and any income expected from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the full amount invested upon disposal of the shares. Past performance is no guide to future performance, and persons needing advice should consult an independent financial adviser.

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.

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, the Placing Documents.

DEFINITIONS

 
 Acquisition            the acquisition by the Company 
                         and certain members of the Group 
                         of the business and assets (including 
                         the shares of certain entities 
                         in Luxembourg and Spain) of Donnelley 
                         Language Solutions from Donnelley 
                         Financial Solutions Inc. and 
                         its subsidiaries. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Acquisition            the agreement dated on or about 
  Agreement              the date of the Placing Agreement 
                         entered into by the Company and 
                         other members of the Group to 
                         implement the Acquisition. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Admission              admission of the Placing Shares 
                         to the premium listing segment 
                         of the Official List and to the 
                         London Stock Exchange for admission 
                         to trading of the Placing Shares 
                         on its main market for listed 
                         securities. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Announcement           this announcement, including 
                         this Appendix and the terms and 
                         conditions set out herein. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Bookbuild              the accelerated bookbuilding 
                         process to determine demand for 
                         participation in the Placing 
                         by Placees. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Company                SDL Plc registered in England 
                         and Wales under number 02675207 
                         whose registered office is at 
                         New Globe House, Vanwall Business 
                         Park, Vanwall Road, Maidenhead, 
                         England SL6 4UB. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 CREST                  the electronic transfer and settlement 
                         system of the paperless settlement 
                         of trades in listed securities 
                         operated by Euroclear UK & Ireland 
                         Limited. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Enlarged Group         the Group as enlarged by the 
                         Acquisition. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Facility Agreement     the agreement dated on or around 
                         the date of the Placing Agreement 
                         pursuant to which the Company 
                         agrees to enter into a GBP70 
                         million five year multi-currency 
                         banking facility with HSBC UK 
                         Bank plc and Lloyds Bank plc. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 FCA                    the Financial Conduct Authority. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 FSMA                   the Financial Services and Markets 
                         Act 2000, as amended. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Group                  the Company and its subsidiaries. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Indemnified            stamp duty or stamp duty reserve 
  Taxes                  tax or other similar taxes or 
                         duties imposed in any jurisdiction 
                         (including interest and penalties 
                         relating thereto). 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Investec               Investec Bank Plc registered 
                         in England and Wales under number 
                         00489604 whose registered office 
                         is at 30 Gresham Street, London, 
                         England EC2V 7QP. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Joint Bookrunners      Investec and N+1 Singer and "Joint 
                         Bookrunner" shall mean either 
                         of them. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 London Stock           the London Stock Exchange plc. 
  Exchange 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 MAR                    Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 
                         of the European Parliament and 
                         of the Council of 16 April 2014 
                         on market abuse. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Material Adverse       any materially adverse change 
  Change                 in, or any development involving 
                         a materially adverse prospective 
                         change in, or affecting, the 
                         condition (financial, operational, 
                         legal or otherwise) or the earnings, 
                         management, business affairs, 
                         solvency, credit rating or prospects 
                         of the Company, Group or Enlarged 
                         Group, taken as a whole, whether 
                         or not arising in the ordinary 
                         course of business. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 N+1 Singer             Nplus1 Singer Advisory LLP registered 
                         in England and Wales under number 
                         OC364131 whose registered office 
                         is at One, Bartholomew Lane, 
                         London EC2N 2AX. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Official List          the Official List of the UK Listing 
                         Authority. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Order                  the Financial Services and Markets 
                         Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) 
                         Order 2005 as amended. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Ordinary Shares        ordinary shares of GBP0.01 each 
                         in the capital of the Company. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Placee                 the placees to be procured by 
                         the Joint Bookrunners pursuant 
                         to the Placing. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Placing                the placing of the Placing Shares 
                         in accordance with the Placing 
                         Agreement and the Placing Documents. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Placing Agreement      the agreement between Investec, 
                         N+1 Singer and the Company dated 
                         16 July 2018 relating to the 
                         placing of Ordinary Shares in 
                         the Company. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Placing Documents      this Announcement and the Placing 
                         Results Announcement. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Placing Price          440 pence. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Placing Results        the announcement of the results 
  Announcement           of the Placing. 

---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Placing Shares         up to 8,234,400 new Ordinary 
                         Shares to be issued to certain 
                         investors who have agreed to 
                         subscribe for such new Ordinary 
                         Shares pursuant to the Placing. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Placing Supplement     the placing results supplement 
                         in relation to the Placing to 
                         be entered into by the Joint 
                         Bookrunners following the Bookbuild 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Prospectus Directive   Directive 2003/71/EC, as amended 
                         from time to time, including 
                         by Directive 2010/73/EC to the 
                         extent implemented in the relevant 
                         member state and includes any 
                         relevant implementing directive 
                         measure in any member state. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Qualified Investors    persons in member states of the 
                         EEA who are qualified investors 
                         within the meaning of Article 
                         2(1)(e) of the Prospectus Directive. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 QIBs                   qualified institutional buyers. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 Relevant Member        a member state of the EEA which 
  State                  has implemented the Prospectus 
                         Directive. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 RIS                    regulatory information service. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 US Securities          the US Securities Act of 1933, 
  Act                    as amended. 
---------------------  --------------------------------------- 
 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

END

ACQGGUACMUPRPUA

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 16, 2018 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)