REG - ZQ Capital Limited Allergy Therapeutics - Posting of Offer Document

Allergy TherapeuticsAnnouncement

19/10/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 5912Q  ZQ Capital Limited  19 October 2023

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION (IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR
INDIRECTLY) IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE
A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

19 October 2023

UNCONDITIONAL MANDATORY CASH OFFER

for

ALLERGY THERAPEUTICS PLC

by

SKYGEM ACQUISITION LIMITED

POSTING OF OFFER DOCUMENT

SkyGem Acquisition Limited ("SkyGem") is pleased to announce that the Offer
Document, which contains the full terms and conditions of the Offer and the
procedures for acceptance, is being published and sent to Allergy Therapeutics
Shareholders and persons with information rights today, together with the
related Form of Acceptance. The Offer Document will be available up to and
including the end of the Offer on SkyGem's website
at www.zqcap.com/microsite/agy_announcement.php
(https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/Cx8ZC5yWAxSZQ6Vj7SOwAQ5?domain=zqcap.com)
and on Allergy Therapeutics' website at
http://www.allergytherapeutics.com/disclaimer.

Under the terms of the Offer, which is subject to the terms set out in the
Offer Document and, in respect of Allergy Therapeutics Shares held in
certificated form, the Form of Acceptance, Allergy Therapeutics Shareholders
shall be entitled to receive:

1 pence in cash for each Allergy Therapeutics Share

The cash consideration implies a value of approximately £47.91 million for
the issued and to be issued share capital (excluding warrants) of Allergy
Therapeutics. The Offer represents:

·    a discount of 23 per cent. to the closing price of 1.30 pence per
Allergy Therapeutics Share on 18 October 2023 (being the latest practicable
date before the publication of this announcement); and

·    a discount of 84 per cent. to the closing price of 6.25 pence per
Allergy Therapeutics Share on 5 April 2023 (being the last Business Day prior
to the commencement of the Offer Period).

Action to be taken

Your attention is drawn to the letter from SkyGem in Part I of the Offer
Document, the Appendices to the Offer Document and the Form of Acceptance. The
procedure for acceptance of the Offer the Offer Document and, if you hold your
Allergy Therapeutics Shares in certificated form, in the Form of Acceptance.
The appendices and the Form of Acceptance contain material information which
may not be summarised elsewhere in the Offer Document.

Your decision as to whether to accept the Offer will depend upon your
individual circumstances. If you are in any doubt as to the action you should
take, you should seek your own independent financial advice.

If you wish to accept the Offer in respect of certificated Allergy
Therapeutics Shares, you should complete and return the Form of Acceptance in
accordance with the instructions printed on it and given in the Offer
Document, together with your share certificate(s) and/or other document(s) of
title, so as to be received by the Receiving Agent at Link Group, Corporate
Actions, Central Square, 29 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL by post or
(during normal business hours only) by hand as soon as possible and in any
event so as to be received by no later than 1.00 p.m. (London time) on 9
November 2023, or such other date as may otherwise be set as being such Day of
the timetable of the Offer in accordance with the Code. A first class
reply-paid envelope for use in the United Kingdom only is provided for your
convenience.

If you wish to accept the Offer in respect of uncertificated Allergy
Therapeutics Shares (that is, shares held in CREST) your acceptance should be
made electronically through CREST by following the procedure set out in the
Offer Document, so that the TTE instruction settles no later than 1.00 p.m.
(London time) on 9 November 2023.

Procedure for acceptance of the Offer

If shareholders are in any doubt as to the procedure for acceptance, please
telephone the Receiving Agent, Link Group, during business hours on 0371 664
0321. Calls from within the UK are charged at the standard geographic rate
and will vary by provider. Calls from outside the UK will be charged at the
applicable international rate. The helpline is open between 9.00 a.m. and 5.30
p.m. (London time) Monday to Friday excluding public holidays
in England and Wales. Please note that the Receiving Agent cannot provide
advice on the merits of the Offer nor give any financial, legal or tax advice
and calls may be recorded and monitored for security and training purposes.
You are reminded that, if you are a CREST sponsored member, you should contact
your CREST sponsor before taking any action.

Capitalised terms used but not defined in this announcement shall have the
same meaning as set out in the Offer Document.

 Enquiries

 SkyGem Acquisition Limited

 Zheqing (Simon) Shen, Managing Partner and Founder           T. +852
 3890 6566

          E. contact@zqcap.com

 Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (Financial Adviser to ZQ Capital Management
 Limited and SkyGem Acquisition Limited)

 Henrik
 Persson
          T. +44 (0) 20 7220 0500

 Seamus
 Fricker
 Allergy Therapeutics

 Manuel Llobet, Chief Executive
 Officer
 T.  +44 (0)1903 845 820

 Shaun Furlong, Chief Financial Officer

 Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited  (Rule 3 Adviser, Financial Adviser, Nominated
 Adviser and Broker to Allergy Therapeutics)

 Emma Earl, Mark Rogers, Freddy Crossley, Corporate Finance   T.  +44 (0)20
 7886 2500

 Rupert Dearden, Corporate Broking

Disclosure requirements of the Takeover Code

Under Rule 8.3(a) of the Takeover Code, any person who is interested in 1 per
cent. or more of any class of relevant securities of an offeree company or of
any securities exchange offeror (being any offeror other than an offeror in
respect of which it has been announced that its offer is, or is likely to be,
solely in cash) must make an Opening Position Disclosure following the
commencement of the offer period and, if later, following the announcement in
which any securities exchange offeror is first identified. An Opening Position
Disclosure must contain details of the person's interests and short positions
in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the
offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s). An Opening
Position Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(a) applies must be made by no
later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the 10(th) Business Day following the
commencement of the offer period and, if appropriate, by no later than 3.30 pm
(London time) on the 10(th) Business Day following the announcement in which
any securities exchange offeror is first identified. Relevant persons who deal
in the relevant securities of the offeree company or of a securities exchange
offeror prior to the deadline for making an Opening Position Disclosure must
instead make a Dealing Disclosure.

Under Rule 8.3(b) of the Takeover Code, any person who is, or becomes,
interested in 1 per cent. or more of any class of relevant securities of the
offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror must make a Dealing
Disclosure if the person deals in any relevant securities of the offeree
company or of any securities exchange offeror. A Dealing Disclosure must
contain details of the dealing concerned and of the person's interests and
short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of
each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s),
save to the extent that these details have previously been disclosed under
Rule 8. A Dealing Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(b) applies must be
made by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the Business Day following the
date of the relevant dealing.

If two or more persons act together pursuant to an agreement or understanding,
whether formal or informal, to acquire or control an interest in relevant
securities of an offeree company or a securities exchange offeror, they will
be deemed to be a single person for the purpose of Rule 8.3.

Opening Position Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company and by
any offeror and Dealing Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company,
by any offeror and by any persons acting in concert with any of them (see
Rules 8.1, 8.2 and 8.4).

Details of the offeree and offeror companies in respect of whose relevant
securities Opening Position Disclosures and Dealing Disclosures must be made
can be found in the Disclosure Table on the Takeover Panel's website at
www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk, including details of the number of relevant
securities in issue, when the offer period commenced and when any offeror was
first identified. You should contact the Panel's Market Surveillance Unit on
+44 (0)20 7638 0129 if you are in any doubt as to whether you are required to
make an Opening Position Disclosure or a Dealing Disclosure.

Important notices

Cavendish Capital Markets Limited ("Cavendish"), which is authorised and
regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting
as financial adviser to SkyGem and ZQ and no one else in connection with the
matters described in this Announcement and will not be responsible to anyone
other than SkyGem and ZQ for providing the protections offered to clients of
Cavendish or for providing advice in connection with any matter referred to in
this Announcement. Neither Cavendish nor any of its affiliates (nor their
respective directors, officers, employees or agents) owes or accepts any duty,
liability or responsibility whatsoever (whether direct or indirect, whether in
contract, in tort, under statute or otherwise) to any person who is not a
client of Cavendish in connection with this Announcement, any statement
contained herein, the Offer or otherwise. No representation or warranty,
express or implied, is made by Cavendish as to the contents of this
Announcement.

Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited ("Panmure Gordon"), which is authorised and
regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting
as financial adviser to Allergy Therapeutics and no one else in connection
with the matters described in this Announcement and will not be responsible to
anyone other than Allergy Therapeutics for providing the protections offered
to clients of Panmure Gordon or for providing advice in connection with any
matter referred to in this Announcement. Neither Panmure Gordon nor any of its
affiliates (nor their respective directors, officers, employees or agents)
owes or accepts any duty, liability or responsibility whatsoever (whether
direct or indirect, whether in contract, in tort, under statute or otherwise)
to any person who is not a client of Panmure Gordon in connection with this
Announcement, any statement contained herein, the Offer or otherwise. No
representation or warranty, express or implied, is made by Panmure Gordon as
to the contents of this Announcement.

No offer or solicitation

This announcement is for information purposes only. It is not intended to and
does not constitute, or form part of, any offer or invitation or the
solicitation of any offer to sell or purchase any securities or the
solicitation of any offer to otherwise acquire, subscribe for, sell or
otherwise dispose of any security pursuant to the Offer or otherwise. The
Offer will be made solely by the Offer Document (together with, in the case of
Allergy Therapeutics Shares in certificated form, the Form of Acceptance),
which will contain the full terms and conditions of the Offer, including
details of how the Offer may be accepted. Allergy Therapeutics Shareholders
should carefully read the Offer Document (and, if they hold their Allergy
Therapeutics Shares in certificated form, the Form of Acceptance) in its
entirety before making a decision with respect to the Offer. Any decision in
respect of, or other response to, the Offer should be made only on the basis
of the information in the Offer Document and Form of Acceptance as applicable.

Overseas jurisdictions

The availability of the Offer and the release and/or distribution of this
Announcement in or into jurisdictions other than the United Kingdom may be
restricted by the laws and regulations of those jurisdictions and, therefore,
persons who are not resident in the United Kingdom into whose possession this
announcement comes should inform themselves about and observe any such
restrictions. Failure to comply with any such restrictions may constitute a
violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. Allergy
Therapeutics Shareholders who are in any doubt regarding such matters should
consult an appropriate independent financial adviser in their relevant
jurisdiction without delay.

Copies of this announcement are not being, and must not be, directly or
indirectly, mailed or otherwise forwarded, distributed or sent in, into or
from any Restricted Jurisdiction, and persons receiving this announcement
(including custodians, nominees and trustees) must not, directly or
indirectly, mail or otherwise distribute or send it in, into or from such
Restricted Jurisdictions as doing so may violate the securities laws of such
jurisdictions and invalidate any purported acceptance of the Offer.

This announcement has been prepared in compliance with English law and
regulation (including the Takeover Code), and the information disclosed may
not be the same as that which would have been disclosed if this announcement
had been prepared in accordance with the laws and regulations of jurisdictions
outside England.

This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale in any jurisdiction
(including any Restricted Jurisdiction).

Notice to US shareholders

The Offer relates to the shares of an English company and is subject to UK
procedural and disclosure requirements, which differ from those of the United
States. The Offer is extended into the United States in reliance on the "Tier
I" exemption pursuant to Rule 14d-1(c) under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), from the requirements of the
Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
Accordingly, the Offer will be subject to procedural and disclosure
requirements, including with respect to withdrawal rights, notices of
extensions, announcements of results, settlement procedures and waivers of
conditions, which differ in various respects from the requirements and
customary practices followed in US domestic tender offers.

Financial information included or referred to herein has been or will be
prepared in accordance with accounting standards applicable in the United
Kingdom and, accordingly, may not be comparable to financial information of US
companies or other companies whose financial statements are prepared in
accordance with US generally accepted accounting principle" ("US GAAP"). US
GAAP differs in certain significant respects from accounting standards
applicable in the United Kingdom. None of the financial information included
or referred to herein has been audited in accordance with auditing standards
generally accepted in the United States or the auditing standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States).

The Offer is being made to US shareholders on the same terms and conditions as
those made to all other Allergy Therapeutics Shareholders to whom the Offer is
made. All information documents disseminated by SkyGem regarding the Offer
will be disseminated to US shareholders of Allergy Therapeutics on a basis
comparable to the method pursuant to which those documents are provided to all
other Allergy Therapeutics Shareholders.

The receipt of cash pursuant to the Offer by a US shareholder as consideration
for the transfer of its Allergy Therapeutics Shares pursuant to the Offer will
likely be a taxable transaction for United States federal income tax purposes
and under applicable United States state and local, as well as foreign and
other, tax laws. Each Allergy Therapeutics Shareholder is urged to consult its
independent professional adviser immediately regarding the tax consequences of
acceptance of the Offer.

Neither the Offer nor this announcement has been approved or disapproved by
the US Securities and Exchange Commission, any state securities commission in
the United States or any other US regulatory authority, nor have such
authorities passed upon or determined the adequacy or accuracy of the
information contained in this announcement or the merits of the Offer. Any
representation to the contrary is a criminal offence in the United States.

Forward-looking statements

This announcement, including any information incorporated by reference in this
announcement, contains certain forward-looking statements. The forward-looking
statements contained herein include statements about the expected effects of
the Offer on SkyGem and the Allergy Therapeutics Group, strategic options, the
expected timing and scope of the Offer, and all other statements in this
announcement other than historical facts. These statements are based on the
current expectations and are naturally subject to uncertainty and changes in
circumstances. Forward-looking statements often use words such as
"anticipate", "target", "expect", "estimate", "intend", "plan", "budget",
"schedule", "forecast", "project", "goal", "believe", "hope", "aims",
"continue", "will", "may", "should", "would", "could", "subject to", or other
words of similar meaning. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks and uncertainties, because they relate to events and
depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a number of
factors that could cause actual results, outcomes and developments to differ
materially from those expressed in, or implied by, such forward-looking
statements and such statements are, therefore, qualified in their entirety by
the risks and uncertainties surrounding these future expectations. Many of
these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond those making
the forward-looking statements ability to control or estimate precisely, such
as, but not limited to, general business and market conditions both globally
and locally, political, economic and regulatory forces, industry trends and
competition, future exchange and interest rates, changes in government and
regulation including in relation to health and safety, the environment, labour
relations and tax rates and future business combinations or dispositions.
Although SkyGem believes that the expectations reflected in such
forward-looking statements are reasonable, SkyGem cannot give any assurance,
representation or guarantee that such expectations will prove to have been
correct and such forward-looking statements should be construed in light of
such factors and you are, therefore, cautioned not to place reliance on these
forward-looking statements which speak only as at the date of this
announcement. SkyGem assumes no obligation to update or correct the
information contained in this announcement (whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise), except as required by applicable law
or regulation.

No profit forecasts, estimates or quantified financial benefits statements

No statement in this announcement is intended as a profit forecast, profit
estimate or quantified financial benefits statement for any period and no
statement in this announcement should be interpreted to mean that earnings or
earnings per share or dividends or dividends per share for Allergy
Therapeutics for the current or future financial years would necessarily match
or exceed the historical published earnings or earnings per share or dividends
or dividends per share for Allergy Therapeutics.

Publication on website

A copy of this announcement and all other documents, announcements or
information published in relation to the Offer, subject to certain
restrictions relating to persons resident in Restricted Jurisdictions, will be
made available, free of charge,
at www.zqcap.com/microsite/agy_announcement.php
(http://www.zqcap.com/microsite/agy_announcement.php)
(http://www.seraphinegroupplc.com/offer)  by no later than 12 noon
(London time) on 20 October 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the contents of
this website are not incorporated into and do not form part of this
announcement.

Requesting hard copy documents

Pursuant to Rule 30.3 of the Takeover Code, a person so entitled may request a
copy of this document and all information incorporated by reference to another
source in hard copy form by contacting the Receiving Agent during business
hours on 0371 664 0321   or by submitting a request in writing to the
Receiving Agent at Link Group or by submitting a request in writing to Link
Group, Central Square, 29 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL. Calls from
within the UK are charged at the standard geographic rate and will vary by
provider. Calls outside the UK will be charged at the applicable
international rate. The helpline is open between 9.00 a.m. and 5.30 p.m.,
Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays in England and Wales. A person
may also request that all future documents, announcements and information to
be sent to that person in relation to the Offer should be in hard copy form.
For persons who receive a copy of this document in electronic form or via a
website notification, a hard copy of this document will not be sent unless so
requested.

Information relating to Allergy Therapeutics Shareholders

Please be aware that addresses, electronic addresses and certain other
information provided by Allergy Therapeutics Shareholders, persons with
information rights and other persons for the receipt of communications from
Allergy Therapeutics may be provided to SkyGem during the Offer Period as
required under Section 4 of Appendix 4 to the Takeover Code.

General

If you are in any doubt about the contents of this announcement or the action
you should take, you are recommended to seek your own independent financial
advice immediately from your stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor or
independent financial adviser duly authorised under FSMA if you are resident
in the United Kingdom or, if not, from another appropriate authorised
independent financial adviser.

 

 

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