REG - Stride Gaming PLC Rank Group PLC - COMPLETION OF ACQUISITION BY RANK

RankAnnouncement

04/10/2019 10:15

RNS Number : 8187O
Stride Gaming PLC
04 October 2019
 


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 OF SUCH JURISDICTION
 
04 October 2019
 
RECOMMENDED CASH OFFER
 
for
 
STRIDE GAMING PLC ("STRIDE")
 
by
 
THE RANK GROUP PLC ("RANK")
 
COMPLETION OF ACQUISITION BY RANK
 
Stride and Rank Digital Holdings Limited ("Rank BidCo"), a wholly-owned subsidiary undertaking of Rank, are pleased to announce that the scheme of arrangement under Article 125 of the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991 (the "Scheme") has now become effective and the entire issued ordinary share capital of Stride is owned by Rank BidCo.
 
Admission to the trading of Stride Shares on AIM will be cancelled with effect from 7.00 a.m. on 7 October 2019.
 
Scheme Shareholders on the register at the Scheme Record Time, being 6.00 p.m on 3 October 2019, will receive 151 pence in cash for each Scheme Share. The consideration due to the Scheme Shareholders will be sent by no later than 18 October 2019.
 
Defined terms used but not defined in this announcement have the meaning given to them in the scheme circular sent to Stride Shareholders on 28 June 2019.
 
 
Enquiries:
 



Stride


 




Eitan Boyd - Chief Executive Officer


+44 (0) 20 7284 6080




Ronen Kannor - Chief Financial Officer
 


 




Investec (Sole Financial Adviser, Nominated Adviser and Broker to Stride)


 




Chris Treneman


+44 (0) 20 7597 5970




Edward Thomas


 




David Anderson


 




Dan Oldham
 


 




Hudson Sandler (PR Adviser to Stride)


 




Alex Brennan


+44 (0) 20 7796 4133




Bertie Berger
 


 




Rank


 




John O'Reilly - Chief Executive Officer


+44 (0) 1628 504 303




Bill Floydd - Chief Financial Officer


 




Sarah Powell - Investor Relations


 








 




Evercore (Financial Adviser to Rank)


 




Edward Banks


+44 (0) 20 7653 6000




Julien Baril


 








 




FTI Consulting LLP (PR Adviser to Rank)


 




Edward Bridges


+44 (0) 20 3727 1067




Alex Beagley


+44 (0) 20 3727 1045








 




Peel Hunt (Corporate Broker to Rank)


 




Dan Webster


+44 (0) 20 7418 8900








 




Goodbody (Corporate Broker to Rank)


 




Charlotte Craigie


+44 (0) 20 3841 6202



 
 
IMPORTANT NOTICES
 
Important notices relating to financial advisers
 
Investec Bank plc ("Investec"), which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, is acting exclusively for Stride and no one else in connection with the Offer and/or the other matters referred to in this announcement and the Scheme Document, and will not be responsible to anyone other than Stride for providing the protections afforded to the clients of Investec or for providing advice in connection with the Offer, the contents of this announcement or any matter or arrangement referred to herein. Neither Investec nor any of its subsidiaries, branches or affiliates 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 Investec in connection with the Offer, for this announcement, any statement contained herein or otherwise.
 
Evercore Partners International LLP ("Evercore"), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom, is acting exclusively for Rank and no one else in connection with the Offer, the other matters referred to in this announcement and the Scheme Document, and will not be responsible to anyone other than Rank for providing the protections afforded to clients of Evercore, nor for providing advice in connection with the Offer or any matter or arrangement referred to herein. Neither Evercore nor any of its subsidiaries, branches or affiliates owes or accepts any duty, liability or responsibility whatsoever (whether direct or indirect, whether in contract, in tort, under statue or otherwise) to any person who is not a client of Evercore in connection with the Offer or any statement contained herein or otherwise.
 
Peel Hunt LLP ("Peel Hunt"), which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting exclusively for Rank and no one else in connection with the Offer, the other matters referred to in this announcement and the Scheme Document, and will not be responsible to anyone other than Rank for providing the protections afforded to clients of Peel Hunt or for providing advice in connection with the Offer or any matter or arrangement referred to herein.
 
Goodbody Stockbrokers UC ("Goodbody"), which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting exclusively for Rank and no one else in connection with the Offer, the other matters referred to in this announcement and the Scheme Document, and will not be responsible to anyone other than Rank for providing the protections afforded to clients of Goodbody or for providing advice in connection with the Offer or any matter or arrangement referred to herein.
 
Publication on a website
 
A copy of this announcement will be available free of charge, subject to certain restrictions relating to persons resident in Restricted Jurisdictions, on Stride's and Rank's websites at www.stridegaming.com and www.rank.com, respectively, by no later than 12.00 p.m. on the Business Day following this announcement. Neither the contents of Stride's website, nor those of Rank's website, nor those of any other website accessible from hyperlinks on either Stride's or Rank's website, are incorporated into or form part of this announcement
 
Request for hard copies
Stride Shareholders may request a hard copy of this announcement (and any information incorporated by reference in this announcement) by writing to Link Asset Services of 34 Beckenham Road, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 4TU or by calling 0871 664 0300. Calls cost 12 pence per minute plus your phone company's access charge. If calling from outside the UK please call +44 371 664 0300. Calls outside the United Kingdom will be charged at the applicable international rate. Lines are open 9.00 am to 5.30 pm Monday to Friday excluding public holidays in England and Wales). It is important that you note that unless you make such a request, a hard copy of this announcement and any such information incorporated by reference in it will not be sent to you. You may also request that all future documents, announcements and information to be sent to you in relation to the Offer should be in hard copy form.
 




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