Ablon Group
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS NOT FOR PUBLICATION,
DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE IN, OR INTO, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA, CANADA, JAPAN OR AUSTRALIA.
This press release does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation
to sell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe, nor
shall it (or any part of it) or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of,
or be relied on in connection with, any contract or commitment whatsoever. The
offer and the distribution of this press release and other information in
connection with the proposed private placement and admission to AIM in certain
jurisdictions may be restricted by law and persons into whose possession any
document or other information referred to herein comes should inform themselves
about and observe any such restriction. Any failure to comply with these
restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such
jurisdiction.
FIRST DAY OF DEALING ON AIM
Ablon Group Limited ("Ablon" or "the Company"), a leading real estate owner and
developer in Budapest with a well-established presence in Prague and new sites
in Bucharest, is pleased to announce that the Company's
shares have today been
admitted unconditionally to trading on AIM ("AIM") following the closing and
settlement of its offering to institutional investors (the "Offering"). The
Company's ticker is "ABL".
The Offering was priced at £ 2.50 per share and comprised 35,000,000 newly
issued shares. The new shares issued represent 33.33% of the Company's enlarged
share capital. On Admission, the Company had 105,000,002 shares in issue and a
market capitalisation, at the placing price, of £ 262 million.
Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited acted as Global Coordinator, Sole
Bookrunner and Lead Manager of the Offering, and Nominated Adviser to Ablon. The
Company has granted an over allotment option to the Lead Manager of up to
5,250,000 shares. The option is exercisable until 2 March 2007 and would
increase the Offering from approximately 33.33% to 36.51% of the Company's
post-offering share capital.
The definitions of the terms used in this release are included in the Admission
Document which was published on 2 February 2007.
For further information, please contact:
Ablon Group Limited Shared Value Limited
Daniel Avidan, CFO Matthew Hooper /
Tel. +36 1 225 6600 Nicolas Duperrier
Tel. +44 (0)20 7321 5010
ablon@sharedvalue.net
Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited
Richard Crawley / Saydam Salaheddin
Tel. +44 (0)20 7888 8888
NOTES TO EDITORS
Founded in 1993 in Budapest (Hungary), the Group has successfully completed
properties at 13 locations comprising 15 completed projects (including two
completed projects that have been sold) and currently has properties at 19
locations comprising 34 development projects (including properties being
developed in multiple phases) in Budapest (Hungary), Prague (Czech Republic) and
Bucharest (Romania). Its portfolio comprises a diversified mix of office,
residential, retail, logistics and hotel developments valued at EUR 405.8
million by King Sturge, an independent valuation firm, as at 30 September
2006(1). Ablon has to date developed approximately 140,000 square meters of real
estate and its current development projects are expected to comprise
approximately a further 690,900 square meters. For the nine months ended 30
September 2006, Ablon generated gross rental income of EUR 6.7 million and
generated gross residential income of EUR 2.7 million.
Over the last ten years, Ablon Group has obtained bank financing for the
development of its projects exclusively from Volksbank and Investkredit (a
subsidiary of Volksbank). The Company intends to continue to benefit from its
relationship with the Volksbank Group. It may seek to refinance its portfolio
with the Volksbank Group and/or other financing providers in order to maximise
returns to all shareholders and to diversify and broaden its sources of
financing.
Ablon has appointed Dennis Twining as independent non-executive Chairman, and
Robert Glatter and Gerald Williams as the Company's two other independent
non-executive Directors. Dennis Twining is also Chairman of the UK Management
Committee of INVESCO Asset Management, whilst Robert Glatter was a Senior
Partner of Blick Rothenberg, Chartered Accountants and Gerry Williams is the
Chief Executive Officer of the Bachmann Group.
This document is an advertisement and does not constitute or form part of any
offer or invitation to sell or issue or any solicitation of any offer to
purchase or subscribe for any securities. Investors should not subscribe for or
purchase any shares referred to in this document except on the basis of
information in the admission document proposed to be issued in due course by the
Company in connection with the admission of its ordinary shares to AIM. In the
event of any discrepancy between this document and the admission document, the
admission document will prevail. It is not the purpose of this document to
provide, and you may not rely on this document as providing, a complete and
comprehensive analysis of the Company's financial or commercial position or
prospects.
Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other
forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial
performance of the Company. You can identify forward looking statements by terms
such as "expect", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend", "will",
"could", "may" or "might", the negative of such terms or other similar
expressions. The Company wishes to caution you that these statements are only
predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. The Company
does not intend to update these statements to reflect any events or
circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events except as may be required by applicable law and regulation.
Many factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from those
contained in projections or forward-looking statements of the Company,
including, among others, general economic conditions, the competitive
environment, market change in the real estate market, as well as many other
risks specifically related to the Company and its operations.
This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or issue, or the
solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for ordinary shares in the Company
in any jurisdiction to whom or in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful
and, in particular, is not for release, publication or distribution in or into
the United States, Australia, Canada or Japan or (including their territories,
possessions and all areas or territories subject to their jurisdiction) or to
any national, resident or citizen of the United States of America, Canada,
Australia or Japan or to any corporation, partnership or other entity created or
organised under the laws thereof, or to any persons in any other country outside
the United Kingdom where such release, publication or distribution may lead to a
breach of any legal or regulatory requirement.
This document is not a prospectus and constitutes neither an offer for sale of
nor a solicitation to buy or subscribe for any securities of the Company in the
United States of America. The information contained herein is restricted and is
not for publication, distribution or release, directly or indirectly, in the
United States. The Offer Shares and any securities of the Company may not be
offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from
registration under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and applicable
state laws. The Company has not registered and does not intend to register any
portion of the Offering in the United States or to conduct a public offering of
any securities in the United States. No money, securities or other consideration
is being solicited and if sent in response to the information contained herein,
will not be accepted.
This communication has been issued on behalf of the Company and is the sole
responsibility of the Company. The contents of this announcement have been
approved by Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited of One Cabot Square,
London E14 4QJ ("Credit Suisse") solely for the purposes of section 21(2)(b) of
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Credit Suisse is acting exclusively
for the Company and no-one else in connection with the Offering and will not be
responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections
afforded to clients of Credit Suisse or for providing advice in relation to the
Offering, the contents of this announcement or any transaction or arrangement
referred to herein.
Credit Suisse's responsibilities as nominated adviser to the Company are owed
solely to the London
Stock Exchange and are not owed to the Company or to any
Director or to any other person, whether in respect of any decision to acquire
shares in the Company, in relation to any part of this document or otherwise.
This document does not constitute a recommendation concerning the Offering. The
value of shares can go down as well as up. Past performance is not a guide to
future performance. Potential investors should consult a professional adviser as
to the suitability of the Offering for the investor concerned.
Stabilisation/FSA
(1) The King Sturge valuation reports are presented as at 30 September 2006 and
therefore do not include the Ablon group's two recently acquired properties in
Bucharest, which the Company has valued at their combined cost of EUR 15.7
million.
For more information and to contact AFX: www.afxnews.com andwww.afxpress.com
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