| Olivant Advisors Ltd - Statement re Northern Rock
Fri Dec 7, 2007 2:01am EST
* Reuters is not responsible for the content in this press release.
RNS Number:4077J
Olivant Advisors Ltd
07 December 2007
7 December 2007
Statement regarding Northern Rock plc
Olivant, an independent investment group, announces that it has submitted today
further detailed materials in support of its indicative proposal to the Board of
Northern Rock plc ("Northern Rock" or the "Company") of 16 November 2007.
Consistent with its original proposal, Olivant continues to maintain that the
stabilization and restructuring of Northern Rock should, under the leadership of
Luqman Arnold and with the expert assistance of Olivant, be a Company-led
process.
Overview of further details of Olivant's indicative proposal:
• Olivant seeking to join with the Company both as a significant
shareholder and through immediate introduction of expertise appropriate to
Northern Rock's current position
• Implementation of a restructuring strategy to scale Northern Rock to
its natural funding and operational capacity
• Luqman Arnold, Chairman of Olivant, to be seconded to the Company's
board and appointed Executive Chairman of Northern Rock with immediate effect
until full repayment of the Bank of England facility
• Kirk Stephenson, Chief Operating Officer of Olivant, to be seconded to
the Company's board and appointed as Non-executive Director of Northern Rock
with immediate effect
• Equity capital of £600 million to £800 million to be raised by
Northern Rock through a transferable rights issue and an equity subscription
by Olivant
• Rights issue to be arranged by Northern Rock to raise between £450
million and £650 million at or around the prevailing market price at the time
of subscription, scaled appropriately for the Company's stabilization and
successful strategic repositioning
• Receipt by Olivant of non-binding letters of commitment from five
existing institutional shareholders currently representing approximately 23%
of the shareholder base in Northern Rock to take up pro rata rights and
sub-underwrite approximately £440m of a rights issue at or around the current
market price
• Receipt by Olivant of support letters from retail shareholder groups
• Equity subscription by Olivant of £150 million in cash for a minority
stake in Northern Rock to be made on completion of the rights issue and at a
price equal to the rights issue subscription price
• Olivant also to be issued with high premium warrants over 7% of the
enlarged equity capital of the Company
• Debt financing to be arranged by Northern Rock with the assistance of
Olivant's capital markets team; initial refinancing facility to enable £10
billion to £15 billion of the existing Bank of England Liquidity Support
Facility to be repaid on completion of the rights issue and Olivant equity
subscription; size of the initial repayment subject to prevailing market
conditions
• Repayment of remaining Bank of England Liquidity Support Facility by
the end of 2009 through active operational management, accelerated through
external market financing
• Agreement to be negotiated with HM Government on process and basis for
ultimate withdrawal of current guarantee arrangements for depositors
• The Company to issue to the Bank of England high premium warrants on
the same terms as Olivant over 5% of the enlarged equity capital of the
Company
• Olivant team to start with immediate effect; the debt and equity
financing to be implemented by the Company as soon as practicable alongside
Olivant equity subscription
• Northern Rock brand retained
• As the Olivant proposal does not involve a change of control, Olivant
would anticipate that the Company would respect established arrangements with
its stakeholders, such as the Northern Rock Foundation and Unite; annual
contribution to the Foundation ordinarily to be 5% of pre-tax profits or £10
million, whichever is the greater.
Luqman Arnold, Chairman of Olivant, said: "It is time for all stakeholders to
work together to ensure prompt and full repayment of the Bank of England
facility and to set Northern Rock back on course for a successful and
independent future. We believe that this proposal satisfies the requirement of
all stakeholders, including the Tripartite Authorities' principles for assessing
Northern Rock proposals, whilst confirming the broad and constructive support
from shareholders."
- Ends -
Enquiries:
Brunswick Group LLP
Mike Harrison/Anita Scott/Craig Breheny/Ash Spiegelberg +44 (0) 20 7404 5959
Lazard
Ken Costa +44 (0) 20 7187 2000
Lazard & Co., Limited, which is authorized and regulated by the Financial
Services Authority in the United Kingdom, is acting for Olivant in connection
with the proposal referred to above and no-one else and will not be responsible
to anyone other than Olivant for providing the protections afforded to clients
of Lazard & Co., Limited or for providing advice in relation to the proposal
referred to above.
Notes to editors:
Olivant is an independent investment group with substantial and permanent
shareholder capital. It invests solely in the financial services sector.
Positioned between typical financial and strategic investors, it offers the
skill sets of a strategic investor but the independence and lack of conflicts of
interest of a financial investor. Olivant's partners bring an operational
approach aligned with incumbent management teams. Olivant's shareholders
comprise a number of significant financial services institutions and
sophisticated family offices.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/12/07/idUS63027+07-Dec-2007+RNS20071207
Olivant Advisers - Investor Profile
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Institutional Investor Background
Olivant Advisers is a principal investment firm founded in
2006 by CEO Luqman Arnold and President Alan Morgan. Prior to
founding Olivant, Mr. Arnold was formerly CEO...
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Institutional Investor Background
Investor Regional and/or Country Focus: Emerging Markets
Founders and Key Executives of Olivant Advisers: Luqman
Arnold; Alan Morgan
Entities related to Olivant Advisers: Olivant Limited; Olivant
Advisers Limited; Olivant Advisers (Asia-Pacific) Private Ltd
*Denotes that the person or entity is no longer related to the
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