Rule 8 - Coats PLC

Guinness Peat Group PLC
31 March 2003

To: RNS

Coats plc

The following is the text of a Disclosure sent by Avenue Acquisition plc today 
to the Company Secretary of Coats plc.


"Disclosure of Interest in Shares Pursuant to Rules 8.1 of the City Code on
Takeovers and Mergers.

Avenue Acquisition plc ("the Company") hereby notifies Coats plc ("Coats") that
following a market purchase of 16,021,480 Ordinary 20 pence shares of Coats
("Shares") on 28 March 2003 at a price of 58.0p, the Company's interest in the
Shares (and any person acting in concert with it holding Shares) now amounts to
293,280,632 representing 41.43% of the issued share capital.

As stated in the RNS announcement of 6 March 2003, each of GPG (UK) Holdings
plc, a subsidiary of Guinness Peat Group plc, RIT Capital Partners (and certain
parties connected to it) and Chapman International Investments Limited are
shareholders in Avenue Holdings Group Limited which is Avenue Acquisition plc's
parent company and have entered into a shareholders' agreement, certain terms of
which are described in that announcement. Accordingly, all of them should be
regarded as being interested in the Shares in which Avenue Acquisition plc is
itself interested, as referred to above.

Please also accept this notification as a notification of the relevant interests
of the parties referred to above pursuant to sections 198 to 202 of the
Companies Act 1985."

From: Richard Russell 
      Company Secretary
      Guinness Peat Group PLC


                      

                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange