Issue of Equity

Cater Barnard PLC 31 January 2002 Cater Barnard plc ('the Company' or 'Cater Barnard') Open Offer of 360,691,520 New Ordinary Shares at 1p per share Placing of 395,000,000 New Ordinary Shares at 1p per share Acquisition of further ordinary shares in Cater Barnard (USA) plc Summary • Open Offer of 360,691,520 New Ordinary Shares at 1p per share • Placing of 395,000,000 New Ordinary Shares at 1p per share • Acquisition of further ordinary shares in Cater Barnard (USA) plc • Minimum gross proceeds of £5.299m from the Open Offer and the Placing • Repayment of Loan Notes Stephen Dean, Chairman of Cater Barnard plc commented, 'This is an important set of proposals for the further development of Cater Barnard plc. This transaction will enable the Company to invest in our growth as we seek to increase the range of financial services we offer. I am confident that our achievements to date give us a substantial base on which to build. The board will continue to identify acquisition opportunities that will contribute new products and services to our client offering.' For further information please contact:- Stephen Dean, Chairman 0870 066 0830 Mark Garratt, Finance Director Cater Barnard plc Sarah Wharry 020 7648 8700 Seymour Pierce Limited Adam Reynolds / Takki Sulaiman 020 7735 9415 Hansard Communications 07778 419 218 mail@hansardcommunications.com Your Board announced today that the Company proposes to raise up to £7.557 million (before expenses) by way of an Open Offer of 360,691,520 Offer Shares at a price of 1p per share and a Placing of 395,000,000 Placing Shares at 1p per share. The Open Offer has been underwritten as to £1 million by Seymour Pierce Ellis and, in addition, Stephen Dean and Adrian Stecyk have each given an irrevocable undertaking to the Company and Seymour Pierce to subscribe for one half of their respective entitlement to Offer Shares amounting in aggregate to 34,929,712 Offer Shares (£349,297.12). Qualifying Shareholders are invited to subscribe for Offer Shares under the Open Offer on the basis of: 2 Offer Shares for every 1 Existing Ordinary Share held at the Record Date. The Open Offer is conditional, inter alia, on the passing of the Resolutions to be proposed at the Extraordinary General Meeting and to Admission The Company is proposing to use the proceeds of the Placing for the purpose of repaying the Loan Notes held by Hemery Trustees Limited, on behalf of Stephen Dean. Further details of the Loan Notes repayment are set out below. The Company is further proposing to acquire 3,333,330 Carter Barnard (USA) plc Shares from the Vendors, the consideration for which will be satisfied by the issue of 12,592,576 Consideration Shares. The Acquisition requires the approval of Shareholders pursuant to Section 320 of the Act, as two of the vendors are Adrian Stecyk, who is a director of the Company and Chrystyna Stecyk, his wife. The Placing, together with the take-up of Offer Shares by the Concert Party under the Open Offer and completion of the Acquisition, will result in the Concert Party holding an interest in a maximum interest of 66.24 per cent. of the Enlarged Issued Share Capital of the Company. Subject to approval on a poll of Independent Shareholders, the Panel has agreed to waive the obligation arising under The City Code for the Concert Party, as described below, to make a general offer to Shareholders, which would otherwise arise as a result of the Placing and Open Offer. COMPANY BACKGROUND Cater Barnard (formerly VoyagerIT.com plc) was established in 1999 to acquire or invest in growth orientated smaller companies specifically within the information technology and internet sectors which required further funding for expansion. At the end of 2000, due to the shift in sentiment of the investment community away from internet and technology investment companies generally, the Board made the decision to change the strategy of the Company and look to invest in sectors which the Directors believed would offer a better return for shareholders. To this end the Directors began to realise the Company's investments and announced their decision to focus on financial services sector. The change in strategy was endorsed by shareholders at the Company's annual general meeting held in April 2001 when the Chairman outlined the Company's revised business plan and shareholders approved the Company's change of name of to Cater Barnard plc. In April 2001, Cater Barnard was re-established as a financial services company. Following this change in strategy, Cater Barnard now has investments in Carter Barnard (USA) plc and two other companies. The first is a 53.88 per cent. ordinary shareholding in an AIM-listed specialist telecoms company, Envesta plc. The second investment is a 36 per cent. holding of common stock in IMX Pharmaceuticals Inc., a company quoted on the OTC bulletin board. It is the Directors' intention to dispose of these two investments in Envesta plc and IMX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in due course. The Company now operates as an international financial services provider and advisory group with offices in New York and London and a staff of 14, including the Directors. The Group's UK business includes consultancy services and advising on mergers and acquisitions. The Group also provides research on listed smaller-cap companies through its research division which is distributed to institutional investors, fund managers and the financial press. The Company announced on 30 November 2001 that Cater Barnard Securities Limited had been authorised by the Securities and Futures Authority (now the Financial Services Authority) to provide corporate finance advice. The Directors expect authorisation to increase the range of financial services that can be offered by the Group in the UK. INFORMATION ON Carter Barnard (USA) plc Carter Barnard (USA) plc's business is the provision of investment banking services and research through its wholly owned subsidiary, Griffin Securities, Inc. ('Griffin') whose activities include brokerage, investment banking services and providing detailed equity research. Griffin is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation in the US. Carter Barnard (USA) plc's entire issued share capital was admitted to trading through OFEX on 20 January 2000. In July 2000, Carter Barnard (USA) plc acquired 80% of the issued share capital of Griffin, which was formed in 1997 and maintains an office in New York. In July 2001, Cater Barnard (USA) acquired the remaining 20% of Griffin's issued share capital. Griffin has received press coverage in 2001 from investment research into companies in the HIV/AIDS and stem cell research sectors, which the Directors believe has given Griffin credibility within these sectors in the US. In July 2001, Carter Barnard (USA) plc also acquired Cater Barnard's entire US investment portfolio, providing Carter Barnard (USA) plc with US-based investment assets. Cater Barnard currently owns 69.16 per cent of Carter Barnard (USA) plc and, following implementation of the Proposals, Cater Barnard will own 86.4 per cent of Carter Barnard (USA) plc. Cater Barnard intends to acquire the balance of any equity in Carter Barnard (USA) plc which it will not own, following the Acquisition, as soon as the opportunity arises subject to agreement of satisfactory terms. REASONS FOR AND DETAILS OF THE OPEN OFFER AND USE OF PROCEEDS The Company proposes to issue up to 360,691,520 Offer Shares pursuant to the Open Offer at the Issue Price which will raise up to £3.607 million for the Company (before expenses), to be used as working capital. Stephen Dean and Adrian Stecyk have each irrevocably undertaken to the Company and to Seymour Pierce to subscribe (or procure subscription) for one half of their respective beneficial entitlement to Offer Shares amounting in aggregate to 34,929,712 Offer Shares (£349,297.12). Seymour Pierce Ellis has undertaken to underwrite the first £1 million of the Offer Shares over and above the Irrevocable Shares. Part II of this document comprises a letter from Seymour Pierce, which invites Qualifying Shareholders to apply for Offer Shares at the Issue Price on the basis of: 2 Offer Shares for every 1 Existing Ordinary Share held at the Record Date. The Offer Shares will, when issued and fully paid, rank pari passu in all respects with the Existing Ordinary Shares of the Company and will rank in full for all dividends and other distributions hereafter declared, made or paid on the share capital of the Company. Qualifying Shareholders may apply for more than their pro rata entitlement using the excess application facility. To the extent that applications from Qualifying Shareholders exceed 360,691,520 Offer Shares, all excess applications shall be scaled back in such manner as the Board and Seymour Pierce shall in their absolute discretion determine. Monies in respect of excess applications which are not successful will be returned to the applicants without interest as soon as is practicable following Admission. Qualifying Shareholders will receive an Application Form containing details of their entitlement to subscribe for Offer Shares. To be valid, completed Application Forms and payment in full must be received by the Company's registrars and receiving agents, Connaught St Michaels Limited, by 3.00 p.m. on 22 February 2002. Application forms are personal to the shareholder named thereon and cannot be transferred except to satisfy bona fide market claims. The Open Offer is conditional on the Placing and the passing of the Resolutions to be proposed at the Extraordinary General Meeting and to Admission. It is expected that dealings in the New Ordinary Shares will commence on AIM at 8.00 a.m. on 4 March 2002 (or such later time and date as shall be determined by Seymour Pierce and the Company, being not later than 29 March 2002). If Admission has not so occurred, application monies will be returned to applicants without interest as soon thereafter as is practicable. REASONS FOR AND DETAILS OF THE ACQUISITION Cater Barnard currently holds 13,397,059 ordinary shares in Cater Barnard (USA) plc representing 69.16 per cent of Cater Barnard (USA) plc's issued share capital. The Company has entered into a conditional agreement with the Vendors to acquire from them a further 3,333,330 ordinary shares in Cater Barnard (USA) plc. This acquisition will result in Cater Barnard owning 16,730,389 ordinary shares in Carter Barnard (USA) plc representing 86.4 per cent of Cater Barnard (USA) plc's issued ordinary share capital thereby consolidating Cater Barnard's control over Cater Barnard (USA) plc. The consideration for the Acquisition will be satisfied by the issue of the Consideration Shares comprising 12,592,576 New Ordinary Shares. The Consideration Shares are to be issued and allotted as fully paid to the Vendors. At the Issue Price, the aggregate consideration for the Acquisition is £125,925.76. The Acquisition is a related party transaction in which one of the Directors and his wife are interested and therefore requires the prior approval of Shareholders pursuant to Section 320 of the Act. Reasons for and Details of the Placing and Repayment of the Loan Note Periodically Stephen Dean, through Hemery Trustees Limited, has provided debt finance to the Company. The aggregate principal outstanding is currently £3,950,000. Servicing the interest payments on this loan costs the Company approximately £326,000 every year at an average interest rate of 8.25 per cent. per annum. The Loan Notes are held in the name of Hemery Trustees Limited. The Loan Notes are due for repayment in November 2002. However, the Independent Director believes that having regard to the Company's anticipated cash resources, it will not be possible to repay the Loan Notes in accordance with their terms without the liquidation of a substantial proportion of the Company's investment holdings. Hemery Trustees Limited have agreed, subject to Shareholder approval of the waiver from Rule 9 of the City Code granted by the Panel, to subscribe for 395,000,000 Placing Shares on the basis that the proceeds are used for the repayment of the Loan Notes in full. Stephen Dean will, following the implementation of the Proposals, be beneficially interested in 456,683,486 Ordinary Shares which will represent 48.14 per cent. of the Enlarged Issued Share Capital (assuming the Maximum Subscription) or 63.18 per cent. of the Enlarged Issued Share Capital (assuming the Minimum Subscription). Although this Proposal results in significant dilution to existing Shareholders, the benefit to the Company is that the interest repayments to service the Loan Notes will be eliminated. The Company will save £326,000 of interest payments per annum and in the opinion of the Independent Director, the Proposal will improve the Company's balance sheet by increasing net assets. CURRENT TRADING AND PROSPECTS The Company announced the Group's final results for the 12 months ended 30 September 2001 on 29 November 2001 and these showed a pre-tax profit of £1,906,358. Further details of the Company's trading position up to 30 September 2001 are set out in Part III of this document. The Directors believe that there are opportunities for the Company to grow its investment banking and corporate advisory business and the outcome for the current financial year is in line with the Directors expectations. The Directors intend to develop the business of the Group by increasing the range of financial services offered and by seeking further acquisition opportunities to accelerate this growth into new areas. The Directors are in negotiation (subject, inter alia, to due diligence and contract) with an acquisition target whose business strategy is to unite a number of currently independently owned independent financial advisers within the UK, offering centralised services to build a national brand. If the negotiations are successfully concluded, the consideration for the acquisition would most likely be satisfied by the issue of Ordinary Shares. On the information currently known to the Directors, this could require the issue of between 65,000,000 and 100,000,000 Ordinary Shares. The Independent Director, who has been so advised by Seymour Pierce Limited in respect of the waiver of Rule 9 of the City Code, and having consulted with the Company's nominated adviser on the Proposals in respect of the AIM Rules, consider the Proposals to be in the best interests of the Company and Shareholders as a whole. In providing advice to the Independent Director, Seymour Pierce has taken into account the Independent Directors commercial assessments. Copies of the document concerning the Proposals, which will be posted to Shareholders on 1 February 2002, will be available from the Company's registered office, 6 Lloyd's Avenue, London EC3V 3AX, until 4 April 2002. Timetable of key events:- Record Date for the Open Offer 29 January 2002 Document posted to shareholders 1 February 2002 Latest time date for splitting application forms 3.00pm 20 February 2002 Latest time and date for application and payment in full 3.00pm 22 February 2002 Latest time and date for receipt of proxies for the EGM 10.00am 27 February 2002 EGM 10.00am 1 March 2002 Admission of the New Ordinary Shares 8.00am 4 March 2002 CREST accounts credited 4 March 2002 Despatch of definitive share certificates by 11 March 2002 END This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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