Results of Placing

RNS Number : 0952E

Ocado Group PLC

06 February 2018

 

6 February 2018

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND SHALL NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR ISSUE OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY, SUBSCRIBE OR ACQUIRE ANY SECURITIES, INCLUDING PLACING SHARES, IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH ANY SUCH OFFER OR SOLICITATION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION

OCADO GROUP PLC

Results of Placing

Ocado Group plc ("Ocado" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the successful completion of the placing announced earlier today (the "Placing").

A total of 31,463,500 new ordinary shares in Ocado (the "Placing Shares") have been placed by Goldman Sachs International  ("Goldman Sachs") and Numis Securities Limited ("Numis") who are acting as joint bookrunners (Goldman Sachs and Numis, together the "Bookrunners") at a price of 455 pence per Placing Share (the "Placing Price"), raising gross proceeds of £143,158,925. The Placing Shares being issued represent approximately 5% of the issued ordinary share capital of the Company prior to Placing. The issue price of the Placing represents a discount of 1.46% to the middle market price at the time that the Company and the Bookrunners agreed the Placing Price.

The Placing Shares will, when issued, be credited as fully paid and will be issued subject to the Company's articles of association and will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing issued ordinary shares in the capital of the Company, including the right to receive all dividends and other distributions declared, made or paid on or in respect of such shares by reference to a record date falling after their issue.

The Placing is conditional, among other things, upon Admission becoming effective. The Placing is also conditional upon the placing agreement between the Company and the Bookrunners not being terminated.

Admission

Applications have been made for the Placing Shares to be admitted to the premium listing segment of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority and to be admitted to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange plc (together, "Admission"). Admission is expected to take place at 8.00 a.m. on 8 February 2018.

Smaller related party transactions

The Company believes that The London and Amsterdam Trust Company Limited, The Capital Group Companies, Inc. together with certain client and fund accounts in respect of which affiliates of The Capital Group Companies, Inc. act as discretionary investment adviser (collectively, "Capital Group") and Apple III Limited each currently hold or have in the last twelve months held 10% or more of the ordinary share capital of the Company. For the purposes of UK Listing Rule 11 the Company therefore believes that they are, or may be, classified as related parties of the Company.

Pursuant to the Placing, The London and Amsterdam Trust Company Limited have been placed 6,200,000 shares raising gross proceeds of £28,210,000, Capital Group have been placed 5,800,000 shares raising gross proceeds of £26,390,000 and Apple III Limited have been placed 3,400,000 shares raising gross proceeds of £15,470,000. The above transactions are classified as smaller related party transactions under LR 11.1.10R and are disclosed in accordance with LR11.1.10R

Total voting rights

Following Admission, the total number of shares of the Company in issue will be 662,924,706. Ocado currently holds no shares as treasury shares and therefore, following Admission, the total number of voting shares in the Company will be 662,924,706.

The total voting rights figure of 662,924,706 ordinary shares may be used by shareholders and others with notification obligations as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine whether they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, Ocado under the  FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

For further information please contact:

Ocado

Tim Steiner, Chief Executive Officer, on 01707 228 000
Duncan Tatton-Brown, Chief Financial Officer, on 01707 228 000
David Shriver, Director of Communications, on 01707 228 000
Michelle Clarke / Susanna Voyle, Tulchan Communications on 020 7353 4200

Goldman Sachs International

Phil Raper / Richard Cormack / Jimmy Bastock
020 7774 1000

Numis Securities Limited

Alex Ham / Oliver Cardigan / Oliver Cox
020 7260 1000

Person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement:

Neill Abrams
Group General Counsel & Company Secretary
Ocado Group plc
Buildings One & Two Trident Place
Mosquito Way
Hatfield
Hertfordshire
AL10 9UL
Fax: [phone]
email: [e-mail]
Ocado Group plc LEI: 213800LO8F61YB8MBC74

This announcement (the "Announcement") and the information contained in it is not for publication, release or distribution, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan or South Africa or any other state or jurisdiction in which publication, release or distribution would be unlawful. This Announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or issue, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, acquire or subscribe for shares in the capital of the Company in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, or South Africa or any other state or jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is not authorised or to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such offer or solicitation.  Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of such jurisdictions. The Placing Shares have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") or with any securities regulatory authority of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States and may not be offered, sold or transferred, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and in compliance with any applicable securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States. Subject to certain limited exceptions, the Placing Shares are being offered and sold outside the United States in accordance with Regulation S under the Securities Act. 

No public offering of the Placing Shares is being made in the United States, United Kingdom or elsewhere. All offers of the Placing Shares will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Prospectus Directive (as defined below) from the requirement to produce a prospectus. This Announcement is being distributed to persons in the United Kingdom only in circumstances in which section 21(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended ("FSMA") does not apply.

No prospectus will be made available in connection with the matters contained in this Announcement and no such prospectus is required (in accordance with the Prospectus Directive (as defined below)) to be published. This Announcement and the terms and conditions set out herein are for information purposes only and are directed only at persons who are: (a) persons in Member States of the European Economic Area who are qualified investors (within the meaning of article 2(1)(e) of the EU Prospectus Directive (which means Directive 2003/71/EC as amended, and includes the 2010 PD Amending Directive (Directive 2010/73/EU) to the extent implemented in the relevant Member State) (the "Prospectus Directive") ("Qualified Investors"); and (b) in the United Kingdom, Qualified Investors who are persons who (i) have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within the definition of "investment professionals" in article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the "Order"); (ii) are persons falling within article 49(2)(a) to (d) ("high net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc") of the Order; or (iii) are persons to whom it may otherwise be lawfully communicated; (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). This Announcement and the terms and conditions set out herein must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not relevant persons. Persons distributing this Announcement must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so. Any investment or investment activity to which this Announcement and the terms and conditions set out herein relates is available only to relevant persons and will be engaged in only with relevant persons.

This Announcement has been issued by, and is the sole responsibility of, the Company. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by the Bookrunners, or by any of their affiliates or agents as to or in relation to, the accuracy or completeness of this Announcement or any other written or oral information made available to or publicly available to any interested party or its advisers, and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed.

Goldman Sachs is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (the "FCA"). Numis is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA. Each of Goldman Sachs and Numis is acting solely for the Company and no one else in connection with the Placing and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to its clients nor for providing advice in relation to the Placing and/or any other matter referred to in this Announcement.  Apart from the responsibilities and liabilities, if any, which may be imposed on Goldman Sachs and/or Numis by FSMA or by the regulatory regime established under it, neither Goldman Sachs nor Numis nor any of their respective affiliates accepts any responsibility whatsoever for the contents of the information contained in this Announcement or for any other statement made or purported to be made by or on behalf of Goldman Sachs and/or Numis or any of their respective affiliates in connection with the Company, the Placing Shares or the Placing.  Goldman Sachs and/or Numis and each of their respective affiliates accordingly disclaim all and any responsibility and liability whatsoever, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise (save as referred to above) in respect of any statements or other information contained in this Announcement and no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made by Goldman Sachs and/or Numis or any of their respective affiliates as to the accuracy, completeness or sufficiency of the information contained in this Announcement.

The distribution of this Announcement and the offering of the Placing Shares in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law.  No action has been taken by the Company, Goldman Sachs and/or Numis that would permit an offering of such shares or possession or distribution of this Announcement or any other offering or publicity material relating to such shares in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required.  Persons into whose possession this Announcement comes are required by the Company, Goldman Sachs and Numis to inform themselves about, and to observe, such restrictions.

This Announcement contains (or may contain) certain forward-looking statements with respect to certain of the Company's current expectations and projections about future events.  These statements, which sometimes use words such as "aim", "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "plan", "estimate", "expect" and words of similar meaning, reflect the directors' beliefs and expectations and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions which could cause actual results and performance to differ materially from any expected future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking statement.  Statements contained in this Announcement regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future.  The information contained in this Announcement is subject to change without notice and, except as required by applicable law, the Company, Goldman Sachs and Numis do not assume any responsibility or obligation to update publicly or review any of the forward-looking statements contained in it and nor do they intend to.  You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Announcement.  No statement in this Announcement is or is intended to be a profit forecast or profit estimate or to imply that the earnings of the Company for the current or future financial years will necessarily match or exceed the historical or published earnings of the Company. As a result of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the recipient should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results or otherwise.

This Announcement does not identify or suggest, or purport to identify or suggest, the risks (direct or indirect) that may be associated with an investment in the Placing Shares. Any investment decision to buy Placing Shares in the Placing must be made solely on the basis of publicly available information, which has not been independently verified by either of Goldman Sachs or Numis.

The information in this Announcement may not be forwarded or distributed to any other person and may not be reproduced in any manner whatsoever.  Any forwarding, distribution, reproduction or disclosure of this information in whole or in part is unauthorised.  Failure to comply with this directive may result in a violation of the Securities Act or the applicable laws of other jurisdictions.

This Announcement does not constitute an invitation to underwrite, subscribe for or otherwise acquire or dispose of any securities in any jurisdiction. This Announcement does not constitute a recommendation concerning any investor's option with respect to the Placing. Each investor or prospective investor should conduct his, her or its own investigation, analysis and evaluation of the business and data described in this Announcement and publicly available information. The price and value of securities can go down as well as up. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.  

The Placing Shares to be issued pursuant to the Placing will not be admitted to trading on any stock exchange other than the London Stock Exchange.

Neither the content of the Company's website nor any website accessible by hyperlinks on the Company's website is incorporated in, or forms part of, this Announcement.

Information to Distributors

Solely for the purposes of the product governance requirements contained within: (a) EU Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments, as amended ("MiFID II"); (b) Articles 9 and 10 of Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2017/593 supplementing MiFID II; and (c) local implementing measures (together, the "MiFID II Product Governance Requirements"), and disclaiming all and any liability, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise, which any "manufacturer" (for the purposes of the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements) may otherwise have with respect thereto, the Placing Shares have been subject to a product approval process, which has determined that such securities are: (i) compatible with an end target market of retail investors and investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties, each as defined in MiFID II; and (ii) eligible for distribution through all distribution channels as are permitted by MiFID II (the "Target Market Assessment").  Notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, distributors should note that: the price of the Placing Shares may decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment; the Placing Shares offer no guaranteed income and no capital protection; and an investment in the Placing Shares is compatible only with investors who do not need a guaranteed income or capital protection, who (either alone or in conjunction with an appropriate financial or other adviser) are capable of evaluating the merits and risks of such an investment and who have sufficient resources to be able to bear any losses that may result therefrom. The Target Market Assessment is without prejudice to the requirements of any contractual, legal or regulatory selling restrictions in relation to the Placing.  Furthermore, it is noted that, notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, Goldman Sachs and Numis will only procure investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties. 

For the avoidance of doubt, the Target Market Assessment does not constitute: (a) an assessment of suitability or appropriateness for the purposes of MiFID II; or (b) a recommendation to any investor or group of investors to invest in, or purchase, or take any other action whatsoever with respect to the Placing Shares. 

Each distributor is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the Placing Shares and determining appropriate distribution channels.

NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING IN THE FOREGOING, NO PUBLIC OFFERING OF THE PLACING SHARES IS BEING MADE BY ANY PERSON ANYWHERE AND THE COMPANY HAS NOT AUTHORISED OR CONSENTED TO ANY SUCH OFFERING IN RELATION TO THE PLACING SHARES.

 

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