Statement regarding possible competing offer

Restaurant Group PLC (The)

26 October 2023

 

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION

THIS IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF A POSSIBLE OFFER FALLING UNDER RULE 2.4 OF THE CITY CODE ON TAKEOVERS AND MERGERS (THE "CODE") AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF A FIRM INTENTION TO MAKE AN OFFER UNDER RULE 2.7 OF THE CODE. THERE CAN BE NO CERTAINTY THAT ANY FIRM OFFER WILL BE MADE NOR AS TO THE TERMS ON WHICH ANY FIRM OFFER MIGHT BE MADE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION

The Restaurant Group plc ("TRG" or the "Company")

Statement regarding possible competing offer

The Board of TRG notes the recent press speculation and confirms it has received a request within the last week from Wheel Topco Limited ("Wheel Topco"), the owner of PizzaExpress Group Limited, for diligence information on the Company in accordance with Rule 21.3 of the Code to enable Wheel Topco to evaluate a possible offer for the Company. No written or verbal indicative proposal relating to a possible offer, including as to terms, price or form of consideration, has been made to the Board of TRG by Wheel Topco.

The Board of TRG confirms that it will provide diligence information to Wheel Topco in accordance with its obligations under the Code. If any proposal is provided by Wheel Topco, the Board of TRG will carefully consider its terms, in conjunction with its advisers.

A further announcement will be made as appropriate. There can be no certainty that an offer by Wheel Topco will be made for the Company, nor as to the terms on which an offer might be made. Accordingly, shareholders are advised to take no action at this time with regard to the information request received from Wheel Topco.

The Rule 2.7 announcement released on 12 October 2023 in connection with the bid by Rock Bidco Limited, a special purpose vehicle indirectly owned by the Apollo funds, managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc., for TRG stated that the Board of TRG intends to recommend shareholders vote in favour of the proposed scheme. That intention to recommend is not withdrawn, qualified or modified.

In accordance with Section 4(c) of Appendix 7 of the Takeover Code, the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers will announce the deadline by which Wheel Topco must clarify its intention in relation to TRG.

This announcement has been made without the consent of Wheel Topco.

Enquiries

TRG Ken Hanna, Chair Umer Usman, Investor Relations	[phone]
Lazard & Co., Limited (Lead Financial Adviser and Rule 3 Adviser to TRG) William Rucker Louise Campbell Adam Blin	[phone]
Centerview Partners UK LLP (Financial Adviser to TRG) Nick Reid Hadleigh Beals James Tookman	[phone]
Citigroup Global Markets Limited (Financial Adviser and Joint Corporate Broker to TRG) Christopher Wren James Ibbotson Peter Catterall	[phone]
Investec Bank plc (Joint Corporate Broker to TRG) David Flin Ben Farrow	[phone]
MHP Group (PR Adviser to TRG) Oliver Hughes James McFarlane	[phone] [phone] [phone]

IMPORTANT NOTICES

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the UK version of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.  Upon the publication of this announcement the inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of TRG is Andrew Eames (General Counsel & Company Secretary).

This announcement is not intended to, and does not, constitute or form part of any offer, invitation or solicitation of any offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, sell or otherwise dispose of, any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction, whether pursuant to this announcement or otherwise.

The release, distribution or publication of this announcement in jurisdictions outside the United Kingdom may be restricted by laws of the relevant jurisdictions and therefore persons into whose possession this announcement comes should inform themselves about, and observe, any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with the restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities law of any such jurisdiction.

Notices related to financial advisers

Lazard & Co., Limited, which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA"), is acting exclusively as lead financial adviser and Rule 3 adviser to TRG and no one else in connection with the matters described in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than TRG for providing the protections afforded to clients of Lazard nor for providing advice in relation to the contents of this announcement or any other matter or arrangement referred to herein. Neither Lazard nor any of its affiliates (nor their respective directors, officers, employees or agents) owes or accepts any duty, liability or responsibility whatsoever (whether direct or indirect, whether in contract, in tort, under statute or otherwise) to any person who is not a client of Lazard in connection with this announcement, any matter, arrangement or statement contained or referred to herein or otherwise.

Centerview Partners UK LLP, which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA, is acting exclusively as financial adviser to TRG and no one else in connection with the matters set out in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than TRG for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in relation to the matters set out in this announcement, the contents of this announcement or any other matters referred to in this announcement. Neither Centerview nor any of its affiliates, nor any of Centerview's and such affiliates' respective members, directors, officers, controlling persons or employees owes or accepts any duty, liability or responsibility whatsoever (whether direct or indirect, consequential, whether in contract, in tort, in delict, under statute  or  otherwise)  to  any  person  who  is  not  a  client  of  Centerview  in  connection  with  this announcement, any statement contained herein or otherwise.

Citigroup Global Markets Limited, which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority ("PRA") and regulated in the UK by the FCA and the PRA is acting exclusively as Financial Adviser and Joint Corporate Broker to TRG and for no one else in connection with the matters described in this announcement, and will not be responsible to anyone other than TRG for providing the protections afforded to its clients nor for providing advice in relation to the matters referred to in this announcement. Neither Citi nor any of its affiliates, directors or employees owes or accepts any duty, liability or responsibility whatsoever (whether direct or indirect, consequential, whether in contract, tort, in delict, under statute or otherwise) to any person who is not a client of Citi in connection with this announcement, any statement contained herein, or otherwise.

Investec Bank plc, which is authorised by the PRA and regulated by the FCA and PRA, is acting for TRG and no one else in connection with the matters described in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than TRG for providing the protections afforded to clients of Investec Bank plc nor for giving advice in relation to the matters described in this announcement. Further, Investec Bank plc accepts no responsibility whatsoever and makes no representations or warranty, express or implied, for or in respect of the contents of this announcement, including its accuracy, completeness or verification or for any other statement made or purported to be made by it, or on its behalf, in connection with the matters described in this announcement, and nothing in this announcement is, or shall be relied upon as, a promise or representation in this respect, whether as to the past or future. Investec Bank plc and its affiliates accordingly disclaim, to the fullest extent permitted by law, all and any responsibility and liability whatsoever arising in tort or otherwise as related to above, which it might otherwise have in respect of this announcement or any such statement.

Disclosure requirements of the Code

Under Rule 8.3(a) of the Code, any person who is interested in 1% or more of any class of relevant securities of an offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror (being any offeror other than an offeror in respect of which it has been announced that its offer is, or is likely to be, solely in cash) must make an Opening Position Disclosure following the commencement of the offer period and, if later, following the announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is first identified. An Opening Position Disclosure must contain details of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s). An Opening Position Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(a) of the Code applies must be made by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the 10th business day following the commencement of the offer period and, if appropriate, by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the 10th business day following the announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is first identified. Relevant persons who deal in the relevant securities of the offeree company or of a securities exchange offeror prior to the deadline for making an Opening Position Disclosure must instead make a Dealing Disclosure.

Under Rule 8.3(b) of the Code, any person who is, or becomes, interested in 1% or more of any class of relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror must make a Dealing Disclosure if the person deals in any relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror. A Dealing Disclosure must contain details of the dealing concerned and of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s), save to the extent that these details have previously been disclosed under Rule 8 of the Code. A Dealing Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(b) of the Code applies must be made by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the business day following the date of the relevant dealing.

If two or more persons act together pursuant to an agreement or understanding, whether formal or informal, to acquire or control an interest in relevant securities of an offeree company or a securities exchange offeror, they will be deemed to be a single person for the purpose of Rule 8.3 of the Code.

Opening Position Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company and by any offeror and Dealing Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company, by any offeror and by any persons acting in concert with any of them (see Rules 8.1, 8.2 and 8.4 of the Code).

Details of the offeree and offeror companies in respect of whose relevant securities Opening Position Disclosures and Dealing Disclosures must be made can be found in the Disclosure Table on the Takeover Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk, including details of the number of relevant securities in issue, when the offer period commenced and when any offeror was first identified. You should contact the Panel's Market Surveillance Unit on [phone] if you are in any doubt as to whether you are required to make an Opening Position Disclosure or a Dealing Disclosure.

Rule 26.1 disclosure

In accordance with Rule 26.1 of the Code, a copy of this announcement will be available (subject to certain restrictions relating to persons resident in restricted jurisdictions) on www.trgplc.com/investors by no later than 12 noon (London time) on the business day following the date of this announcement. The content of the website referred to in this announcement is not incorporated into, and does not form part of, this announcement.

Rule 2.9 information

In accordance with Rule 2.9 of the Code, TRG confirms that, as at the close of business on 25 October 2023, it has 770,212,928 ordinary shares of 28.125 pence each in issue. The International Securities Identification Number for the ordinary shares is GB00B0YG1K06. TRG holds no shares in treasury.

 

END