Holding in Company

Smith WH PLC 3 October 2000 DEALINGS BY SUBSTANTIAL SHAREHOLDERS 1) NAME OF COMPANY WH SMITH PLC 2) NAME OF SHAREHOLDER HAVING A MAJOR INTEREST CGNU PLC 3) Please state whether notification indicates that it is in respect of holding of the Shareholder named in 2 above or in respect of a non-beneficial interest or in the case of an individual holder if it is a holding of that person's spouse or children under the age of 18 SEE LETTER BELOW DATED 2 OCTOBER 2000 4) Name of the registered holder(s) and, if more than one holder, the number of shares held by each of them. SEE LETTER BELOW DATED 2 OCTOBER 2000 5) Number of shares/amount of stock acquired. N/A 6) ( N/A %) of issued Class 7) Number of shares/amount of stock disposed N/A 8) ( N/A %) of issued Class 9) Class of security ORDINARY SHARES OF 55 5/9 PENCE EACH 10) Date of transaction N/A 11) Date company informed 3 OCTOBER 2000 12) Total holding following this notification 7,033,086 13) Total percentage holding of issued class following this notification LESS THAN 3% 14) Any additional information 15) Name of contact and telephone number for queries C A WHITE (01793) 562446 16) Name and signature of authorised company official responsible for making this notification J A WARREN Date of Notification 3 OCTOBER 2000 LETTER TO W H SMITH PLC 2 OCTOBER 2000 W H SMITH PLC (THE 'COMPANY') This notification supersedes our previous notification to you dated 7 September 2000. This notification relates to issued ordinary shares of 55.555555p each in the capital of the Company (the 'shares') and is given in fulfilment of the obligations imposed by sections 198 to 202 of the Companies Act 1985 (the 'Act'). Notification on behalf of CGNU PLC CGNU PLC no longer have a notifiable interest in the shares. LETTER FROM CGNU PLC W H SMITH PLC 2 October 2000 APPENDIX REGISTERED HOLDERS NUMBER OF SHARES HELD BNY (Nominees) Ltd 5,900 (Material) BNY Norwich Union Nominees Ltd 161,591 (Material) Chase GA Group Nominees Ltd 4,268,275 (Material) CUIM Nominee Ltd 2,597,320 (Material) TOTAL PERCENTAGE INTEREST OF CGNU PLC: 2.81% ISSUED SHARE CAPITAL ON WHICH THIS NOTIFICATION IS BASED: 250,761,932

Companies

WH Smith (SMWH)
UK 100

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