Acquisition

Numis Corporation PLC
16 June 2004


Embargoed for release 7am Wednesday 16 June 2004



Numis Corporation Plc ('Numis')

Investment in comdirect Limited ('comdirect')


The Board of Numis announces that, on 15 June 2004, Numis entered into a
conditional agreement to acquire 26.3 per cent (fully diluted) of the issued
share capital of comdirect, the UK's second largest on-line broker, for a cash
consideration of approximately £4.2 million payable on completion. The
acquisition is conditional upon FSA approval.


comdirect has grown rapidly since its launch in June 2000 and is the second
largest online retail stockbroker, the third largest retail stockbroker in the
UK by share trading volumes and the market leader in the covered warrants
market. It serves several institutional customers and over 60,000 retail
customers. Following completion of the transaction, the shareholders of
comdirect will be Lloyds TSB Development Capital Limited, Numis and comdirect's
management.


The Board of Numis believes that the business of comdirect is complementary (but
will remain separate) to the existing business of the Numis Group and that this
is a rare opportunity to acquire a significant stake in an established business
where there has already been considerable investment in cutting-edge technology.
There is an excellent management team at comdirect, who have been with comdirect
from its launch in June 2000.


Upon completion of the transaction, Oliver Hemsley will join the comdirect board
as a non-executive director.


Commenting upon the transaction, Oliver Hemsley, chief executive of Numis, said:
'We believe that this strategic stake will provide us with opportunities to
cooperate with comdirect in a number of areas and we look forward to working
with the company in the future'.



16 June 2004


End






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