Statement regarding possible competing offer

Wincanton PLC

26 February 2024

 

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 THAT JURISDICTION.

THIS IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT FALLING UNDER RULE 2.4 OF THE CITY CODE ON TAKEOVERS AND MERGERS (THE "TAKEOVER CODE") AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF A FIRM INTENTION TO MAKE AN OFFER UNDER RULE 2.7 OF THE TAKEOVER 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.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU 596 / 2014) WHICH IS PART OF UK LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018. UPON PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, THIS INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    

26 February 2024

WINCANTON PLC

("Wincanton" or the "Company")

STATEMENT REGARDING POSSIBLE COMPETING OFFER

The Board of Wincanton has received an approach from a potential competing bidder and is complying fully with its obligations under Rule 21.3 of the Takeover Code in providing access to due diligence information in order to enable that potential competing bidder to evaluate a possible offer for the Company.

Although the potential competing bidder has indicated that it is considering making a proposal, as of the date of this announcement, it has not provided the Board of Wincanton with any formal proposal relating to a possible offer, including as to terms or price. If any such proposal is provided by the potential competing bidder, the Board of Wincanton will carefully consider its terms, in conjunction with its advisers.

There can be no certainty that an offer by the potential competing bidder will be made for the Company, nor as to the terms on which any offer might be made. Accordingly, shareholders are advised to take no action at this time with regard to the approach by the potential competing bidder.

The Wincanton Directors continue to recommend unanimously to Wincanton shareholders the increased and final cash offer by CEVA Logistics UK Rose Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CEVA Logistics S.A., itself a subsidiary of CMA CGM S.A., announced today. That recommendation has not been withdrawn, qualified or modified.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 the potential competing bidder must clarify its position in relation to Wincanton.

A further announcement will be made as appropriate.

This announcement has been made without the consent of the potential competing bidder.

Enquiries

Wincanton James Wroath, Chief Executive Officer Tom Hinton, Chief Financial Officer	[phone]
HSBC (Lead Financial Adviser, Rule 3 Adviser and Joint Corporate Broker) Anthony Parsons Christopher Fincken Charles-Antoine de Chatillon Joe Weaving	[phone]
Deutsche Numis (Joint Financial Adviser and Joint Corporate Broker) Mark Lander George Price Stuart Ord	[phone]
UBS (Joint Financial Adviser) Sandip Dhillon Arnould Fremy Hew Glyn Davies	[phone]
Headland (PR Adviser) Susanna Voyle Henry Wallers	[phone]

Herbert Smith Freehills LLP is acting as legal adviser to Wincanton.

Important Notices

HSBC Bank plc ("HSBC"), which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, is acting as financial adviser to Wincanton and no one else in connection with the matters described in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Wincanton for providing the protections afforded to clients of HSBC, or for providing advice in connection with the matters referred to herein. Neither HSBC nor any of its group undertakings or affiliates 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 HSBC in connection with this announcement or any matter referred to herein.

Numis Securities Limited (trading for these purposes as Deutsche Numis) ("Deutsche Numis"), which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting as exclusively for Wincanton and no one else in connection with the matters described in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Wincanton for providing the protections afforded to clients of Deutsche Numis, or for providing advice in connection with the matters referred to herein. Neither Deutsche Numis nor any of its group undertakings or affiliates 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 Deutsche Numis in connection with this announcement or any matter referred to herein.

UBS AG London Branch ("UBS") is authorised and regulated by the Financial Market Supervisory Authority in Switzerland. It is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and subject to regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority and limited regulation by the Prudential Regulation Authority in the United Kingdom. UBS is acting exclusively as financial adviser to Wincanton and no one else in connection with the matters described in this announcement. In connection with such matters, UBS, its affiliates and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents will not regard any other person as their client, nor will they be responsible to any other person for providing the protections afforded to their clients or for providing advice in relation to this announcement or any matter referred to herein.

Further information

This announcement is for information purposes only and is not intended to, and does not, constitute or form part of any offer, invitation or the solicitation of an 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, pursuant to this announcement or otherwise. In particular, this announcement is not an offer of securities for sale into the United States. No offer of securities shall be made in the United States absent registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, such registration requirements. Any offer will be made solely by certain offer documentation which will contain the full terms and conditions of any offer, including details of how it may be accepted.

The release, publication or distribution of this announcement in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. Persons who are not resident in the United Kingdom or who are subject to the laws of other jurisdictions should inform themselves of, and observe, any applicable requirements. Any failure to comply with the applicable restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

This announcement has been prepared for the purpose of complying with English law, the Code, the Market Abuse Regulation and the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules and the information disclosed may not be the same as that which would have been disclosed if this announcement had been prepared in accordance with the laws of other jurisdictions.

Publication of this announcement

In accordance with Rule 26.1 of the Takeover Code, a copy of the announcement will be available on Wincanton's website at https://www.wincanton.co.uk/ 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.

Inside information

This announcement contains inside information in relation to Wincanton for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation. Upon publication of this announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public domain. The person responsible for arranging for the release of this announcement on behalf of Wincanton is Lyn Colloff, Company Secretary.

Disclosure requirements of the Takeover 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) 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. A Dealing Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(b) 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.

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).

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.

Certain statements in this announcement are forward looking and so involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events, and depend upon circumstances that will occur in the future and therefore results and developments can differ materially from those anticipated. The forward looking statements reflect knowledge and information available at the date of preparation of this announcement and Wincanton undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

 

END