In order to ensure a fair market as referred to in article 9b of the Decree on the Supervision of the Securities Trade 1995, Hawkslease Finance Company Limited (“HFCL”) makes the following announcement.
On 12 December 2002 HFCL announced its intention to make a cash Offer (the “Offer”) for all outstanding shares of EVC listed on the Official Segment of the Stock Market of Euronext Amsterdam N.V. (the “EVC Shares”). On the same day, HFCL announced a proposed Offer price of EUR 1.33 in cash for each EVC Share.
After further consideration, HFCL has decided to increase the proposed Offer price by 20.3 % to EUR 1.60 in cash.
The revised Offer price represents a premium of 33.3 %, based on the closing price of EUR 1.20 per EVC Share on the Euronext Stock Exchange on 11 December 2002, the last trading day prior to the announcement of the proposed Offer. The Offer price also represents a premium of 32 %, based on the average quoted price during the second half of 2002 to 11 December 2002.
HFCL intends to make the Offer document available tomorrow, 6 February 2003. The Offer document will include the conditions for the acceptance of the Offer. The Offer acceptance period is expected to commence on Friday, 7 February 2003.
For further information:
John Reece
INEOS Capital
Phone: +44 2380 287064
Fax: +44 2380 287069