Hibu PLC : Restructuring Update

27 November 2013

hibu plc

Restructuring update

As previously announced, hibu plc and its subsidiaries (the "Group") have agreed the terms of a financial restructuring of the Group with the Co-ordinating Committee ("CoCom") of the Group's lenders. This will involve all of the Group's operations being transferred from the current holding company, hibu plc, to a new holding company structure to be controlled by the Group's lenders.

As a first step to facilitating this transfer and the financial restructuring as a whole, the Board of hibu plc has today appointed certain partners of Deloitte LLP to act as administrators to hibu plc only. No other Group companies have been placed into administration.

This action will have no impact on the day to day operations of the rest of the Group. There will be no effect on hibu's employees, customers, partners or suppliers, all of whom interact with the Group subsidiaries, not hibu plc. All contracts, trading terms and financial obligations of the operating companies of the Group and trading partners will continue to have the same effect.

Bob Wigley commented:

"With today's announcement, we move one step closer to securing a capital structure for hibu which would enable the business to survive and prosper and to safeguard the prospects for our 12,000 employees. Our business will continue to operate as usual and will not be affected by the administration of the holding company, a planned step in the restructuring process. Our enhanced digital product offering is growing fast and increasingly finding new customers following our recent marketing campaign."

The key aspects of the proposed restructuring are:

·     A new group holding company owned by the Group's lenders will become the owner of the operating subsidiaries of hibu plc. The existing holding company of the Group is being placed into administration. There will be no payment made to the current shareholders of hibu plc as the shares in hibu plc do not have any value.

·     The new group will have a considerably stronger financial position, with significantly lower debt, lower interest charges, significantly extended debt maturity and capital repayments that are aligned with the operating performance of the new group. This new financial structure will allow the business of the new group to thrive for the benefit of its stakeholders.

·     The restructuring remains subject to (i) clearance by the UK Pensions Regulator in relation to the arrangements for the future funding of the Group's UK pension plan and (ii) the Group's lenders approving the Schemes of Arrangement necessary to implement the financial restructuring.

As a consequence of hibu plc being placed into administration, the administrators will shortly be writing to shareholders announcing their intention to adjourn the General Meeting of shareholders scheduled for 4 December 2013.

Following the appointment of administrators to hibu plc, the listing of the hibu plc's shares is expected to be cancelled with effect from 08:00 on 28 November 2013.

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About hibu

hibu helps communities thrive by facilitating millions of connections each year between consumers who want to find products and services locally and the merchants who provide them.

hibu helps merchants compete in the digital world with a broad range of marketing and commerce solutions delivered online and through hibu's direct sales teams. Building on its heritage as a premier directories provider, hibu continues to offer a full range of print- and distribution-based marketing services.

hibu operates in the UK, US, Spain, Argentina, Chile, Peru and US Hispanic markets. In the twelve months to 31 March 2013, hibu had one million SME customers and total revenues of £1.3 billion.

For further information about hibu, visit corporate.hibu.com.

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