14 September, 2012
Special Dividend and Share Consolidation: Publication of
Circular
On Tuesday, 7 August 2012, the Board of IHG announced its
intention to return US$1 billion of funds to Shareholders
via a Special Dividend with a Share Consolidation of US$500
million and a Share Buyback Programme of US$500 million.
The Board of IHG today announces it is publishing a
circular (the "Circular") setting out full details of the
proposed Special Dividend and associated Share
Consolidation and convening a General Meeting to be held at
10.00am on Monday, 8 October 2012 at the Holiday Inn London
Bloomsbury, Coram Street, London WC1N 1HT.
Special Dividend
It is proposed that the amount of the Special Dividend is
US$1.72 (108.4 pence) per Existing Ordinary Share. The
Board is proposing to pay the Special Dividend to
Shareholders on the Register as at 6.00pm on Monday, 8
October 2012 in sterling and to ADR holders on the ADR
register as at 4.00pm (New York time) on Monday, 8 October
2012 (being the close of business on the day before the ADR
effective date) in US dollars, in each case as an interim
dividend in respect of the financial year ending 31
December 2012. The Special Dividend is expected to be paid
to Shareholders and holders of ADRs on Monday, 22 October
2012.
Share Consolidation
It is proposed that the payment of the Special Dividend be
accompanied by a consolidation of the Company's
ordinary share capital. The Share Consolidation will
replace every 15 Existing Ordinary Shares with 14 New
Ordinary Shares. Upon the Share Consolidation becoming
effective, the nominal value of the Ordinary Shares will
change from 13 29/47 pence per Ordinary Share to 14 194/329
pence per Ordinary Share. Fractional entitlements arising
from the Share Consolidation will be aggregated and sold in
the market for the best price reasonably obtainable on
behalf of the relevant Shareholders. The net proceeds of
the sale, after the deduction of the expenses of the sale,
are expected to be paid in due proportion to the relevant
Shareholders on Wednesday, 17 October 2012. The value of
any Shareholder's fractional entitlement will not
exceed the value of one New Ordinary Share.
As at the close of business on Tuesday, 11 September 2012
(being the last practicable date prior to the posting of
the Circular) when the closing mid-market price per
Existing Ordinary Share was 1,619 pence and there were
291,613,946 Existing Ordinary Shares in issue, the total
amount of the Special Dividend was equivalent to 6.70 per
cent. of the market capitalisation of the Company. The
effect of the Share Consolidation will be to reduce the
number of Ordinary Shares in issue by approximately the
same percentage.
As all ordinary shares in the Company will be consolidated,
each Shareholders' percentage holdings in the total
issued share capital of the Company immediately before and
after the implementation of the Share Consolidation will
(save in respect of fractional entitlements) remain
unchanged.
Authority to Purchase Own Shares
The Board of IHG will also submit to its Shareholders at
the General Meeting a proposal for a renewed authority to
enable the Company to make market purchases of its New
Ordinary Shares following the implementation of the Share
Consolidation. Details of this proposal are set out in the
Circular.
Expected Timetable
|
Event
|
Date and Time (2012)
|
Latest time and date for receipt of Forms of Proxy
|
10.00am on Thursday, 4 October
|
Latest time and date for receipt by the ADR Depositary
of completed voting instruction cards from holders of
ADRs
|
12.00pm (New York time) on Thursday, 4 October
|
General Meeting
|
10.00am on Monday, 8 October
|
Record date for participation in the Dividend
Reinvestment Plan for the Special Dividend
|
5.00pm on Monday, 8 October
|
Shareholder record date for the Special Dividend and
for the Share Consolidation
|
8.00pm on Monday, 8 October
|
Commencement of dealings in New Ordinary Shares
|
8.00am on Tuesday, 9 October
|
ADR effective date for the Special Dividend and for the
Share Consolidation
|
9.30am (New York time) on
Tuesday, 9 October
|
Commencement of dealings in new ADSs
|
9.30am (New York time) on
Tuesday, 9 October
|
Ordinary Shares (but not ADSs) marked ex-Special
Dividend
|
Tuesday, 9 October
|
CREST accounts credited with New Ordinary Shares
|
Tuesday, 9 October
|
Allocation by DTC of new ADSs to DTC participants
corresponding with the cancellation of existing
ADSs
|
Friday, 12 October
|
Despatch of cheques for fractional entitlements and
certificates for New Ordinary Shares; CREST accounts
credited with the value of fractional entitlements
|
Wednesday, 17 October
|
Payment of the Special Dividend to Shareholders and to
holders of ADRs
|
Monday, 22 October
|
Purchase of New Ordinary Shares for participants in the
Dividend Reinvestment Plan
|
Monday, 22 October
|
If any of the above times and/or dates change, the revised
times and/or dates will be notified to Shareholders by
announcement through a Regulatory Information Service.
Unless otherwise stated, all references to times in this
document are to London time.
The Circular will be posted or otherwise made available to
Shareholders today. Copies of the Circular will shortly be
available for inspection at www.hemscot.com/nsm.do
and on the IHG website at www.ihgplc.com/investors
under financial library.
All definitions used in the Circular to Shareholders dated
14 September 2012 have the same meaning when used in this
announcement.
For further information
For Investor Relations enquiries
Catherine Dolton, Isabel Green:
+44 (0) 1895 512 176
For Media enquiries
Yasmin Diamond, Kari Kerr:
+44 (0) 1895 512 299
Goldman Sachs International, which is authorised and
regulated in the UK by the Financial Services Authority, is
acting for InterContinental Hotels Group PLC and no-one
else in connection with the Special Dividend and Share
Consolidation and will not be responsible to anyone other
than InterContinental Hotels Group PLC for providing the
protections afforded to clients of Goldman Sachs
International or for providing advice in relation to the
Special Dividend and Share Consolidation, the contents of
this announcement or any matter referred to herein.
Notes to Editors:
IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG
(ADRs)] is a global organisation with nine hotel brands
including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel
Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn®
Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge
Suites®, Candlewood Suites®, as well as our two newest
brands, EVEN™ Hotels and HUALUXE™ Hotels & Resorts. IHG
also manages Priority Club® Rewards, the world's first and
largest hotel loyalty programme with over 67 million
members worldwide.
IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns over 4,500 hotels
and more than 666,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries
and territories. With more than 1,000 hotels in its
development pipeline, IHG expects to recruit around 90,000
people into additional roles across its estate over the
next few years.
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding
company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered
in England and Wales.
Visit www.ihg.com for
hotel information and reservations and www.priorityclub.com for
more on Priority Club Rewards. For our latest news, visit
www.ihg.com/media,
www.twitter.com/ihgplc,
www.facebook.com/ihg or
www.youtube.com/ihgplc.