As earlier announced the Unibet Group (the "Unibet Group") will be implementing a new corporate structure by the insertion of a new Maltese company ("New Unibet") as the new holding company for the Unibet Group by means of a Scheme of Arrangement under section 425 of the UK Companies Act (the "Scheme"). The Scheme was formally sanctioned by the High Court of England and Wales on Wednesday, 25 October 2006 on which date New Unibet was also approved for listing on the Nordic List of Stockholmsbörsen (Stockholm Stock Exchange). It is intended that the Scheme will become effective on 1 November 2006 (the “Effective Date”).
Pursuant to the implementation of the Scheme, those Unibet SDR holders (“Unibet SDR Holders”) holding Unibet SDRs at 5pm (Swedish time) on the Effective Date(the “Scheme Record Time”) will receive one New Unibet SDR in exchange for every one Unibet SDR held. The New Unibet SDRs will be issued by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ), as the Custodian Bank. The rights and protections for holders of SDRs in New Unibet ("New Unibet SDR Holders") will be materially the same as those that currently exist for Unibet SDR Holders, including the listing of New Unibet SDRs on Stockholmsbörsen. .
Accordingly, the last day for trading in Unibet SDRs will be Friday, 27 October 2006 (for settlement on 1 November 2006), following which the Unibet SDRs will be de-listed from Stockholmsbörsen's Nordic List. The reason for this de-listing on this date is to ensure that all outstanding transfers in respect of the Unibet SDRs have been settled prior to the Scheme Record Time. Trades made on Stockholmsbörsen are not settled until 3 trading days following the date of the trade. By de-listing the Unibet SDRs for the 3 trading days prior to the Effective Date there can be certainty that there will be no unsettled trades in respect of Unibet SDRs at the Scheme Record Time, which is the time at which it is intended that Unibet SDRs are cancelled in the VPC system in exchange for New Unibet SDRs.
Trading in New Unibet SDRs on Stockholmsbörsen's Nordic List will start on Monday, 30 October 2006 at 9 a.m. (Swedish time) with trading in New Unibet SDRs commencing for certain investors (i.e. institutional) on a "when issued" basis (for settlement on 2 November 2006). It is expected that by 9 a.m. (Swedish time) on Thursday, 2 November 2006, all New Unibet SDR Holders will have their holdings of New Unibet SDRs registered by VPC on such holder's VPC Account at which time it is expected that full trading in New Unibet SDRs on Stockholmsbörsen for all investors will commence.
On the Effective Date, New Unibet will also change its name to "Unibet Group plc" and the current holding company will be renamed UGP plc. New Unibet will have the same board of directors, management and corporate governance procedures as Unibet.