RNS Number : 2849M
RSA Insurance Group Limited
20 September 2021
 

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN THE UNITED STATES, ITS TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS, ANY STATE OF THE UNITED STATES OR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (INCLUDING PUERTO RICO, THE US VIRGIN ISLANDS, GUAM, AMERICAN SAMOA, WAKE ISLAND AND THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS) OR IN OR INTO OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE IT IS UNLAWFUL TO RELEASE, PUBLISH OR DISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT RELATES TO THE DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION THAT QUALIFIED OR MAY HAVE QUALIFIED AS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) 596/2014 AS IT FORMS PART OF UK DOMESTIC LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018 (EUWA).

RSA Insurance Group Limited
20 September 2021

RSA INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED ANNOUNCES TENDER OFFER TO PURCHASE ITS OUTSTANDING £400,000,000 FIXED RATE RESET GUARANTEED SUBORDINATED NOTES DUE 2045

Invitation to Tender for purchase for Cash

by RSA INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED
(a public limited company incorporated in England and Wales)

to the holders of its outstanding
£400,000,000 Fixed Rate Reset Guaranteed Subordinated Notes due 2045
(the "Notes", the holders of which being the "Noteholders")

on the terms and subject to the conditions set out in full in the Tender Offer Memorandum dated 20 September 2021 (the "Tender Offer Memorandum")

RSA Insurance Group Limited ("RSA" or the "Company") has today invited Noteholders to tender their Notes for purchase by or on behalf of the Company for cash (the "Offer") subject to certain offer restrictions as contained in the section "Offer and Distribution Restrictions" of the Tender Offer Memorandum. The Offer is made on the terms of, and subject to the conditions contained in, the Tender Offer Memorandum, copies of which may be obtained by Noteholders, subject to certain distribution restrictions, from Lucid Issuer Services Limited (the "Tender Agent"). Capitalised terms used but not defined herein have the meanings given to them in the Tender Offer Memorandum.

The purpose of the Offer is to optimise the capital structure of the Group.



 

The following table sets forth certain details of the Offer:

Description of the Notes

ISIN / Common Code

Outstanding nominal amount

First Call Date

Benchmark Security

Purchase Spread

Target Acceptance Amount

£400,000,000 Fixed Rate Reset Guaranteed Subordinated Notes due 2045

XS1120081283 / 112008128

£400,000,000

10 October 2025

UKT 2% 09/25 (ISIN: GB00BTHH2R79)

90 bps

An aggregate nominal amount of Notes equal to £200,000,0001

1. Subject to the right of the Company to increase or decrease the Target Acceptance Amount in its sole discretion.

 

Noteholders should consult the Tender Offer Memorandum for more details of the Offer. The following is a brief summary of certain terms of the Offer only:

·      Expiration Deadline: 4.00 p.m. (London time) on 27 September 2021, unless extended, re-opened, amended or terminated or unless any condition is waived as provided in the Tender Offer Memorandum.

·      Purchase Price: the Company will pay for any Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase by it pursuant to the Offer a purchase price for such Notes (the "Purchase Price") to be determined at or around the Price Determination Time in the manner described in the Tender Offer Memorandum by reference to the annualised sum (such sum, the "Purchase Yield") of (i) the purchase spread of 90 bps (the "Purchase Spread") and (ii) the Benchmark Security Rate. The Purchase Price for the Notes will be determined by Citigroup Global Markets Limited and HSBC Bank plc (the "Dealer Managers") in accordance with market convention, and is intended to reflect a yield to the first call date of the Notes (being 10 October 2025) on the Settlement Date based on the Purchase Yield expressed as a percentage and rounded to the third decimal place, with 0.0005 being rounded upwards.  Specifically, the Purchase Price for the Notes will equal (a) the value of all remaining payments of nominal and interest on the Notes up to and including 10 October 2025 (assuming all outstanding Notes were redeemed at their nominal amount on such date), discounted to the Settlement Date at a discount rate equal to the Purchase Yield, minus (b) Accrued Interest.

·      Accrued Interest: In addition to the Purchase Price, the Company will also pay Accrued Interest in respect of Notes accepted for purchase pursuant to the Offer.

·      Withdrawal Rights: Tender Instructions are irrevocable except in the limited circumstances described in the Tender Offer Memorandum.

The Target Acceptance Amount and Final Acceptance Amount

Pursuant to the Offer, the Company intends to accept Notes validly tendered for purchase up to an aggregate nominal amount of Notes equal to £200,000,000 (the "Target Acceptance Amount") but, in its sole discretion, may increase or decrease such amount (the final aggregate nominal amount of Notes accepted for purchase pursuant to the Offer being the "Final Acceptance Amount"). The Company is under no obligation to accept for purchase any Notes tendered pursuant to the Offer.

Scaling

If the Company decides to accept for purchase valid tenders of Notes pursuant to the Offer and receives valid tenders of Notes for purchase pursuant to the Offer with an aggregate nominal amount in excess of the Final Acceptance Amount, the Company intends to accept such validly tendered Notes on a pro rata basis and, for the purposes of such acceptance, each tender of Notes will be scaled by a factor (a "Scaling Factor") equal to:

(i)       the Final Acceptance Amount; divided by

(ii)      the aggregate nominal amount of the Notes that have been validly tendered for purchase pursuant to the Offer (subject to any adjustments to allow for the aggregate nominal amount of Notes accepted for purchase, following the rounding of tenders of Notes described in the next paragraph, to equal the Final Acceptance Amount exactly).

Each tender of Notes that is scaled in this manner will be rounded down to the nearest £1,000 in nominal amount. In addition, in the event of any such scaling, the Company intends to apply pro rata scaling to each valid tender of Notes in such a manner as will result in both (a) the relevant Noteholder transferring Notes to the Company in an aggregate nominal amount of at least £100,000 (being the Minimum Denomination), and (b) the relevant Noteholder's residual amount of Notes (being the nominal amount of the Notes the subject of the relevant Tender Instruction that are not accepted for purchase by virtue of such scaling) amounting to either (i) at least £100,000 or (ii) zero, and the Company therefore intends to adjust the relevant Scaling Factor applicable to any relevant Tender Instruction accordingly.

Indicative Offer Timetable

The following table sets out the expected dates and times of the key events relating to the Offer. This is an indicative timetable and is subject to change. All times are London time, unless otherwise stated.

Date and time

(All times are London time)

Event

On 20 September 2021

Launch Date

Offer announced and Tender Offer Memorandum available from the Tender Agent and on the Offer Website (subject to the restrictions set out in "Offer and Distribution Restrictions").

4 p.m. on 27 September 2021

Expiration Deadline

Deadline for receipt by the Tender Agent of all Tender Instructions

Prior to the Price Determination Time

Announcement of indicative results of the Offer

Announcement by the Company of the aggregate nominal amount of Notes validly tendered pursuant to the Offer, together with a non-binding indication of the level at which it expects to set the Final Acceptance Amount and indicative details of any pro rata scaling that will apply in the event that the Company decides to accept valid tenders of Notes pursuant to the Offer.

At or around 11.00 a.m. on 28 September 2021

Price Determination Time

Determination of the Benchmark Security Rate, Purchase Yield and Purchase Price.

As soon as reasonably practicable after the Price Determination Time

Announcement of Acceptance and Results

Announcement by the Company of whether it will accept for purchase Notes validly tendered in the Offer and, if so:

(i) the Final Acceptance Amount;

(ii) the Benchmark Security Rate, Purchase Yield, Purchase Price and Accrued Interest; and

(iii) details of any pro rata scaling.

30 September 2021

Settlement Date

Expected date for the payment of the Purchase Price and Accrued Interest in respect of the Notes accepted for purchase.

 

The above dates and times are subject, where applicable, to the right of the Company to extend, re-open, amend, waive any condition of and/or terminate the Offer.  Noteholders are advised to check with any bank, securities broker or other intermediary through which they hold Notes whether such intermediary would require to receive instructions to participate in the Offer before the deadlines specified above.

The deadlines set by each Clearing System and instructions for the submission of Tender Instructions will also be earlier than the relevant deadlines above.



 

For further information, please contact:

 

THE DEALER MANAGERS

Citigroup Global Markets Limited

Citigroup Centre
Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5LB

Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7986 8969
Attention:  Liability Management Group
Email: liabilitymanagement.europe@citi.com

HSBC Bank plc

8 Canada Square
London E14 5HQ

United Kingdom


Telephone: +44 (0)20 7992 6237
Attention: Liability Management
Email:

LM_EMEA@hsbc.com

 

THE TENDER AGENT

Lucid Issuer Services Limited

The Shard
32 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9SG
United Kingdom

Attention: Jacek Kusion
Telephone: +44 207 704 0880
Email: rsa@lucid-is.com
Website: https://deals.lucid-is.com/rsa

 

DISCLAIMER

This announcement is released by the Company and contains information that qualified or may have qualified as inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the EUWA (UK MAR), encompassing information relating to the Offer described above. For the purposes of UK MAR and the Implementing Technical Standards, this announcement is made by Jonathan Cope, General Counsel and Company Secretary of the Offeror.

This announcement must be read in conjunction with the Tender Offer Memorandum. The Tender Offer Memorandum contains important information which must be read carefully before any decision is made with respect to the Offer described in this announcement. If any Noteholder is in any doubt as to the action it should take, it is recommended to seek its own legal, tax and financial advice, including as to any tax consequences, from its stockbroker, bank manager, counsel, accountant or other independent financial adviser. Noteholders whose Notes are held on its behalf by a broker, dealer, bank, custodian, trust company or other nominee must contact such entity if it wishes to participate in the Offer. None of the Company, Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Limited (the "Guarantor"), the Dealer Managers, the Tender Agent or any of their respective affiliates, makes any recommendation as to whether or not any Noteholder should tender Notes held by them pursuant to the Offer.

This announcement and the Tender Offer Memorandum do not constitute an offer or an invitation to participate in the Offer in the United States or in any other jurisdiction in which, or to any person to or from whom, it is unlawful to make such offer or invitation or for there to be such participation under applicable securities laws.

The distribution of this announcement and the Tender Offer Memorandum in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law.  Persons into whose possession this announcement and/or the Tender Offer Memorandum comes are required by the Company, the Guarantor, the Dealer Managers and the Tender Agent to inform themselves about, and to observe, any such restrictions. If any recipient of this announcement or the Tender Offer Memorandum is in any doubt as to the contents hereof or the action it should take, it is recommended to seek its own financial and legal advice, including in respect of any tax consequences, immediately from its broker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other independent financial, tax or legal adviser.

OFFER AND DISTRIBUTION RESTRICTIONS

France

This announcement, the Tender Offer Memorandum and any other document or material relating to the Offer have only been and shall only be distributed in France to qualified investors as defined in Article 2(e) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129. Neither this announcement nor the Tender Offer Memorandum has been submitted or will be submitted for clearance to, nor approved by, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers.

Italy

Neither this announcement, the Tender Offer Memorandum nor any other documents or materials relating to the Offer have been or will be submitted to the clearance procedure of the Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa ("CONSOB") pursuant to Italian laws and regulations.

The Offer is being carried out in the Republic of Italy as an exempted offer pursuant to article 101-bis, paragraph 3-bis of the Legislative Decree No. 58 of 24 February 1998, as amended (the "Financial Services Act") and article 35-bis, paragraph 4 of CONSOB Regulation No. 11971 of 14 May 1999, as amended.  

Noteholders located in the Republic of Italy can tender Notes through authorised persons (such as investment firms, banks or financial intermediaries permitted to conduct such activities in the Republic of Italy in accordance with the Financial Services Act, CONSOB Regulation No. 20307 of 15 February 2018, as amended from time to time, and Legislative Decree No. 385 of 1 September, 1993, as amended) and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations or with requirements imposed by CONSOB or any other Italian authority.

Each intermediary must comply with all applicable laws and regulations concerning information duties vis-à-vis its clients in connection with the Notes or the Offer.

United Kingdom

The communication of this announcement, the communication of the Tender Offer Memorandum and any other documents or materials relating to the Offer in respect of the Notes is not being made and such documents and/or materials have not been approved by an authorised person for the purposes of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended.  Accordingly, such documents and/or materials are not being distributed to, and must not be passed on to, the general public in the United Kingdom, and are only for circulation to persons outside the United Kingdom or to persons within the United Kingdom falling within the definition of investment professionals (as defined in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order")), or within Article 43(2) of the Order, or within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order, or to other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated in accordance with the Order.

United States

The Offer is not being made, and will not be made, directly or indirectly in or into, or by use of the mails of, or by any means or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce of or of any facilities of a national securities exchange of, the United States.  This includes, but is not limited to, facsimile transmission, electronic mail, telex, telephone, the internet and other forms of electronic communication.  The Notes may not be tendered in the Offer by any such use, means, instrumentality or facility from or within the United States or by persons located or resident in the United States.  Accordingly, copies of this announcement, the Tender Offer Memorandum and any other documents or materials relating to the Offer are not being, and must not be, directly or indirectly mailed or otherwise transmitted, distributed or forwarded (including, without limitation, by custodians, nominees or trustees) in or into the United States or to any persons located or resident in the United States.  Any purported tender of Notes in the Offer resulting directly or indirectly from a violation of these restrictions will be invalid and any purported tender of Notes made by, or by any person acting for the account or benefit of, a person located in the United States or any agent, fiduciary or other intermediary acting on a non-discretionary basis for a principal giving instructions from within the United States will be invalid and will not be accepted.

Each Noteholder participating in the Offer will represent that it is not located in the United States and is not participating in such Offer from the United States, or it is acting on a non-discretionary basis for a principal located outside the United States that is not giving an order to participate in such Offer from the United States.  For the purposes of this and the above paragraph, United States means the United States of America, its territories and possessions (including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Wake Island and the Northern Mariana Islands), any state of the United States of America and the District of Columbia.

General

This announcement and the Tender Offer Memorandum, and the electronic transmission thereof, do not constitute an offer to buy or a solicitation of an offer to sell Notes, and tenders of Notes in the Offer will not be accepted from Noteholders, in any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful.  In those jurisdictions where the securities, blue sky or other laws require the Offer to be made by a licensed broker or dealer and the Dealer Managers or any of their respective affiliate is such a licensed broker or dealer in such jurisdictions, the Offer shall be deemed to be made on behalf of the Company by the Dealer Managers or such affiliate, as the case may be, and no Offer is made in any such jurisdiction where the Dealer Managers or their affiliate is not so licensed.

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