Deutsche Securities orders 15% of RBD shares

Wednesday 1st November 2000

Deutsche Securities is to buy up to 13,800,000 ordinary shares in Restaurant Brands at the price of $1.25 per share.

The stand in the market is on behalf of AMP Henderson Global Investors, not Restaurant Brands itself.

Restaurant Brands said that they welcomed AMP Henderson Global Investors as a quality shareholder.

However, unless RBD investors were able jump on the internet or the phone to sell their shares, chances are that any participation in the stand is already too late.

This stand happened on a "Special Board". Under the stock exchange rules, the broker handling the market stand must buy 20% on market and can buy the remaining 80% from its own clients.

In this case, orders immediately filled the required 20% (2.76 million shares) so Deutsche Securities will probably now fill the rest of the order from its own clients. However, if Deutsche Securities can't buy the required amount, they may go back to the open market again.

Even though this may seem unfair to the smaller investor, it is actually more advantageous - it would have been just as easy for Deutsche Securities to scout around its larger shareholders and carry out the transaction off-market. In this case though, at least some shareholders will have had the chance to sell at $1.25, which is a good premium above where RBD has been trading lately.

Restaurant Brands shares on the main board jumped following the news, and have lately been trading at around $1.20.

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