AGM Information • Jan 17, 2014
AGM Information
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THIS CIRCULAR IS IMPORTANT AND REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. If you are in any doubt as to the action you should take, you should consult an appropriate independent financial adviser authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 immediately. If you have sold or transferred all your Ordinary Shares in the Company, please forward this Circular together with the Form of Proxy to the purchaser, transferee, stockbroker or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected, for transmission to the purchaser or transferee.
Notice of a General Meeting of the Company to be held at the Life Bioscience Centre, Times Square, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4EP at 11.30am on Monday 17 February 2014 is set out on pages 4 and 5 of the Circular. A Form of Proxy for use at the meeting is attached. To be valid, Forms of Proxy should be completed and returned in accordance with the notes to the Notice of Meeting and the Form of Proxy itself.
Registered office: Bond Dickinson LLP, St Ann's Wharf, 112 Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3DX
T 0191 244 6000 F 0118 951 7001 E [email protected]
Registered in England no 4280530
Directors: 17 January 2014 James Ferguson, Chairman Chris Fleetwood Tim Levett John Waddell
Your Board is seeking the approval of Shareholders for the cancellation of the amounts standing on the Company's balance sheet to the credit of the share premium account and the capital redemption reserve. The cancellations will result in the creation of a new distributable reserve. This reserve will be available, together with the Company's existing distributable reserves, to be used by the Company inter alia to re-purchase Ordinary Shares for cancellation and to pay dividends to Shareholders (subject to the provisions of the Act and to the legislation relating to Venture Capital Trusts). The cancellations will have no impact on the balance sheet assets and liabilities of the Company.
At the date of this letter the balance on the share premium account is approximately £21.0 million and the balance on the capital redemption reserve is approximately £0.5 million. The proposed cancellations will require the approval of Shareholders by special resolution and subsequent confirmation by the High Court. Shareholders have previously considered and approved similar resolutions in 2002, 2007 and 2012.
Pages 4 and 5 of this Circular contain a notice convening a General Meeting of the Company to be held at the Life Bioscience Centre, Times Square, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4EP at 11.30am on Monday 17 February 2014 where a special resolution will be proposed that the amounts standing to the credit of the share premium account and capital redemption reserve of the Company be cancelled.
Once Shareholders have approved the cancellation of the amounts standing to the credit of the Company's share premium account and capital redemption reserve, it will be necessary for the Company to apply to the High Court to seek its confirmation of the cancellations. It is expected that the Court order confirming the cancellation of the amounts standing to the credit of the share premium account and the capital redemption reserve will be made in March 2014. The cancellation of the amounts standing to the credit of the share premium account and capital redemption reserve will take effect only when a copy of the Court order is duly registered by the Registrar of Companies.
Prior to confirming the proposed cancellations, the Court will need to be satisfied that the creditors of the Company are not materially prejudiced by the proposal. The High Court may require protection for creditors of the Company whose debts remain outstanding at the effective date unless such creditors consent otherwise. Appropriate arrangements will be made with the approval of the High Court for the protection of any creditors of the Company.
It is important that you complete the Form of Proxy and return it to the Company's registrars, Equiniti Limited, at Aspect House, Spencer Road, Lancing BN99 6DA by no later than 11.30am on Thursday 13 February 2014. Completion and return of the Form of Proxy will not preclude you from attending the General Meeting and voting in person should you so wish.
Your Board considers that the cancellation of the amounts standing to the credit of the share premium account and capital redemption reserve of the Company is in the best interests of the Company and its Shareholders as a whole and unanimously recommends Shareholders to vote in favour of the special resolution to be proposed at the General Meeting. Your Directors will be voting in favour of the resolution in respect of their own beneficial holdings which, in aggregate, amount to 659,594 Ordinary Shares representing approximately 1.0% of the issued share capital of the Company.
Yours sincerely
JAMES FERGUSON Chairman
In this letter, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions bear the following meanings:
| Act | the Companies Act 2006 | |
|---|---|---|
| General Meeting or GM | the general meeting of the Company to be held at the Life Bioscience Centre, Times Square, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4EP at 11.30am on Monday 17 February 2014 |
|
| Circular | this document dated 17 January 2014, addressed to the Shareholders | |
| Company | Northern 3 VCT PLC | |
| Directors or Board | the directors of the Company, whose names are set out on page 1 of this document |
|
| Form of Proxy | the form of proxy for use at the General Meeting | |
| Ordinary Shares | ordinary shares of 5p each in the capital of the Company | |
| Shareholders | holders of Ordinary Shares |
Notice is hereby given that a general meeting of the Company will be held at the Life Bioscience Centre, Times Square, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4EP at 11.30am on Monday 17 February 2014 for the following purposes:
To consider and, if thought fit, to pass the following resolution as a special resolution:
"That the amounts standing to the credit of the share premium account and the capital redemption reserve of the Company, at the date the order is made by the High Court confirming such cancellations, be and are hereby cancelled."
By order of the Board
Secretary Bond Dickinson LLP St Ann's Wharf 112 Quayside Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3DX 17 January 2014
In order for a proxy appointment or instruction made by means of CREST to be valid, the appropriate CREST message (a "CREST Proxy Instruction") must be properly authenticated in accordance with Euroclear UK & Ireland Limited's (EUI) specifications and must contain the information required for such instructions, as described in the CREST Manual. The message, regardless of whether it constitutes the appointment of a proxy or an amendment to the instruction given to a previously appointed proxy, must, in order to be valid, be transmitted so as to be received by the issuer's agent (ID RA19) by the latest time(s) for receipt of proxy appointments specified in this notice. For this purpose, the time of receipt will be taken to be the time (as determined by the timestamp applied to the message by the CREST Application Host) from which the issuer's agent is able to retrieve the message by enquiry to CREST in the manner prescribed by CREST. After this time any change of instructions to proxies appointed through CREST should be communicated to the appointee through other means.
CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service providers should note that EUI does not make available special procedures in CREST for any particular message. Normal system timings and limitations will therefore apply in relation to the input of CREST Proxy Instructions. It is the responsibility of the CREST member concerned to take (or, if the CREST member is a CREST personal member or sponsored member or has appointed (a) voting service provider(s), to procure that his CREST sponsor or voting service provider(s) take(s)) such action as shall be necessary to ensure that a message is transmitted by means of the CREST system by any particular time. In this connection, CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service provider(s) are referred, in particular, to those sections of the CREST Manual concerning practical limitations of the CREST system and timings.
The Company may treat as invalid a CREST Proxy Instruction in the circumstances set out in Regulation 35(5)(a) of the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001.
7 The above statement as to proxy rights does not apply to a person who receives this notice of meeting as a person nominated to enjoy "information rights" under Section 146 of the Companies Act 2006. If you have been sent this notice of meeting because you are such a nominated person, the following statements apply: (a) you may have a right under an agreement between you and the member of the Company by whom you were nominated to be appointed or to have someone else appointed as a proxy for this general meeting; and (b) if you have no such right or do not wish to exercise it, you may have a right under such an agreement to give instructions to that member as to the exercise of voting rights.
Form of Proxy for the General Meeting on 17 February 2014
I/We ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………… (block capitals please) of …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………. being a member of Northern 3 VCT PLC, hereby appoint (see notes 1 and 2)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………….
or failing him/her the chairman of the meeting to be my/our proxy and exercise all or any of my/our rights to attend, speak and vote for me/us in respect of my/our voting entitlement on my/our behalf at the general meeting of the Company to be held at the Life Bioscience Centre, Times Square, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4EP at 11.30am on Monday 17 February 2014, notice of which was sent to shareholders on 17 January 2014 and at any adjournment thereof. The proxy will vote as indicated below in respect of the resolution set out in the notice of meeting:
| Resolution | For | Against | Vote withheld |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redemption Reserve | To cancel the amounts standing to the credit of the Share Premium Account and the Capital | † | † | † |
| † | Please indicate by placing an X in this box if this proxy appointment is one of multiple appointments being made (see note 2 below). |
|||
| Please refer to the notes overleaf | ||||
| Signed: ……………………………………………………………………………… Date: ………………………………………………2014 |
||||
| Attendance indication | ||||
| arrangements. | Shareholders who intend to attend the General Meeting are requested to place a tick in the box below in order to assist with administrative | |||
| I/we intend to attend the General Meeting at the Life Bioscience Centre, Times Square, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4EP at 11.30am on Monday 17 February 2014. |
† | |||
| Signed: ……………………………………………………………………………… Date: ………………………………………………2014 |
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