RNS Number:4222O
SDA Limited
07 August 2003


For Immediate Release                              7 August 2003
                          

SDA Limited
Tender Offer for 4,779,342 ordinary shares of Eldridge, Pope & Co., p.l.c.

SDA Limited ("SDA"), a company which is ultimately wholly owned by Mr Michael
Cannon, announces that it is today posting to shareholders of Eldridge, Pope &
Co., p.l.c. ("Eldridge Pope") a tender offer document and form of tender
offering to purchase, by way of tender, up to 4,779,342 ordinary shares
representing 19.31 per cent. of the issued share capital of Eldridge Pope (the "
tender offer").  The tender offer is being made on behalf of SDA by
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Between 20 June and 6 August 2003, SDA has purchased 2,492,000 Eldridge Pope
ordinary shares, representing approximately 10.07 per cent. of the Eldridge Pope
ordinary shares in issue.  These purchases were made principally from five
institutional investors at prices ranging from 135p to 165p per share.  These
purchases, combined with the existing holding of Mr Michael Cannon, have
resulted in SDA and Mr Michael Cannon together beneficially owning 2,642,000
Eldridge Pope ordinary shares, representing approximately 10.68 per cent. of the
Eldridge Pope ordinary shares in issue.  By way of this tender offer, SDA is now
extending its offer to purchase ordinary shares in Eldridge Pope at 165p to all
Eldridge Pope shareholders (subject to restrictions on certain overseas
shareholders and subject to scaling back if the tender offer is over-subscribed,
as explained in the tender offer document).

SDA will pay a fixed price of 165p (free of all dealing commissions and charges)
for each Eldridge Pope ordinary share (the "tender offer price").


The tender offer price represents:

  * a premium of 6.8 per cent. over the mid-market price of 154.5p per
    Eldridge Pope ordinary share at close of business on 6 August 2003, the
    latest practicable date prior to this announcement;

  * a premium of 15.9 per cent. over the average mid-market price of 142.4p
    per Eldridge Pope ordinary share in the period 26 June 2003 to 6 August
    2003, being the period since the publication of Eldridge Pope's interim
    results; and

  * a premium of 46.9 per cent. over the average mid-market price of 112.3p
    per Eldridge Pope ordinary share in the period from 21 February 2003 (being
    the date Eldridge Pope issued a trading statement warning that it would
    report a loss in respect of its half year to 30 March 2003) to 11 April 2003
    (being the trading day prior to the announcement by Eldridge Pope that it
    was in talks that may or may not lead to an offer for the company).

The tender offer will remain open for acceptance until 3:00pm on 28 August 2003
("the Closing Date").



Additional Details

If tenders totalling less than 1 per cent. of the issued share capital of
Eldridge Pope are received then the tender offer will be void; subject to this
condition, a shareholder's tender will be irrevocable.

The full terms and condition of the tender offer are set out in the tender offer
document and form of tender on which alone tenders will be accepted.

The result of the tender offer will be announced by 8:00am on 29 August 2003,
the day after the Closing Date.  Cheques in respect of successful tenders will
be dispatched, or payment in respect of CREST holdings will be made, no later
than 14 days after the Closing Date.  If the tender offer becomes void then
share certificates will be returned within 14 days of the Closing Date, or CREST
holdings will be re-credited to the relevant shareholder within 7 days of the
Closing Date.

To accept the tender offer, tender forms and share certificates (where
appropriate) should be sent by post or by hand to SDA's receiving agent,
Computershare Investor Services PLC, PO Box 859, The Pavilions, Bridgwater Road,
Bristol BS99 1XZ or by hand only during normal office hours to Computershare
Investor Services PLC, 7th Floor, Jupiter House, Triton Court, 14 Finsbury
Square, London EC2A 1BR so as to be received no later than 3:00pm on the Closing
Date.  Shares held in CREST should be transferred to Computershare Investor
Services PLC as escrow agent, in accordance with the instructions on the tender
form.

An advertisement in respect of the terms of the tender offer (authorised by
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP) will be published in the Financial Times and The
Times on 8 August 2003.

Copies of the tender offer document and additional forms of tender may be
obtained from the receiving agent, Computershare Investor Services PLC, at the
Bristol address set out above (Tel: 0870 702 0100).


For further information, contact:

SDA
Peter Large                                01865 263000

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, financial advisers to SDA
Sean Williams                             020 7213 5579
Gerry Young                               020 7212 4027


Peel Hunt, brokers to SDA
David Davies                              020 7418 8900


PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is acting exclusively for SDA Limited and no one else
in connection with the tender offer and will not be responsible to anyone other
than SDA Limited for providing protections afforded to clients of
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP or for giving advice in relation to the tender offer.




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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