Acquisition of Amersham PLC - Exchange Ratio


BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, U.K., April 6, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Recommended share exchange acquisition of Amersham plc ("Amersham") by General Electric Company and GE Investments, Inc. (together "GE") by means of a scheme of arrangement (the "Scheme") under section 425 of the Companies Act 1985 (the "Acquisition")Amersham and GE are pleased to announce that, at the first of the two Court hearings to be held this week, the High Court sanctioned the Scheme. The Scheme still remains conditional upon the confirmation by the High Court of the reduction of capital which forms part of the Scheme. It is expected that the Scheme will become effective on 8 April 2004.

Assuming that, as expected, the Scheme does become effective on 8 April 2004, the Exchange Ratio that will be used to calculate the number of New GE Shares to which holders of Amersham Securities will be entitled is 0.4833 and the ADS Exchange Ratio is 2.4165. The Exchange Ratio has been calculated by dividing 8.00 Pounds by the Final Sterling GE Price (as set out below) and the ADS Exchange Ratio has been calculated by multiplying the Exchange Ratio by five.

Trading in Amersham Shares on the London Stock Exchange and Amersham ADSs on the NYSE will be suspended from close of business today and the suspension of trading of entitlements to Amersham Shares on the Oslo Boers will continue. It is expected that the listing of Amersham Securities on the London, New York and Oslo stock exchanges will, in each case, be cancelled on the trading day on each such exchange immediately following the Scheme becoming effective.

Terms used in this announcement shall have the same meanings as set out in the Scheme document dated 17 February 2004.


    Date     Share Price     3:00 PM Bank    Share Price 
               (in $)      of England Fix    (in Pounds)
                              ($/Pound)                 
                                                         
  23 March     29.3967         1.8447          15.9358   
  24 March     29.0271         1.8337          15.8298   
  25 March     29.4142         1.8080          16.2689   
  26 March     30.3624         1.8194          16.6881   
  29 March     30.6397         1.8225          16.8119   
  30 March     30.5056         1.8265          16.7017   
  31 March     30.5212         1.8345          16.6373   
  1 April      30.5436         1.8585          16.4345   
  2 April      30.9967         1.8285          16.9520   
  5 April      31.3130         1.8157          17.2457   
                                                         
  10 day Weighted Average GE Share Price                 
  (in Pounds)                                  16.5506   

Enquiries:

Amersham

Alexandra Morris (Investor Relations) +44 1494 542 051 Dr Lynne Gailey (Media Relations) +44 1494 542 050 Dr Graeme Holland (Media Relations) +44 1494 542 115 Lucy Morrison (US Investor Relations) +1 732 457 8092

J.P. Morgan plc

Edward Banks +44 20 7742 4000

Morgan Stanley & Co. Limited

Johannes Groeller +44 20 7425 5000

GE

Bill Cary (GE Investor Relations) +1 203 373 2468 Pam Wickham (GE Healthcare) +1 262 544 3530 Louise Binns (GE Corporate Europe) +32 2 235 6912 Peter Stack (GE Corporate Financial) +1 203 373 2283

Goldman Sachs International

Richard Butland +44 20 7774 1000

Goldman Sachs International is acting exclusively for GE and no one else in connection with the Acquisition and will not be responsible to anyone other than GE for providing the protections afforded to customers of Goldman Sachs International nor for providing advice in relation to the Acquisition, or any matter referred to herein.

J.P. Morgan plc is acting exclusively for Amersham as joint financial adviser and no one else in connection with the Acquisition and will not be responsible to anyone other than Amersham for providing the protections afforded to customers of J.P. Morgan plc nor for providing advice in relation to the Acquisition, or any matter referred to herein.

Morgan Stanley & Co. Limited is acting exclusively for Amersham as joint financial adviser and for no one else in connection with the Acquisition and will not regard any other person as a client in relation to the Acquisition and will not be responsible to anyone other than Amersham for providing the protections afforded to clients of Morgan Stanley & Co Limited nor for providing advice in relation to the Acquisition, or any matter referred to herein.


            

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