Company in share buy-back

A Sheffield based listed public company has returned £6m to shareholders under a share buy-back.

Sheffield based Electronic Data Processing Plc (EDP) has paid £6 million to its shareholders using a tender offer structure, which is an offer to purchase shareholders' shares on the stock market at a set price. The offer was 10% oversubscribed. EDP was advised by Laurence Gavin and Kevin Cunningham of law firm Irwin Mitchell.

Laurence Gavin said: "This deal represents a successful company providing value to shareholders. It is good news for Sheffield and the region that EDP is doing well and also good news for the region that this deal has been conducted using local advisers. The team at Irwin Mitchell in Sheffield has the technical expertise to advise on all issues related to quoted and listed companies."

EDP announced in January that it intended to use its surplus cash resources to buy back a significant proportion of its shares through a tender offer at 50p per ordinary share. This price represents a 10 per cent premium to the market closing price at the date of the initial announcement.

EDP is an IT solutions provider to the UK wholesale distribution industry and a supplier of Sales Intelligence software solutions and has been in existence for over 40 years. It first floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1985. The Sheffield based firm also has offices in Milton Keynes, Warrington, and East Grinstead.