Re. Repurchase Offer

Helical Bar PLC 22 December 2004 Helical Bar plc 22 December 2004 Not for release, publication or distribution in whole or in part in or into the United States, Canada, Japan or the Republic of South Africa Cazenove & Co. Ltd ('Cazenove') Helical Bar plc ('Helical Bar' or the 'Company') - Repurchase Offer for B Shares Helical Bar has appointed Cazenove to make the Repurchase Offer referred to in the circular from Helical Bar to its Shareholders dated 25 November 2004 (the 'Circular') and Cazenove hereby makes the Repurchase Offer, acting as principal, to purchase the 9,364,125 B Shares in respect of which valid acceptances of the Repurchase Offer have been received and not withdrawn. Accordingly such offer is to purchase those shares for £4.00 each, free of all dealing expenses and commissions, in an on-exchange transaction on the terms set out in the Circular. Settlement of the purchase of the B Shares purchased under the Repurchase Offer will be made on 23 December 2004 when sales advices will be dispatched, cheques and (where appropriate) balance B Share Certificates will be dispatched to Shareholders whose B Shares are held in certificated form (that is, not in CREST) and the CREST accounts of Shareholders whose B Shares are held in uncertificated form (that is, in CREST) will be credited with the proceeds of sale. All definitions used in the Circular to Shareholders dated 25 November 2004 apply to this announcement. This announcement has been issued by Cazenove & Co. Ltd which is regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority. Enquiries: Helical Bar plc 020 7629 0113 Nigel McNair Scott Cazenove & Co. Ltd 020 7588 2828 Richard Cotton Roger Clarke Financial Dynamics 020 7831 3113 Stephanie Highett Dido Laurimore This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange