How to transfer new ARRIS shares into a DTC
Following the takeover of Pace Plc by ARRIS International early this year, the resulting new shares either have to be held in certificated form (which is not recommended) or the new ARRIS shares must be transferred to a DTC account.
Not all stockbroking firms have the DTC facilities, and as a result Share Data was asked by some regional stockbroking firms to help them transfer the resultant new ARRIS shares to a DTC Participant.
You will have received form Computershare in the USA an Exchange Form headed in the top left hand corner with the words “Pace plc”.
It is this form that is used to deposit the ARRIS shares into a DTC Participant, and you need to follow a very strict process:
1. The Exchange Form has to be signed by the owner of the shares / the stockbroker’s nominee company, on both the front and the back (there is no indication on the front of the Form that you also need to sign on the back);
2. A Medallion Guarantee has to be affixed next to the signature(s) on the back of the Exchange Form; and
3. An account has to be opened at the DTC Participant (we can do this on your behalf with our regular brokers who are DTC Participants). In such case you will need to:
a) Sign the Terms of Business Form;
b) Sign the Nominee Account Form;
c) Produce a certified copy of the passport of the signer of the Terms of Business Form;
d) Produce a certified copy of a utility bill / credit card statement / bank statement dated within the last 3 months showing the home address of the signer of the Terms of Business Form; and
e) Sign Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E (as the case may be);
f) Sign both sides of the Exchange Form; and
g) Have the Medallion Guarantee affixed to the Exchange Form.
We can provide the Medallion Guarantee (the costs will be about £295); and we will prepare the forms for you for signature, and guide you through the process.
4. We will then have the various forms sent to our DTC Participant who will then open the needed accounts, and have the Exchange Form and Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E forms processed by Computershare in the USA.
Once Computershare have completed the process, the ARRIS Shares will be in electronic form in our DTC Participant’s nominee system, and a Valuation Statement will be issued to you confirming that your ARRIS shares are so held.
This means that if you want to sell or transfer your ARRIS shares, all you have to do is contact our DTC Participant direct or your regional stockbroking firm, and they will arrange for the shares to be sold or transferred, as you wish.
As indicated above, our DTC Participant will hold the ARRIS share for the regional stockbroking firm in the DTC Participant’s nominee system. Our DTC Participant does not need the details of the regional stockbroking firm’s underlying clients, and so our DTC Participant will not be stealing or approaching the regional stock broker’s clients direct, so protecting the relationship that the regional stock broking firm has with its own clients. This is particularly useful to protect the regional stockbroking firm’s underlying clients, if the regional stockbroking firm holds former Pace plc shares in its own nominee system, as the details of the underlying client are never made known to our DTC Participant (which is what they prefer in any event).