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Entitlement issue
An entitlement issue, also known as an open offer, is an offer made by a quoted company to its shareholders inviting them to buy new shares in the company at a set price, which is normally lower than the current market price.The purpose, as with a rights issue, is to raise new capital for the company. Unlike a rights issue, an entitlement issue cannot be traded or sold on by the shareholder - usually, if you do not take up your entitlement, it lapses. Because of this, when an entitlement issue is announced, you will be allocated sub shares, not nil paid shares.The other way that entitlement issues differ from rights issues is that sometimes you will be allowed to apply for more than your strict entitlement under what is known as 'excess application'. Shareholders tell the company (or its registrar) how many shares they want to buy, including any excess shares, and pay over money to cover their application. The company, before announcing the offer, will have determined how much capital it wants to raise, and the number of shares it needs to sell in order to raise the amount. When it has received all applications, it will either scale them back (if more shares have been applied for than it wants to sell) or it will issue all the shares requested (including any excess applications). If a shareholder's application is scaled back, he or she will be repaid funds for the shares not actually issued.One point worth noting is that shareholders who hold the relevant company shares in a PEP, ISA and SIPP will only be able to take up their entitlement rights if they have enough money in those accounts to pay for the new shares. For the purposes of CGT, the acquisition date for an entitlement issue is the acceptance date that a client took up their entitlement.
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