RNS Number:4090L
Advance Value Realisation Co Ld
21 May 2003

21 MAY 2003
PRESS RELEASE

BY ADVANCE VALUE REALISATION COMPANY LIMITED

REGARDING

ADVANCED MEDICAL SOLUTIONS GROUP PLC


On 20 March 2003 Advance Value Realisation Company Limited ("ADVARC"), which
owns 7.3% of the issued share capital of Advanced Medical Solutions Group PLC
("AMS"), requisitioned a resolution to be moved at the forthcoming Annual
General Meeting ("AGM") of AMS which has now been convened on 29 May 2003. The
purpose of the resolution is to provide an opportunity for shareholders to vote
on the following resolution:


"The Board is requested to invite offers for all or part of the underlying
businesses, including for separate intellectual property rights, product lines
and related licenses and to provide bona fide potential offerors with
information, subject only to normal confidentiality obligations, to enable them
to make offers which maximise shareholder value."



Background to AGM Resolution


On 22 January 2002, ADVARC requisitioned an Extraordinary Meeting ("EGM") to
consider an ordinary resolution proposing that the directors of AMS should seek
offers for "the entire issued share capital of the Company" in order to realise
value for all its shareholders. ADVARC understands that a number of
institutional investors were led to believe, by the Company and its brokers,
that a re-rating of the Company's shares could be reasonably be expected if the
resolution was defeated. The resolution was defeated but any hopes of a
resurrection of the share price were soon dashed. Since then the AMS share price
fell 24% from 9.5 pence per Ordinary Share to 7.25p (18/3/03) but has recovered
to 9.125p in the last few days on generally low trading volumes.



ADVARC has over the last 33 months sought to encourage the Board of AMS to focus
on demonstrating the creation of shareholder value and this it has consistently
failed to do. Even in the Company's recent document dated 24 April 2003,
recommending that shareholders vote against the ADVARC resolution, there is no
mention of how the Board intends to deliver value to shareholders The AMS Board
complacently endorses the strategies that have failed to deliver shareholder
value to date.



AMS's current market capitalisation is approximately #13 million. Its latest
results reported cash of # 5.1 million and tax losses carried forward of  #10.2
million, putting an extremely low valuation on the underlying business, products
and technology.



AMS hoped that by purchasing MedLogic for #2.9 million it would be able to
demonstrate its managers' ability to create value for shareholders. Although the
Company reports that this acquisition is performing reasonably well, it has had
no positive impact on the Company's share price and does not address the issue
of AMS's lack of critical mass.



Robert Legget, Managing Director of Progressive Value Management Limited, the
Manager of ADVARC, said, " Whilst we believe that AMS has real and significant
value in its technology and developed products, we remain unconvinced that the
current Board has any intention of being pro-active in exploiting this for the
benefit of shareholders. If it wishes to maintain the confidence of its
shareholders, the AMS Board should be active in attracting bids for some of its
underlying technologies to convince investors that its strategy is working.
Until then AMS's share price will continue to reflect the low rating attributed
to the Company by the Stock Market."



Response to AMS's arguments against the resolution



The Board of AMS has summarised its reasons for recommending shareholders to
vote against the resolution by stating that "putting the Group for sale" is
wholly inappropriate, will not enhance value over and above AMS's current
strategy, and could seriously damage the commercial prospects of AMS in the
immediate future, thus reducing its value to a potential purchaser in the longer
term



Sale of Group is inappropriate: In fact ADVARC is proposing either a sale of the
complete business or a part thereof. Many company boards address these sort of
options as part of their normal fiduciary duty to maximise value for all
shareholders. Why does the AMS board believe that it is inappropriate for it to
address this issue?


Will not enhance value over and above the Board's current strategy: The Board
clearly believes it has information about the potential value of AMS's
businesses and products to support this. By proposing the resolution, ADVARC is
requesting that this view is properly tested. The AMS Board should either
explain the reasons for its belief by publishing a detailed basis for its view
or support the resolution.



Could damage the commercial prospects of AMS in the short term: The Board of AMS
needs to explain this statement. Currently the Board signs contracts with
customers and partners which include "Change of Ownership" clauses. This is far
more likely to reduce AMS's value to a potential bidder in the long term. The
current Board has already had over three and half years to address this and the
share price has collapsed by 58.5% since the rights issue just before this
Board's current membership was established. How much more time does the Board
feel it requires to deliver this additional value (or even to restore it)?

Response to AMS's comments on ADVARC's original points


AMS's Board has tried to defend itself against ADVARC's claims in ways which
require a response.


" An unsatisfactory share performance." The AMS Board defends this by quoting
the relative strength of the share price performance against a number of share
indices since the acquisition of MedLogic. It completely ignores the
considerable share price reduction prior to the acquisition.

AMS also refers to the depressing effect on the share price of the requirement
for ADVARC to dispose of its shareholdings during 2003. This entirely overlooks
the beneficial effect on the share price of other stocks in ADVARC's portfolio
where similar resolutions have been proposed or where boards have adopted a more
positive approach.


"No recovery in AMS trading." The AMS Board is being disingenuous. ADVARC made
it clear in its original point that it was referring to AMS's original core
business (i.e. excluding the results of MedLogic), which lost #1.5 million on
sales of #7.5 million. A sales increase of #0.1 million can hardly be described
as a recovery.


"Excessive Professional Fees and Transaction Costs." The AMS Board accuses
ADVARC of being responsible for the cost of the EGM of #202,000. It was the AMS
Board that authorised and incurred this excessive cost and now seeks to deflect
responsibility for its extravagance onto ADVARC. Responding positively to the
resolution would have avoided these expenses but if the Board felt compelled to
oppose the resolution it could easily done so and communicated with its
shareholders without incurring anything like this level of expense. The amount
of professional fees incurred by ADVARC in relation to the resolution was
#1,000.


The Board refers to #215,000 of exclusivity fees that were incurred in the
Medlogic transaction as a result of delays caused by the EGM. Again this
avoidance of the Board's responsibility is perverse. ADVARC was unaware of the
MedLogic transaction at the time and considers it unusual for exclusivity fees
to be paid at all. This suggests that AMS was desperate to complete the MedLogic
transaction to deflect criticism and attention from the poor performance of its
core business.


"Another change of strategy." The Board claims that the strategy has been
"clear, consistent and unchanged" since January 2000. The word they forgot to
mention was "unsuccessful".


"The management is now "top heavy". " The Board avoids the issue by arguing that
they have reduced the number of Board members by designating the recent
appointments as senior managers. AMS does not deny that there has been an
increase in the number of senior executives responsible for managing a tiny
company.


Conclusion


ADVARC believes that by voting for the resolution on 29 May 2003, shareholders
will persuade the Board to focus on increasing the value of all AMS
shareholders' interests.



END



Contact:


Robert Legget
Progressive Value Management Limited

0207 253 9104


Note to editors



ADVARC is an investment company which specialises in providing investors with
liquidity and value from illiquid holdings in listed UK smaller companies
transferred into ADVARC in July 2000, when it raised #53 million by stock swap
from 26 institutions. Since then it has effected portfolio realisations which
has enabled it to return #40.78 million to shareholders. It was winner of the
award for the Best Small Companies Trust by Investment Trusts magazine in 2002.


ADVARC is managed by Progressive Value Management Limited.




                      This information is provided by RNS
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