	wormald to uire stake in holmes protection fire protection and security group wormald international ltd woia s said british listed holmes protection group inc has agreed to issue it with mln common shares of one u s cent par value at stg each the two groups have also begun exploratory talks on a possible merger of the holmes business with the compatible businesses of wormald comprising some or all of its fire protection and security businesses in the americas and europe wormald said in a statement the issue of shares in the new york based holmes is conditional upon shareholder approval at a general meeting wormald said its stake will represent pct of holmes existing issued shares and pct of the enlarged capital the issue will raise mln stg which will be used for further development of the holmes business wormald said the businesses of the two groups are largely complementary in terms of both geographical spread and the nature of their activities with holmes concentrating on burglar alarms and wormald on fire systems holmes s operations are concentrated in and around new york amd miami it earned mln u s dlrs pre tax in its last reported full year and mln in first half reuter 
