(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section and sections 24 and 25, a company proposing to allot any equity securities -
(a) shall not allot any of those securities on any terms to any person unless it has made an offer to each person who holds relevant shares or relevant employee shares to allot to him on the same or more favourable terms a proportion of those securities which is as nearly as practicable equal to the proportion in nominal value held by him of the aggregate of relevant shares and relevant employee shares; and
(b) shall not allot any of those securities to any person unless the period during which any such offer may be accepted has expired or the company has received notice of the acceptance or refusal of every offer so made.
(2) Subsection (3) applies to any provision of the memorandum or articles of a company which requires the company, when proposing to allot equity securities consisting of relevant shares of any particular class, not to allot those