04.09.2018
KWS SAAT SE DE0007074007
DGAP-News: KWS plans a change in legal form and a stock split
DGAP-News: KWS SAAT SE / Key word(s): Miscellaneous
KWS plans a change in legal form and a stock split (news with additional
features)
04.09.2018 / 07:30
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Einbeck, September 4, 2018
No. 49 | ww
KWS plans a change in legal form and a stock split
The Supervisory Board and the Executive Board of KWS SAAT SE have decided to
prepare a change in the company's legal form to an SE & Co. KGaA
(partnership limited by shares) and a stock split at a ratio of 1:5.
KWS has been a company with a tradition of family ownership since it was
founded more than 160 years ago. The majority of the shares in KWS SAAT SE
(currently 54.5 percent) is held by members of the families Carl-Ernst
Büchting and Arend Oetker. The conversion will mean that KWS SAAT SE becomes
KWS SAAT SE & Co KGaA. That will not be accompanied by a change in the
company's legal personality. The shareholders of KWS SAAT SE will
automatically become limited partners of KWS SAAT SE & Co KGaA. KWS SE will
become the general partner of the KGaA. The family shareholders Büchting and
Oetker will have the majority of voting rights in it. The task of KWS SE is
the management and thus long-term and strategic control of KWS SAAT SE & Co.
KGaA.
The change of legal form will not result in liquidation of the existing
company or formation of a new legal entity. The company's legal and economic
identity will be retained. Everything will largely remain the same for
employees: All employment contracts and all agreements concluded with the
employee representative bodies will remain in effect without modification.
The overall goal of the conversion is to ensure that KWS continues to be run
with the same values, even in the event of a capital increase where new
shares are issued. "By taking this step, we are positioning ourselves
ideally for our further growth," said KWS' Chief Executive Officer Hagen
Duenbostel in Einbeck. "We'll have better opportunities to raise funds on
the capital market - such as for acquisitions to sensibly complement KWS'
portfolio. At the same time, control of the company will remain in the
tried-and-proven hands of our core shareholders," added Duenbostel.
"We family shareholders think in terms of generations, not quarters. Our
ethos is founded on long-term action and an independent market position and
ensures that the company is strongly positioned, even in times of increasing
changes in the industry," stated Andreas J. Büchting, Chairman of the
Supervisory Board of KWS SAAT SE.
"With the conversion, we will make sure that KWS remains true to the
identity it has evolved over the years and shapes the future with
determination and confidence on the basis of a success story extending over
many generations," stated Marie T. Schnell, Deputy Chairwoman of KWS SAAT
SE's Supervisory Board and representative of the Arend Oetker family.
In order to increase the share's liquidity, a stock split at a ratio of 1:5
is also being prepared, coupled with a capital increase using company funds
of KWS SAAT SE. The stock split will not result in any changes to the stakes
held. The shareholders do not need to make any additional cash payments.
If the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board give their final approval
to the proposed resolutions and the Annual Shareholders' Meeting on December
14 endorses them, the change in legal form will likely be completed in the
spring of 2019 when it is entered in the commercial register.
About KWS1
KWS is one of the world's leading plant breeding companies. In fiscal
2016/2017, 4,950 employees in 70 countries generated net sales of EUR1,080
million and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of EUR132 million. A
company with a tradition of family ownership, KWS has operated independently
for more than 160 years. It focuses on plant breeding and the production and
sale of seed for corn, sugarbeet, cereals, rapeseed and sunflowers. KWS uses
leading-edge plant breeding methods to continuously improve yield and
resistance to diseases, pests and abiotic stress. To that end, the company
invested EUR190 million last fiscal year in research and development, 17
percent of its net sales. For more information: www.kws.de. Follow us on
Twitter(R) at https://twitter.com/KWS_Group.
1 Excluding the shares of the equity-accounted companies AGRELIANT GENETICS
LLC., AGRELIANT GENETICS INC. and KENFENG - KWS SEEDS CO., LTD.
Contact:
Wolf-Gebhard von der Wense
Head of Investor Relations
Phone: +49-5561-311-968
Mobile: +49-151-18855673
[email protected]
KWS SAAT SE
www.kws.de
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Additional features:
Document: http://n.eqs.com/c/fncls.ssp?u=BLQHWOHAKU
Document title: KWS plans a change in legal form
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04.09.2018 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a
service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements,
Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Archive at www.dgap.de
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Language: English
Company: KWS SAAT SE
Grimsehlstraße 31
37555 Einbeck
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)5561 311-0
Fax: +49 (0)5561 311-322
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: www.kws.de
ISIN: DE0007074007
WKN: 707400
Indices: S-DAX
Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard), Hanover;
Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf,
Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange
End of News DGAP News Service
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720299 04.09.2018
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