KWS SAAT SE (ISIN: DE0007074007, “KWS”) will implement the share split as adopted by the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on December 14, 2018 by issuing bonus shares on March 22, 2019.
On that day, the company’s shareholders will receive new shares (bonus shares) for each existing KWS share at a ratio of 1:4. As a result, each shareholder will then hold five shares instead of one, namely one old share and four new shares. Accordingly, KWS’ share price will be adjusted to one-fifth to reflect the split on March 22, 2019. A shareholder’s percentage stake in KWS’ capital and the valuation ratios of KWS’ share will not change as a result. The new shares are entitled to a dividend for the current fiscal year 2018/2019.
The increase in the capital stock from €19.8 million to €99.0 million by way of a capital increase from company funds was a prerequisite for issuance of the bonus shares. The capital increase will be carried out by issuing 26,400,000 new bearer shares. Issuance of the bonus shares will increase the total number of KWS shares from 6,600,000 to 33,000,000.
The bonus shares will be allocated by the depositary banks automatically on March 22, 2019, by being credited to the collective securities account. Their allocation will be based on the number of KWS shares held by shareholders on the evening of March 21, 2019. Shareholders do not need to do anything and the allocation is free of charge for them. The above measure is to be handled exclusively by Bankhaus Lampe KG, Düsseldorf.
The 26,400,000 bonus shares will have the same International Securities Identification Number (ISIN: DE0007074007) as the old shares and will be certificated by a global certificate deposited at Clearstream Banking AG, Frankfurt am Main.
About KWS*
KWS is one of the world’s leading plant breeding companies. In fiscal 2017/18, 5,147 employees in 70 countries generated net sales of EUR 1,068 million and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of EUR 133 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 EUR 198 million last fiscal year in research and development, 18.5 percent of its net sales.
* All figures exclude the companies carried at equity AGRELIANT GENETICS LLC., AGRELIANT GENETICS INC. and KENFENG – KWS SEEDS CO., LTD.
For more information: www.kws.com. Follow us on Twitter® at https://twitter.com/KWS_Group.
