Source: http://reports.metrogroup.de/2013/ar/business/combinedmanagementreport/notespursuanttothegermancommercialcode.html
Timestamp: 2018-11-16 02:11:46
Document Index: 647273046

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 315', '§ 289', '§ 315', '§ 289', '§ 315', '§ 289', '§ 186', '§ 186', '§186', '§ 18', '§ 18', '§ 186', '§ 186', '§ 71', '§ 71', '§ 186', '§ 4', '§ 9', '§ 71', '§ 71', '§ 186', '§ 186']

Notes pursuant to the German Commercial Code - METRO GROUP - Annual Report 2013
On 30 September 2013, the share capital of METRO AG totalled €835,419,052.27. It is divided into a total of 324,109,563 ordinary bearer shares (proportional value of the share capital: €828,572,941, 99.18 per cent) as well as 2,677,966 preference bearer shares (proportional value of the share capital: €6,846,111, 0.82 per cent). The proportional value per share amounts to about €2.56.
(2) Should the balance sheet profit available for distribution not suffice in any one financial year to pay the preference dividend, the arrears (excluding any interest) shall be paid from the balance sheet profit of future financial years in an order based on age, i.e. in such manner that any older arrears are paid off prior to any more recent ones and that the preference dividends payable from the profit of a financial year are not distributed until all of any accumulated arrears have been paid.
To the knowledge of the Management Board, the following agreements exist, which can be regarded as restrictions in the sense of § 315 Section 4 No. 2 and § 289 Section 4 No. 2 of the German Commercial Code:
An agreement exists among BVG Beteiligungs- und Vermögensverwaltung GmbH, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, Haniel Finance B. V., Haniel Finance Deutschland GmbH, METRO Vermögensverwaltung GmbH & Co. KG, METRO Vermögensverwaltung GmbH, 1. HSB Beteiligungsverwaltung GmbH & Co. KG and 1. HSB Verwaltung GmbH to coordinate the exercise of voting rights associated with shares of METRO AG. In addition, an agreement exists among BVG Beteiligungs- und Vermögensverwaltung GmbH, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, Haniel Finance Deutschland GmbH and Haniel Finance B. V. to coordinate the joint exercise of interests from the METRO AG shares economically attributable to the shareholder groups Haniel and Schmidt-Ruthenbeck. Finally, a pooling agreement exists among Otto Beisheim Betriebs GmbH, Otto Beisheim Holding GmbH and OB Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, which includes the METRO AG shares held by Otto Beisheim Holding GmbH and OB Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH.
The company has not issued any shares with special rights pursuant to § 315 Section 4 No. 4 and § 289 Section 4 No. 4 of the German Commercial Code. No capital interests are held by employees pursuant to § 315 Section 4 No. 5 and § 289 Section 4 No. 45 of the German Commercial Code.
in the event of a capital increase in exchange for cash capital contributions to the extent necessary to grant subscription rights to new shares to the holders of warrant or convertible bonds issued by METRO AG and affiliates thereof in which METRO AG holds at least 90 per cent of shares, directly or indirectly, in the scope to which they would be entitled upon exercise of the warrant or conversion rights or fulfilment of the warrant or conversion obligations;
in the event of capital increases in exchange for cash capital contributions if the aggregate par value of such capital increases does not exceed 10 per cent of the company’s share capital and the issue price of the new shares is not substantially lower than the stock exchange price of existing shares of the same class. The limit of 10 per cent of the company’s share capital is diminished by the share of the share capital represented by the company’s own shares which are (i) used as own shares or sold during the term of authorised capital while excluding subscription rights in analogous application of § 186 Section 3 Sentence 4 of the German Stock Corporation Act or (ii) issued from contingent capital to service warrant and convertible bonds which, in turn, have been or are issued while excluding subscription rights in analogous application of § 186 Section 3 Sentence 4 of the German Stock Corporation Act. Once a new authorisation for the exclusion of shareholder subscription rights issued by the Annual General Meeting pursuant to §186 Section 3 Sentence 4 of the German Stock Corporation Act has become effective, the limit diminished in accordance with the above sentence is raised again to the extent of the new authorisation, but to a maximum of 10 per cent of the share capital.
The Management Board is authorised, with the consent of the Supervisory Board, to define further details of the capital increases. To date, the authorised capital I has not been utilised. No concrete plans exist as to the utilisation of this authorisation.
The bonds may also be issued by affiliates of METRO AG in terms of § 18 of the German Stock Corporation Act in which METRO AG holds at least 90 per cent of shares, directly or indirectly. In that case, the Management Board is authorised, with the consent of the Supervisory Board, to assume a guarantee for those bonds on behalf of the company and grant their holders warrant or conversion rights to ordinary bearer shares in METRO AG or impose warrant or conversion obligations upon them.
Shareholders will be granted statutory subscription rights in that the bonds will be acquired by a bank or syndicate of banks contingent upon agreement to offer the bonds to the shareholders. If bonds are issued by an affiliate of METRO AG in terms of § 18 of the German Stock Corporation Act in which METRO AG holds at least 90 per cent of shares, directly or in-directly, the company must ensure that statutory subscription rights are granted to the shareholders of METRO AG in accordance with the above sentence.
The Management Board is also authorised, with the consent of the Supervisory Board, to entirely exclude shareholder subscription rights to bonds issued in exchange for cash payment carrying warrant or conversion rights or obligations insofar as the Management Board concludes, after careful review, that the issue price of the bonds is not substantially lower than the hypothetical market value ascertained using recognised mathematical methods. This authorisation to exclude subscription rights applies for bonds which are issued with warrant or conversion rights or obligations to ordinary shares comprising no more than 10 per cent of the share capital both at the time the authorisation takes effect or – if this value is lower – at the time the authorisation is exercised. The following count towards the aforementioned 10 per cent limit: (i) new ordinary shares issued from authorised capital excluding subscription rights according to § 186 Section 3 Sentence 4 of the German Stock Corporation Act during the term of the authorisation prior to the issuance of bonds with warrant or conversion rights or obligations without subscription rights according to § 186 Section 3 Sentence 4 of the German Stock Corporation Act, (ii) ordinary shares acquired based on the authorisation of the Annual General Meeting according to § 71 Section 1 No. 8 of the German Stock Corporation Act and sold according to §§ 71 Section 1 No. 8 Sentence 5, 186 Section 3 Sentence 4 of the German Stock Corporation Act during the term of such authorisation, prior to the issuance of bonds with warrant or conversion rights or obligations excluding subscription rights according to § 186 Section 3 Sentence 4 of the German Stock Corporation Act.
In the case of bonds carrying warrant or conversion rights or obligations, the warrant or conversion price may be adjusted after closer determination in order to preserve the value of such rights or obligations in the event their economic value is diluted, unless such an adjustment is also provided for by law. The terms of the bonds may also provide for an adjustment of warrant or conversion rights or obligations in case of a capital reduction or other extraordinary measures or events (for example, unusually high dividends, acquisition of control by third parties). In case of the acquisition of control by third parties, the terms of the bonds may provide for adjustment of the warrant or conversion price in accordance with typical market terms. Furthermore, the terms of the bonds may provide for a variable conversion ratio and/or variable warrant and conversion price whereby the warrant or conversion price is determined within a range to be set based on the development of the share price during the term. The minimum issue price based on the stipulations of § 4 Section 8 of METRO AG’s Articles of Association may not be undercut.
The terms of the bonds may also call for a warrant or conversion obligation at the end of the term (or at any other time), or authorise METRO AG to grant bond holders ordinary shares in METRO AG or shares in another exchange-listed company upon maturity of bonds carrying warrant or conversion rights (including bonds which mature due to termination), in whole or in part, in lieu of a maturity payment in cash. The percentage of share capital represented by the ordinary shares in METRO AG issued upon the exercise of warrant or conversion rights may not exceed the par value of the bonds. §§ 9 Section 1, 199 Section 2 of the German Stock Corporation Act apply.
The company is authorised to buy back its own shares in accordance with § 71 of the German Stock Corporation Act. On the basis of § 71 Section 1 No. 8 of the German Stock Corporation Act, the Annual General Meeting decided on 5 May 2010 to authorise the company to acquire shares of the company of any share class on or before 4 May 2015. The authorisation is limited to the acquisition of shares collectively representing a maximum of 10 per cent of the share capital issued as of the date the Annual General Meeting resolution is passed. The authorisation to acquire own shares may be exercised in whole or in part, in the latter case also several times. It may also be exercised for the acquisition of either ordinary shares or preference shares only.
Sale of shares of the company by means other than via the stock exchange or via an offer to all shareholders, provided that the sale is for cash payment and at a price not substantially lower than the stock exchange price in effect for listed shares of the company with the same terms on the date of the sale. The foregoing authorisation is limited to the sale of shares collectively representing no more than 10 per cent of the share capital. The limit of 10 per cent of the share capital is reduced by the pro rata amount of share capital represented by any shares issued (i) during the effective period of this authorisation in the course of any capital increase under exclusion of subscription rights according to § 186 Section 3 Sentence 4 of the German Stock Corporation Act, or (ii) to service warrant or convertible bonds providing for warrant or conversion rights or obligations, insofar as such bonds were issued during the effective period of this authorisation under exclusion of subscription rights by analogous application of 186 Section 3 Sentence 4 of the German Stock Corporation Act.
Delivery of shares to holders of warrant or convertible bonds of the company or its affiliates, according to the terms and conditions applicable to such warrant or convertible bonds; this also applies to the delivery of shares based upon the exercise of subscription rights, which in the event of a sale of company shares through an offer to all shareholders may be granted to holders of warrant or convertible bonds of the company or any of its affiliates, to the same extent that holders of such warrant or convertible bonds would have subscription rights for shares of the company after exercising the warrant or conversion rights or performing the warrant or conversion obligations. The shares transferred based upon this authorisation shall collectively not exceed a pro rata amount of 10 per cent of the share capital. Shares issued or sold by direct or analogous application of § 186 Section 3 Sentence 4 of the German Stock Corporation Act during the effective period of this authorisation up to the date of use shall count towards the aforementioned limit.
As a borrower, METRO AG is currently a party to two syndicated loan agreements that the lender may cancel in the case of a takeover insofar as the credit rating of METRO AG also and as a result of the takeover drops in a way stipulated in the contract. The requirements of a takeover are, first, that the shareholders who controlled METRO AG at the time when each contract was signed lose control. The second requirement is the takeover of control of METRO AG by one or several parties. The lending banks may cancel the contract and demand the return of the loan only if the takeover and a resulting drop in the credit rating occur cumulatively. The regulations as described here are common market practice and serve the purpose of creditor protection. In the short financial year 2013, these loans were not utilised.