This press release may not be published or distributed, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in the USA, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong or Australia or any other country where such publication or distribution would violate applicable laws or rules or would require additional documents to be completed or registered or require any measure to be undertaken, in addition to the requirements under Swedish law.
Cloetta’s rights issue with preferential rights for the company’s shareholders of A and B-shares has been fully subscribed and the underwriting commitments do not need to be utilized. The subscription period of the rights issue ended on April 4, 2012. Approximately 99.6 per cent of the offered shares have been subscribed for with subscription rights and an additional 0.4 per cent have been subscribed for without subscription rights. In total, applications for subscription without subscription rights have been received corresponding to approximately 9.4 per cent of the total number of new shares. The subscription price was SEK 10.79 per new share and Cloetta’s shareholders of A and B-shares were entitled to subscribe for four new shares of the respective share class, for each existing A and B shares held.
As previously announced, Yllop Holding S.A. (previously Leaf Holding S.A.) was not entitled to participate with preferential right in the issue. (Note 1)
The shares that were subscribed for without subscription rights have been allocated according to the principles outlined in the prospectus that was published on March 13, 2012. Notification regarding allocation of shares that have been subscribed for without subscription rights will be distributed to those who have been allocated shares around April 13, 2012.
The rights issue provides Cloetta with proceeds of approximately SEK 1,065 million before issue expenses. As a result of the rights issue, Cloetta’s share capital will increase by SEK 493,729,500 to SEK 1,443,096,495. The number of shares will increase by 98,745,900 to a total of 288,619,299 shares.
The new A and B-shares subscribed with subscription rights are expected to be registered with the Swedish Companies Registration Office around April 18, 2012 and trading in the new B-shares on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm is expected to start on April 19, 2012. Trading in the new B-shares subscribed without subscription rights are expected to start trading on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm on April 26, 2012.
For additional information contact
Jacob Broberg, Senior Vice President Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, phone +46 70 190 00 33.
The information contained in this press release is such that Cloetta AB (publ) is required to disclose pursuant to the Swedish Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication on April 13, 2012 at 08:00 AM CET.
About Cloetta
Cloetta, founded in 1862, is a leading confectionary company in the Nordic region, the Netherlands, and Italy. In total, Cloetta products are sold in more than 50 countries worldwide. Cloetta owns some of the strongest brands on the market, e.g. Läkerol, Cloetta, Jenkki, Kexchoklad, Malaco, Sportlife, Saila, Red Band and Sperlari. Cloetta has 12 production units in six countries. Cloetta’s B-shares are traded on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm.
More information about Cloetta is available on www.cloetta.com
Note 1) A company owned by Nordic Capital Fund V and funds advised by CVC Capital Partners. Yllop Holding received 165,186,924 C-shares in Cloetta, which subsequently have been converted to B-shares, as part of the purchase price in Cloetta’s acquisition of Leaf Holland B.V.