UPC transaction: Sunrise welcomes Inrate AG's position recommending capital increase approval

'The fact that Inrate AG also supports our project with its zRating voting rights recommendation shows that the intended acquisition of UPC Switzerland is in the best interest of the company and its shareholders. The recommended acceptance of the capital increase and the recommended rejection of the removal of Peter Kurer as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Jesper Ovesen as member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee confirm our conviction that the majority of shareholders will vote in our favour,' says Olaf Swantee, CEO of Sunrise.

Inrate recommends that Sunrise shareholders accept the CHF 2.8 billion capital increase at the Extraordinary General Meeting on 23 October 2019, thereby approving the acquisition of UPC Switzerland by Sunrise. The proposals to remove the Chairman of the Board of Directors Peter Kurer and the Board member as well as Chairman of the Audit Committee Jesper Ovesen are recommended for rejection.

Inrate AG is an independent Swiss sustainability rating agency that also issues voting rights recommendations and assesses the corporate governance of listed companies ('zRating'). In the zRating study, Sunrise convinced for the second time in a row with the best corporate governance and this year again secured first place by a large margin.

On Monday, ETHOS, one of Switzerland's most influential voting and proxy advisors, whose clients include Swiss institutional investors and pension funds, had already recommended to approve the capital increase and reject the removal of Peter Kurer and Jesper Ovesen. Inrate AG, the second authoritative Swiss proxy advisor, makes the same recommendations.