Axel Springer : postpones Annual General Meeting

Traviata B.V. has informed the Executive Board of Axel Springer SE that it is intending the timely execution of a squeeze-out of the minority shareholders of Axel Springer SE. Traviata B.V. is a holding company owned by funds advised by KKR. The aim is for the squeeze-out resolution to be adopted by the Annual General Meeting before the end of the calendar year, probably in the fourth quarter.

The Supervisory Board and the Executive Board of Axel Springer SE have resolved to postpone the annual shareholders' meeting scheduled for June 17, 2020 to the fourth quarter and to combine it with the resolution on the squeeze-out. This will avoid the need to hold two general meetings in 2020. Axel Springer SE will make an advance payment of 50 percent of the planned dividend in June 2020, corresponding to EUR 0.58 per share of Axel Springer SE.

Traviata B.V. is in consultation with the other major shareholders of Axel Springer SE regarding the intended squeeze-out. Together, these major shareholders hold around 99.1 percent of the shares in Axel Springer; 95 percent of the shares are required for a squeeze-out request.

The squeeze-out is a procedure established in stock corporation law. It allows the general meeting of a stock corporation to resolve, at the request of a principal shareholder, that the shares of minority shareholders be transferred to the principal shareholder in return for appropriate cash compensation.