Ekosem-Agrar AG invites to second noteholders’ meetings – Agreement on improved resolution proposals to be reached shortly
10 May 2022 Corporate News
- As expected, noteholders’ meetings for ESA bond 2012/2022 and ESA bond 2019/2024 not quorate
- Invitations to the second noteholders’ meetings on 30 and 31 May 2022 published today
- Constructive talks on adjusted bond restructuring measures nearing conclusion – Publication planned in the form of a countermotion
- Company urgently calls for attendance and exercise of voting rights to ensure quorum for the second meetings
Walldorf, 10 May 2022 – The Management Board of Ekosem-Agrar AG, the German holding company of Russian milk producer Ekoniva Group, announces that, as had been expected, less than 50 percent of the outstanding bonds were represented at each the noteholders’ meeting of the Ekosem-Agrar bond 2012/2022 (ISIN: DE000A1R0RZ5) on 9 May 2022 and the noteholders’ meeting of the Ekosem-Agrar bond 2019/2024 (ISIN: DE000A2YNR08) on 10 May 2022. This means that the meetings were not quorate.
Due to the insufficient attendance, the company invites noteholders to a second noteholders’ meeting. At these meetings, a reduced quorum of 25% of the outstanding bond volume is required for resolutions on the restructuring measures. The second meeting of holders of the ESA bond 2012/2022 will be held on 30 May 2022, while the meeting of holders of the ESA bond 2019/2024 will be held on 31 May 2022, in each case in Sinsheim. The invitations to both meetings were today published in the Federal Gazette and on the website of Ekosem-Agrar AG.
Agreement with noteholders’ advisory council and (designated) Joint Representative on adjusted measures to be reached shortly
As already communicated, the Management Board is in constructive talks with the (designated) Joint Representative of the bonds as well as the newly created noteholders’ advisory council, which also includes a representative of Schutzgemeinschaft der Kapitalanleger (SdK), in order to negotiate an adjusted set of measures for the restructuring of the two bonds. These talks are nearing conclusion and an agreement is within reach. The new proposals are expected to be formulated shortly as a countermotion and published by all parties involved (company, (designated) Joint Representative, noteholders’ advisory council) in a press release. Ekosem-Agrar will then put this adjusted set of measures to the vote at the upcoming second noteholders’ meetings.
Wolfgang Bläsi, CFO of Ekosem-Agrar AG: “We are well on the way to agreeing on an improved set of measures that will materially enhance the position of the noteholders, while at the same time creating a reasonable framework for the company to act within. Every single vote of the noteholders is needed to enable a quorum at the upcoming second noteholders’ meetings. We therefore ask all noteholders to attend the second noteholders’ meetings or to be represented by a proxy.”
The company therefore calls upon all noteholders to request as soon as possible the Special Verification of ownership of the bonds and the blocking notice required for the meetings from their custodian bank. For more information on how to attend, click here.
For more information, visit http://www.ekosem-agrar.de/en/investor-relations/.
About Ekosem-Agrar
Ekosem-Agrar AG, Walldorf, is the German holding company of the Ekoniva Group, one of the largest Russian agricultural companies. A herd of more than 210,000 cattle (thereof over 112,000 dairy cows) and a daily output of approx. 3,200 tons of raw milk make the company the largest milk producer in the country. The Group controls an agricultural land area of approx. 630,000 hectares and is also one of the leading Russian seed producers. The founder and CEO of the company is Stefan Dürr, who has been active in the Russian agricultural sector since the end of the 1980s and has been instrumental in modernizing the industry in the past three decades. In 2009, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in recognition of his contributions to the German-Russian Dialogue on Agriculture. The Group employs some 12,000 people and has a presence in nine administrative areas in Russia. Ekosem-Agrar generated a total output of EUR 565 million and adjusted EBITDA of EUR 167 million in 2019.
Ekosem-Agrar contact
Irina Makey // Ekosem-Agrar AG // Johann-Jakob-Astor-Str. 49 // 69190 Walldorf // T: +49 (0) 6227 3585 919 // E: irina.makey@ekosem-agrar.de
Press / Investor Relations
Fabian Kirchmann, Anna-Lena Mayer // IR.on AG // T: +49 (0) 221 9140 970 // E: presse@ekosem-agrar.de