United Internet acquires 13.9 million treasury shares during its public share buyback offer

United Internet acquires 13.9 million treasury shares during its public share buyback offer
 

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Montabaur, March 1, 2023. In the course of the public share buyback offer by United Internet AG announced on February 14, 2023, a total of 27,553,147 shares were tendered to the Company by the end of the offer period. The offer was based on the buyback of up to 13.9 million shares in total. As the total number of shares for which the offer was accepted exceeded this maximum amount, the declarations of acceptance will be considered on a pro rata basis, i.e. corresponding to the ratio of the maximum number of United Internet shares that may be purchased pursuant to this offer, i.e. 13.9 million United Internet shares, to the aggregate number of United Internet shares tendered by United Internet shareholders for buyback. 5.0 million of the shares bought back originate from the majority shareholder Mr. Ralph Dommermuth.

Following the resolution of the Company’s Management Board of February 14, 2023 to cancel 2.0 million treasury shares and thus reduce capital stock from EUR 194 million to EUR 192 million, the total number of 13.9 million shares bought back during the public share buyback offer corresponds to around 7.2% of all United Internet shares.

The Company will hold approximately 10% of its share capital as treasury shares following the completion of the transaction.

The treasury shares held by United Internet do not carry voting or dividend rights. Due to the non-voting nature of treasury shares, the proportion of shares with voting rights held by companies controlled by Mr. Dommermuth in relation to the total number of voting rights of United Internet AG will simultaneously increase from 53.02% to 54.37%.

In view of the offer price of EUR 21.00 per United Internet share, the purchase price for the buyback of 13.9 million shares in total amounts to EUR 291.9 million. It is expected that the purchase price will be available on each custodian bank’s account with Clearstream by March 8, 2023. Each custodian bank is instructed to credit the offer price to the account specified in the written declaration of acceptance of the relevant United Internet shareholder.

Disclaimer

This notification may not be published, distributed or transmitted in the United States of America, Canada, Australia or Japan. This notification is not directed at, or intended to be transmitted to or used by, any person who is a national or resident of, or located in, any state, country or other jurisdiction where the transmission, publication, use or making available of this notification would violate applicable law or would require a registration or license within such jurisdiction.

Neither this notification nor its content may be published, sent, distributed or disseminated in the United States of America by use of any postal service or by any other means or instrument of interstate commerce or of foreign trade or of the facilities of any national stock exchange of the United States of America. This includes, but is not limited to, fax transmission, electronic mail, telex, telephone and the Internet. Copies of this notification and other related documents may not be sent or transmitted to or within the United States of America either.

This notification does not constitute an offer for the purchase of securities, or a solicitation to make an offer for the purchase of securities, of the company in the United States of America, Germany or any other jurisdiction.

This notification contains forward-looking statements. These statements are based on the current views, expectations and assumptions of United Internet AG's management and entail known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. The actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those described therein due to, among other things, changes in the general economic environment or competitive situation, risks associated with capital markets, foreign exchange rate fluctuations and competition from other companies, changes in a foreign or domestic legal system, particularly with respect to the tax environment, that affect United Internet AG, or other factors. United Internet AG assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements.

About United Internet

With around 27 million fee-based customer contracts and 40 million ad-financed free accounts, United Internet AG is a leading European internet specialist. At the heart of United Internet is a high-performance “Internet Factory” with over 10,300 employees, of which approx. 3,600 are engaged in product management, development and data centers. In addition to the high sales strength of its established brands (such as 1&1, GMX, WEB.DE, IONOS, STRATO, and 1&1 Versatel), United Internet stands for outstanding operational excellence with around 67 million customer accounts worldwide.

Contact partner

United Internet AG
Lisa Pleiß
Phone +49 2602 96-1616
presse@united-internet.de