Company announcement no 14 2013/14
Copenhagen, 14 November 2013
Change of strategy
Until today, SPEAS has focused on long-term value creation and reinvested exit
proceeds received in new, attractive private equity funds. Private equity
investments have performed satisfactorily, with returns outperforming the equity
market. However - in line with other listed private equity companies - for some
time the Company's share price has been considerably lower than the book value
per share.
Based on the unsatisfactory price/book value, SPEAS's Board of Directors has
decided that SPEAS should prioritise distribution to shareholders over new
investment commitments at present in order to ensure the best possible value
creation for shareholders, in the short term as well. Distribution will be in
the form of share buybacks and/or dividends.
Thus SPEAS intends to distribute as large a share of its cash reserves as
possible, with due regard to outstanding investment commitments, and up to end-
2014 the Board of Directors estimates that the Company will have sufficient cash
reserves to be able to distribute DKK 100m, to which comes a considerable share
of any exit proceeds received.
In this connection, the Company intends to keep buying back own shares in the
market, to the extent allowed by the liquidity of the share, as SPEAS in one
trading day does not want to represent more than 50% of the registered turnover
of the share. Currently, the Company's holding of own shares corresponds to
8.9% of the share capital, and the Board of Directors is authorised to buy back
up to 15% of the share capital.
Distribution to shareholders will reduce SPEAS's investment capacity to an
extent expected to result in a winding-up of the Company.
The Company's level of costs will be adapted to the changed strategy, and at
SPEAS's ordinary general meeting on 26 May 2014 the Board of Directors will
propose a reduction in the number of its Directors. The Board of Directors will
also propose that the Company's holding of own shares be cancelled and specify
how future distribution to shareholders will be effected.
For further information, please contact:
Henning Kruse Petersen, Chairman of the Board of Directors, tel +45 20 10 00 51
Ole Mikkelsen, CEO, tel +45 70 25 10 55, mobile +45 30 66 96 30
[HUG#1743278]
