Heliad Equity Partners GmbH & Co. KGaA / Miscellaneous
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AG.
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++ Heliad increases its interest in DEAG above the 20% threshold
++ More news from the Heliad portfolio on unicorn and Vanguard
Heliad Equity Partners GmbH & Co. KGaA (DE000A0L1NN5/ WKN A0L 1NN)
announced yesterday that it had purchased additional shares in DEAG
Deutsche Entertainment AG on the stock market, increasing its interest from
17.53% to 20.99%. In addition, Ralf Flore was elected to the supervisory
board of DEAG during the annual general meeting of 8 July.
More news from the Heliad portfolio:
In spite of the financial crisis, unicorn Geld- und Wertdienstleistungen
GmbH continues to grow. Although business with banks and commercial clients
has declined to some extent, the company will see another positive Year
with 2009 due to the acquisition of new customers. Sales are expected to
reach EUR 58 million in 2009, representing an increase of 16% over 2008.
unicorn's strategic orientation has not changed due to the unexpected death
of Hans-Jürgen Michel, one of the company's three managing partners. Niels
Faergemann, managing partner: 'We will continue to pursue the path followed
by Hans-Jürgen Michel. He was an exceptional entrepreneur with a clear
vision. We will introduce new products into the market at the beginning of
2010 that are consistent with his wishes and testify our know-how and
innovative abilities.'
As a result of current developments at Vanguard AG, Heliad will be forced
to perform a significant write-down of its investment in the company. The
write-down is expected to be EUR 3.5 million. An extraordinary general
meeting was called on 3 July 2009 to formally notify shareholders of the
loss of half of the company's equity and to announce that according to
preliminary indications the company's entire equity will be lost due to
further expected losses. Furthermore, the annual financial statements of
previous years are being examined due to suspected financial statement
manipulation by Robert Schrödel, Vanguard's founder and former chairman of
the management board. Criminal charges to this effect have been laid
against Mr. Schrödel. The expected sale of a portion of Heliad's
equity interest in Vanguard, which was announced in past financial reports,
has not take place so far, as the contractual partner was not able to make
the corresponding payment. Default summons have been issued and legal
action has been initiated. As the transfer of the shares is dependent on
the full payment of the transaction price, the shares remain property of
Heliad.
Ralf Flore, CEO of Heliad: 'Sony Music Entertainment's recent investment in
DEAG's European classics business is evidence of the promising outlook for
the company. Other Heliad portfolio companies, such as unicorn, RT
Reprotechnik and assona, are also in good shape, in spite of the financial
crisis and the crisis in the real economy. The incidents at Vanguard are
highly unfortunate, but we will continue to work with the other
shareholders of the company to attempt to enhance the current potential of
the company's business model, which we consider to be very high. We expect
our overall positive portfolio performance to also pay off for our
shareholders over the medium term, as demonstrated by the increase of
approximately 60% in the price of Heliad shares since 31 March 2009. NAV is
currently EUR 9.29 per share, representing an increase of around 3% since
the previous month, mainly due to positive stock market climate.'
++ About Heliad
Heliad is a publicly listed investment company which invests in high-growth
companies in German-speaking countries. Heliad relies in this respect on
established, owner-managed business models with sales of between EUR 10
million and EUR 100 million and a focus on service providers ('asset-light'
focus).
With this investment focus and its buy-and-build strategy, Heliad is
positioned in the attractive niche between venture capital and traditional
buyouts. With around 4,900 employees, the 13 companies currently in
Heliad's portfolio generate combined sales of more than EUR 650 million.
Further information about the company can be found at
www.heliad.com.
Contact:
Heliad Equity Partners GmbH & Co. KGaA
Thomas Kunder
Chief Financial Officer
Phone: +49 69 71 91 59 65 39
E-Mail: investor-relations@heliad.com
23.07.2009 Financial News transmitted by DGAP
Language: English
Issuer: Heliad Equity Partners GmbH & Co. KGaA
Grüneburgweg 18
60322 Frankfurt am Main
Deutschland
Phone: +49 69 71 91 59 65 0
Fax: +49 69 71 91 59 65 11
E-mail: info@heliad.com
Internet: www.heliad.com
ISIN: DE000A0L1NN5
WKN: A0L1NN
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
in Berlin, München, Stuttgart
End of News DGAP News-Service