Heliad increases its interest in DEAG above the 20% threshold


Heliad Equity Partners GmbH & Co. KGaA / Miscellaneous
Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

++ 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