Annual General Meeting on June 24, 2010 in Zug
NEWS RELEASE
Zug, June 02, 2010
The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting to approve a reduction of the nominal value per share from CHF 8 to CHF 6 and to distribute CHF 2 per share to the Company's shareholders.
At the current share price this represents a yield of 5.7%. Going forward shareholders shall benefit from regular distributions.
Private Equity Holding AG (PEH) has published the invitation for its 13th Annual General Meeting to be held on June 24, 2010, in Zug and the annual report for the financial year 2009/2010 on its website. Registered shareholders will receive the invitation in the course of the next days via mail.
The audited Net Asset Value (NAV) per share as of March 31, 2010 amounts to EUR 53.09 (CHF 75.95), which represents an increase of 12.3% (in EUR) since April 1, 2009. The audited NAV is 3.9% lower than the preliminary value that was first published on April 8, 2010 and in the shareholder letter dated April 30, 2010. In May, PEH received new fund reports for two large buyout investments, which showed material differences from the previous reports. The net effect of these two reports was negative. Therefore, the Manager and the Board of Directors decided to reflect this effect already in the audited financial statements as of March 31, 2010, rather than in the June report only. The adjustment had a positive effect on the Company's expense ratio and net current assets.
The revised NAV as of April 30, 2010, is EUR 53.43 (CHF 76.64). The NAV for the end of May will be published on June 4, 2010 and is expected to show a significant increase.
As already previously published, Stuart Frankel will not stand for election for another term as director of the Company. Dr. Hans Baumgartner and Dr. Chris Tanner will stand for re-election. In addition, Martin Eberhard and Patrick Schildknecht are proposed to the Annual General Meeting for election to the Board of Directors (short CVs attached).
In agenda item 6, the Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting to cancel 40,500 shares that were purchased in the share buyback program in 2005/2006 and to reduce the share capital accordingly. Furthermore, the Board of Directors proposes to approve a reduction of the nominal value per share from CHF 8 to CHF to CHF 6 and to distribute CHF 2 per share to the Company's shareholders.
The proposed distribution amounts to 5.7% of the current share price and is part of a policy change. The Board of Directors has decided to let shareholders participate in PEH's growth also through regular distributions in the future. Distributions representing a reduction in the nominal value per share are tax-exempt for private individuals residing in Switzerland. The implementation of a distribution policy is part of a long-term plan to increase the attractiveness of the PEH share. Reducing the discount between NAV per share and share price has a high priority for the Manager and the Board of Directors.
***
Private Equity Holding AG (SIX: PEHN), managed by Alpha Associates, offers investors the opportunity to invest, within a simple legal and tax optimized structure, in a broadly diversified and professionally managed private equity portfolio.
For further information, please contact:
Peter Wolfers, Investor Relations, peter.wolfers@peh.ch, phone +41 41 726 79 80 or http://www.peh.
Basis of the Net Asset Value Calculation and Disclaimer
The number of outstanding shares used for calculation of the Net Asset Value per share amounted to 3,865,129 as of March 31, 2010. The calculations are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and pursuant to the guidelines of the European Venture Capital Association (EVCA). The Net Asset Values of the fund investments are based on the most recent report of the latest NAV (net asset values) as reported by the funds. Unlisted direct investments are rated at Net Asset Values. The Net Asset Value of listed direct investments is the market value. Based on a composite assessment of all appropriate and applicable indicators of the Net Asset Value, Private Equity Holding AG makes a good faith estimate of the Net Asset Value as of the valuation date. The Net Asset Values are calculated under a going concern assumption. The Net Asset Value of Private Equity Holding AG is computed as of the end of each month and published four trading days after the cut-off date. The different reporting cut-off dates of the individual companies and funds in which participations are held can lead to short-term distortions and cause discrepancies between the published Net Asset Value and the actual total value of Private Equity Holding AG's net assets.
Short CVs of proposed new Board Members
Martin Eberhard, 1958, Swiss citizen
From 2000 until 2009 Martin Eberhard served as founder and CEO of NZB Neue Zürcher Bank Ltd. Prior to founding NZB, Mr. Eberhard held various senior positions at Bank Julius Baer; his last position at JB was member of the Executive Board Brokerage Europe. Before joining JB, he worked for Swiss Bank Corporation in Zurich, Geneva and New York. Mr. Eberhard completed the Swiss Banking School and an Advanced Executive Program at Kellogg Graduate School of Management, USA.
Patrick Schildknecht, 1972, Swiss citizen
Patrick Schildknecht is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of two investment companies, Sk Holding AG and SFM & Associés SA; a real estate development company Sk Real Estates AG; and Hinno AG, a specialist for innovative curtain systems. Mr. Schildknecht graduated from the University of Zurich with a degree in economics in 1998 and started his career at timber company Portico S.A. in San Jose, Costa Rica. Returning to Switzerland in 1999, Mr. Schildknecht worked for five years for strategy consultants Arthur D. Little. He then took over, together with other investors, All Wireless AG, Bern, a leading company in the field of paging.