STOCKHOLM, Dec. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- AB Electrolux ("Electrolux") in January 2019 announced that the company was preparing for the separation and distribution of its Professional Products business area. Consequently, the Board of Directors has today decided to propose that an Extraordinary General Meeting is held on February 21, 2020, to resolve on the distribution of all shares in the wholly-owned subsidiary Electrolux Professional AB ("Electrolux Professional") to the shareholders of Electrolux.
The intention is to list Electrolux Professional on Nasdaq Stockholm in the first quarter of 2020. The distribution of the shares in Electrolux Professional is expected to meet the requirements of the Lex Asea* rules. The distribution means that Electrolux shareholders will receive shares in Electrolux Professional in proportion to their existing shareholding in Electrolux. Each share of series A in Electrolux will entitle to one share of series A in Electrolux Professional and each share of series B in Electrolux will entitle to one share of series B in Electrolux Professional.
The Board of Directors has also decided to propose that the Extraordinary General Meeting authorizes the Board of Directors to determine the record date for the distribution of the shares in Electrolux Professional.
A split of the Electrolux Group and a distribution and listing of the shares in Electrolux Professional has the potential to create substantial shareholder value over time, and will enable both companies to focus on their respective opportunities to drive profitable growth. As a separate listed company, Electrolux Professional is expected to increase focus, customer value and development opportunities. Under the leadership of a separate management team and Board of Directors, and with independent access to capital, the separation is also expected to facilitate Electrolux Professional's successful execution of its strategies. Furthermore, Electrolux and Electrolux Professional are also as separate companies better positioned to meet the different demand drivers and challenges in their respective end markets. A listing also provides an opportunity for current and new investors to invest directly in Electrolux Professional.
Electrolux has in consultation with its four largest shareholders (Investor AB, Alecta, Swedbank Robur Funds and AMF - Försäkring och Fonder) appointed Kai Wärn as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Electrolux Professional, and Lorna Donatone, Hans Ola Meyer, Daniel Nodhäll, Martine Snels and Carsten Voigtländer as board members. Alberto Zanata, current head of the Professional Products Business Area, has been appointed President and CEO of Electrolux Professional.
"The appointed board members have a broad and extensive international industrial and financial experience in areas and geographies considered important for Electrolux Professional. We believe they are well positioned to support Electrolux Professional in reaching its full potential as a stand-alone company," said Staffan Bohman, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Electrolux. See below for more information about the board members.
For practical reasons, conversion of series A shares in Electrolux will be limited during the period until the distribution of Electrolux Professional, and requests for conversion must be made no later than February 17, 2020, for the conversion to be registered before the distribution.
The Professional Products business area will in the Q4 2019 interim report of Electrolux be reported as discontinued operations. The report will be published on January 31, 2020.
Additional information to Electrolux shareholders regarding the proposed distribution of the shares in Electrolux Professional will be published in the form of an information brochure on Electrolux website www.electroluxgroup.com on January 31, 2020.
Kai Wärn is President and CEO and member of Group Management of Husqvarna AB. He is also a board member of Husqvarna AB and AB Electrolux. He has an M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. Kai Wärn, born 1959, is a Swedish citizen.
Lorna Donatone is Interim Region Chair for Sodexo in Latin America and Country President for Chile and a member of the Sodexo Group Executive Committee. She has announced that she will retire from Sodexo at the end of 2019. She has an MBA from Texas Christian University in the U.S. and a B.Sc. in Management from Tulane University in the U.S. Lorna Donatone, born 1957, is a U.S. citizen.
Hans Ola Meyer is Senior Vice President Finance and Controlling and member of Group Management of Atlas Copco AB. He is also a board member of Upplands Motor Holding AB. He has as a B.Sc. in Economics and Business Administration from the Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden. Hans Ola Meyer, born 1955, is a Swedish citizen.
Daniel Nodhäll is Head of Listed Companies and member of Group Management of Investor AB. He is also a board member of Husqvarna AB and Saab AB. He has an M.Sc. in Economics and Business Administration from the Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden. Daniel Nodhäll, born 1978, is a Swedish citizen.
Martine Snels is Member of the Executive Board of GEA Group AG, responsible for Regions & Countries, Sales & Services of GEA Group. She has an M.Sc in Agricultural Engineering from Koninklijke Universiteit Leuven, Campus Geel in Belgium and studied Mathematics at the University of Antwerp in Belgium. Martine Snels, born 1969, is a Belgian citizen.
Carsten Voigtländer is acting as an independent advisor and is member of the Board of Directors of Arbonia AG and BBC-Group AG in Switzerland, INNIO GmbH in Austria and Friedhelm Loh Group in Germany. He is also Vice Chairman of Saurer Group in China. He has a PhD, Dr.-Ing. in Simulation of Process Engineering Systems from the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany. Carsten Voigtländer, born 1963, is a German citizen.
*Lex Asea is a Swedish tax regulation. The provision implies, in brief, that the shares in a subsidiary under certain circumstances can be distributed without triggering any immediate taxation of the dividend for Swedish resident shareholders (instead, the tax basis for the shares in the parent company is allocated between the shares in the parent company and the received shares in the subsidiary).
CONTACT:
For further information, contact Daniel Frykholm, Electrolux Press Hotline, +46 8 657 65 07.
This is information that AB Electrolux is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 1600 CET on December 5, 2019.
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