Not for release, publication or distribution in Australia, Canada, Japan or the United States.
This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities of Carlsberg A/S (the "Securities") in Australia, Canada, Japan or the United States or in any other jurisdiction. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The issuer of the Securities has not registered, and does not intend to register, any portion of the Offering in the United States, and does not intend to conduct a public offering of the Securities in the United States.
CARLSBERG A/S COMPLETES ITS FULLY SUBSCRIBED RIGHTS ISSUE
The offering of new B shares made by Carlsberg A/S ("Carlsberg" or the "Company") with pre-emptive rights in favour of its existing shareholders was successfully completed on 12 June 2008. The rights issue resulted in a full subscription of 76,278,403 new offered shares, with a nominal value of DKK 20 each. As is customary, a small number of the offered shares (less than 0.2%), which were not initially taken up due to technical reasons, were subscribed for by the underwriters. On behalf of the underwriters, Danske Markets (a division of Danske Bank A/S) has informed the Company that they have not taken any stabilisation measures with respect to subscription rights in connection with the rights issue in Carlsberg.
The new B shares were subscribed at a price of DKK 400 per share, resulting in gross proceeds from the offering of DKK 30.5bn for Carlsberg, corresponding to net proceeds of approximately DKK 30.1bn after deduction of offering-related costs.
Commenting on the rights issue Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen, President & CEO of Carlsberg, said:
”The completion of our rights issue is a key milestone for Carlsberg. It is highly satisfying that we in a difficult market have succeeded in completing a fully subscribed rights issue with proceeds of DKK 30.1bn. It is also notable that long term investors from all over the world - institutional as well as private - have been keen to participate in this rights issue, the biggest one ever in Denmark. This demonstrates that investors not only have confidence in the future Carlsberg after the S&N-transaction, they also want to be together with us in the transformation of Carlsberg into the world’s fastest growing global brewer.”
The new B shares carry the same rights as Carlsberg's existing B shares and are eligible for dividends from the date of registration of the capital increase with the Danish Commerce and Companies Agency, which took place today.
Following registration of the 76,278,403 new B shares with a nominal value of DKK 20 each, the nominal value of Carlsberg's share capital is DKK 3,051,136,120 corresponding to 33,699,252 A shares and 118,857,554 B shares with a nominal value of DKK 20 each.
The temporary securities code for the new B shares (DK0060135622) is expected to be merged with the securities code for the existing B shares (DK0010181759) on Wednesday, 18 June 2008.
Contacts:
Investor Relations:
Mikael Bo Larsen +45 3327 1223
Media Relations: Jens Peter Skaarup +45 3327 1417