2024-04-03 18:00

EG Sverige AB controls 97.81 per cent of all outstanding shares in Mestro AB (publ) and extends the acceptance period

EG A/S, CVR no. 40 40 60 93, through its indirectly wholly owned subsidiary EG Sverige AB, reg. no 556164-5648 (the "Bidder") announced on 9 February 2024 a recommended public offer (the "Offer") to the shareholders of Mestro AB (publ), reg. no 556679-4649 ("Mestro") to tender all shares in Mestro. The Bidder has by agreements acquired a total of 5,416,374 shares in Mestro, corresponding to approximately 53 per cent of all shares and votes in Mestro (the "Side Transactions"). At the end of the extended acceptance period that expired on 3 April 2024, the Offer had been accepted by shareholders of 4,580,730 shares in Mestro which together with the shares in Mestro that the Bidder has acquired through the Side Transactions, represent approximately 97.81 per cent of all outstanding shares and votes in Mestro. The Bidder has resolved to initiate a compulsory buy-out procedure to acquire the remaining shares in Mestro and to extend the acceptance period in the Offer up to and including 17 April 2024 to enable more voluntary acceptances to be submitted in the Offer.

The Offer is not being made, and this press release may not be distributed, directly or indirectly, in or into, and no acceptances will be accepted from, or on behalf of, shareholders in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, Singapore, South Africa or the United States of America or any other country in which the making of the Offer, the distribution of this press release or the acceptance of the Offer would be contrary to applicable laws or regulations or would require the preparation of an additional offer document or registration or any other action in addition to that required by Swedish law.

Background and outcome

The extended acceptance period for the Offer expired on 3 April 2024. The Bidder today announces that:

At the expiration of the extended acceptance period on 3 April 2024, the Offer had been accepted by shareholders of Mestro representing a total of approximately 44.82 per cent of all outstanding shares and votes in Mestro.
The shares in Mestro that have been tendered in connection with the Offer at the end of the acceptance period, together with the shares in Mestro that the Bidder has acquired through the Side Transactions, represent approximately 97.81 per cent of all outstanding shares and votes in Mestro.
The Bidder has resolved to initiate a compulsory buy-out procedure of the minority shares in Mestro.

Payment of consideration for shares tendered during the extended acceptance period up to and including 3 April 2024 is expected to commence on or about 8 April 2024.

Neither the Bidder nor any related party to the Bidder owned or controlled any shares or other financial instruments that provide a financial exposure corresponding to a shareholding in Mestro at the time of the announcement of the Offer and has not acquired any shares or such financial instruments outside the Offer with the exception of the Side Transactions.

Extended acceptance period

In order to give the remaining shareholders of Mestro who have not tendered their shares additional time to voluntarily accept the Offer, the acceptance period will be extended up to and including 15:00 on 17 April 2024. Payment of consideration for shares tendered during the extended acceptance period is expected to commence on or around 22 April 2024. The Bidder reserves the right to further extend the acceptance period for the Offer and to postpone the time of payment of consideration for the shares tendered during the extended acceptance period.

Given that all conditions for completion of the Offer had been fulfilled or waived and the Offer thus was declared unconditional on 20 March 2024, shareholders who have accepted the Offer, or who will accept the Offer during the extended acceptance period, are not entitled to withdraw their acceptance.

Compulsory buy-out

As the Bidder now controls more than 90 per cent of the outstanding shares and votes in Mestro, the Bidder has resolved to initiate a compulsory buy-out procedure in accordance with the Swedish Companies Act (Sw. aktiebolagslagen (2005:551)) in order to acquire all remaining shares in Mestro. In connection with such compulsory buy-out procedure, the Bidder intends to promote a delisting of the shares in Mestro from First North.

Other information

The offer document, the Supplement and the acceptance form are available in Swedish and English, together with other information on the Offer, on the Bidder's website https://global.eg.dk/about-eg/mestro-public-offer/ and on Hagberg & Aneborn's website https://hagberganeborn.se/transaktion/mestro-ab-publ/.

Advisors

The Bidder has engaged CMS Wistrand Advokatbyrå as legal advisor.

______________________

EG Sverige AB
The Board of Directors, 3 April 2024, Gothenburg

The information in this press release was submitted for publication at 18:00 on 3 April 2024. For additional information regarding the Offer, please contact:

Per Roholt, EG Sverige AB and EG A/S
Phone: +45 2060 9736
E-mail: [email protected]

Important information

An offer document and Supplement (in Swedish and English) has been made public by the Bidder.

The Offer is not being made to (and acceptance forms will not be approved from or on behalf of) persons domiciled in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland or USA or whose participation in the Offer requires that additional offer documents are prepared or registrations affected or that any other measures are taken in addition to those required under Swedish law (including The Swedish Stock Market Self-Regulation Committee's Takeover rules for certain trading platforms (2024-01-01)), except where there is an applicable exemption.

This press release and any other documentation related to the Offer (including copies of such documentation) must not be mailed or otherwise distributed, forwarded or sent in or into any jurisdiction (including, without limitation, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland or USA) in which the distribution of this press release or the Offer would require any additional measures to be taken or would be in conflict with any laws or regulations in any such jurisdiction. Persons who receive this press release (including, without limitation, banks, brokers, dealers, nominees, trustees and custodians) and are subject to the laws or regulations of any such jurisdiction will need to inform themselves about, and observe, any applicable restrictions and requirements. Any failure to do so may constitute a violation of the securities laws or regulations of any such jurisdiction. To the extent permitted by applicable law, the bidder disclaims any responsibility or liability for any violations of any such restrictions and the bidder reserves the right to disregard any acceptance forms whose submission constitutes a direct or indirect violation of any of these restrictions.

The Offer, the information and documents contained in this press release are not being made and have not been approved by an authorised person for the purposes of section 21 of the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the "FSMA"). Accordingly, the information and documents contained in this press release are not being distributed to, and must not be passed on to, the general public in the United Kingdom except where there is an applicable exemption. The communication of the information and documents contained in this press release is exempt from the restriction on financial promotions under section 21 of the FSMA on the basis that it is a communication by or on behalf of a body corporate which relates to a transaction to acquire day to day control of the affairs of a body corporate; or to acquire 50 percent or more of the voting shares in a body corporate, within article 62 of the UK Financial Service and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005.

Statements in this press release relating to any future status or circumstance, including statements regarding future performance, growth and other trend projections as well as other effects of the Offer, are forward-looking statements. Such statements may, inter alia, be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "intend", "plan", "strive", "seek", "will" or "would" or by similar expressions. By their nature, forward-looking statements are associated with risks and uncertainties because they relate to future events and depend on circumstances that occur in the future. Due to several factors, many of which are outside the Bidder's control, future circumstances may materially deviate from what has been expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which the statements are made and the bidder has no obligation (and undertakes no obligation) to update or revise any such statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except for when it is required by applicable laws and regulations.

This press release has been published in Swedish and English. In the event of any discrepancy between the two language versions, the Swedish version shall prevail.

Attached files

EG_Pressrelease_2024-04-03.pdf