adidas-Salomon AG Establishes Sponsored ADR Facility
Herzogenaurach, January 5, 2005 - adidas-Salomon today announced that it has established an unrestricted sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt (ADR) facility. Represented by the symbol ADDYY, adidas-Salomon ADRs will trade on the over-the-counter market in the United States starting today. Each ADR represents one-half of one bearer share of adidas-Salomon's common stock. The Bank of New York will act as depositary bank for these ADRs, which have been assigned the CUSIP number 00687A107.
"We've seen very strong interest in adidas-Salomon from investors in the US market," commented adidas-Salomon CFO Robin Stalker. "A significant percentage of our shares are already held by US investors. And we believe there is considerably more potential for our shares in this important market. We are setting up this program to provide the opportunity for more US investors to participate in the Group's future performance."
The adidas-Salomon common share, which is listed on the XETRA electronic trading system, the Frankfurt stock exchange and all regional German stock exchanges, is part of the DAX-30, Germany's premiere stock index. Based on yesterday's XETRA closing price of the adidas-Salomon common share, the Group's ADRs will be initially priced at approximately $80.00.
adidas-Salomon is a global leader within the sporting goods industry and offers a broad range of products with brands such as adidas, Salomon and TaylorMade in its portfolio. In 2003, the Group posted net sales of 6.3 billion euros and a net income of 260 million euros. adidas-Salomon has had an ADR program in place since 1995, which has been restricted to qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A.