Placing of New Common Shares by adidas-Salomon AG Successfully Completed
Offer Price Set at € 143 per New Common Share to Raise € 648 m
Herzogenaurach, November 4, 2005 - Further to the announcement made on November 3, 2005, adidas-Salomon AG announces the successful placing of 4,531,250 shares with institutional investors via an accelerated bookbuild. The shares have been placed at € 143 per share resulting in proceeds of € 648 m. The shares being issued represent approximately 10% of the company’s issued share capital prior to the placing.
The offering was more than three times subscribed. After the placing adidas will have 50,471,300 shares outstanding. The shares were placed with German and international institutional investors (including a placement to qualified institutional buyers in the U.S. in reliance on Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933). Deutsche Bank AG and Merrill Lynch International acted as Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners. Dresdner Bank AG acted as Co-Lead Manager.
The proceeds of the offering, which amount to approximately € 648 million, will contribute to the financing of the acquisition of Reebok International Ltd, which is planned for completion in the first half of 2006.
Herbert Hainer, adidas-Salomon AG Chairman and CEO, said “This is another important step in improving our Group’s balance sheet structure and further strengthening our financing capacity in anticipation of our acquisition of Reebok next year.”
The adidas Group is one of the global leaders within the sporting goods industry and offers a broad range of products with brands such as adidas and TaylorMade in its portfolio. Headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany, the Group had 14,217 employees and reached sales of € 5.9 billion in 2004. adidas-Salomon AG will remain the company’s legal name until the change of the name to adidas AG has been approved by the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting in May 2006.