Deutsche Börse AG plans to resume its share buyback program on 1 July 2008. The company will use the current authorization through the AGM on 21 May 2008 to repurchase up to 10 percent of its share capital amounting to nominal €195 million while taking into account shares owned by the company. Currently, the company holds 3,097,468 own shares in treasury.
The buyback until 31 December 2008 is limited to a number of shares equivalent to an overall purchase price of up to €400 million. It is anticipated to cancel the repurchased shares and to reduce the share capital of the company accordingly and/or to use the repurchased shares for employee share programs.
The shares will be repurchased either on the exchange or through the use of derivative instruments in line with standard market conditions. In case of an on-exchange purchase, the purchase price for the shares to be repurchased must not exceed nor fall short of the average share price on the five trading days preceding the point in time when the obligation to purchase the shares is assumed by more than 10 percent. The relevant prices for determining the average are the closing auction prices for Deutsche Börse shares in electronic Xetra trading at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FWB). All share purchases by using derivatives are limited to shares representing no more than 5 percent of Deutsche Börse AG’s nominal share capital while taking into account shares owned by the company. In case of a purchase through derivatives, the exercise price may not exceed the volume-weighted average share price for the five trading days prior to the entry into the derivative transaction by more than 10 percent and may not fall short of the average share price for the same period by more than 20 percent.
Deutsche Börse will instruct an independent financial institution to use its best efforts to buy back no more than 25 percent of the daily trading volume on any one day. Additionally, the independent financial institution will be bound by agreement to uphold the trading rules set forth in Article 5 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2273/2003 of December 22, 2003. In particular, no more than 25 percent of the average daily trading volume of the shares in the month prior to publication of the repurchase program may be repurchased in any one day. If the shares are acquired by using derivatives, the independent financial institution will be instructed to ensure that the options are only based on shares that had been acquired in keeping with the principle of equal treatment.
