Deutsche Börse To Appeal Teamwork And Prout Court Decisions - Company Stands By Delisting Rules

Deutsche Börse will appeal the decisions of the local Frankfurt court regarding the applicability of the exclusion rules in the case of the two companies, Teamwork and Prout. At the same time, on Wednesday the exchange operator again emphasized the importance of the new exclusion rules; in the interest of investors and the companies who set store in the quality of Neuer Markt, Deutsche Börse will stand by the rules. According to the court's decision, Deutsche Börse may not exclude Teamwork from the Neuer Markt on grounds of insolvency until one year has passed since the exclusion rules went into effect on October 1; in the case of Prout, the court had interdicted the exclusion from Neuer Markt altogether. Deutsche Börse is still of the opinion that it can unilaterally amend the Neuer Markt rules and regulations on the basis of stock exchange law.

It was against this background that Deutsche Börse had also appealed the decision in the case of Foris in September. At that time, the court had acknowledged Deutsche Börse's competence to make changes and only criticized the period of time remaining until the revisions were introduced.

Deutsche Börse introduced the exclusion rules as of October 1, 2001 in order to preserve and further develop the profile of Neuer Markt as a segment for growth-oriented companies. According to these rules, insolvent companies and companies with a low market value will be excluded from the Neuer Markt and transferred to the Second Segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Geregelter Markt). The market does not accept these companies as growth companies. Particularly investors, shareholders' associations and Neuer Markt companies had supported these rules.

Therefore, Deutsche Börse recommends that all Neuer-Markt companies affected by the rules for exclusion leave the segment voluntarily, in the interest of their own shareholders. After switching into the Second Segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Geregelter Markt), the costs for compliance with the ongoing transparency- and liquidity-securing requirements in conjunction with a Neuer Markt listing, such as the fees for Designated Sponsors, quarterly reporting and investor relations (regular analyst conferences), are eliminated. These costs are generally not offset by any adequate benefit if companies have lost the investors' interest.