Deutsche Post DHL is targeting US investors, its largest institutional shareholder group, bycreating a financial instrument to enable them to buy more company shares on an indirect basis.
The German postal and logistics group announced it has established a sponsored Level 1American Depository Receipt (ADR) programme to facilitate investment from investors in the USmarket. ADRs represent deposited ordinary shares and enable investors to obtain an indirect holdingin Deutsche Post DHL via US registered securities.
Over-the-counter (OTC) trading of the Deutsche Post DHL ADRs started yesterday. Each ADRrepresents one ordinary share of Deutsche Post DHL. The company’s ordinary shares will continue totrade on the XETRA electronic trading system and on all German stock exchanges.
As of September 30, 2009, 69.5% of Deutsche Post DHL shares are traded freely while theremainder (30.5%) is held by the German state-owned bank KfW. Institutional investors hold 62.8% ofcompany shares, and private individuals own a further 6.7%. In geographical terms, 32% of theinstitutional investors are based in the USA, nearly 28% in the UK, almost 14% in Germany and 6% inFrance, while the remaining 20% are mostly based elsewhere in Europe.
“We are seeing significant interest in our stock from US investors with a considerablepercentage of our shares already being held in the US market,” commented Larry Rosen, CFO ofDeutsche Post DHL. “The establishment of the ADR facility will support us in our efforts to furtherstrengthen our relationship with US-based shareholders and enable a broader range of investors toparticipate in the Group and its future development.”
The ADR programme gives US investors the opportunity to acquire a holding in Deutsche PostDHL and at the same time to buy OTC share certificates representing negotiable US securities.Trading and settlement of the ADRs takes place OTC in the US clearing system. ADRs are traded inUS$. Dividend payments to the ADR holders will also be made in US$.
The Bank of New York Mellon has been appointed as the depositary bank to administer the ADRprogram. The ADRs are offered by the bank and not by Deutsche Post DHL, and are not publiclyoffered in Germany.
