Nordex: Change in shareholder structure
Hamburg, December 17, 2009. Todays news on changes in the shareholder structure of Nordex mean that former major shareholder Goldman Sachs has now reduced its indirect investment in Nordex to less than 3%. Through CMP Fonds I GmbH (CMP) and Stichting Administratiekantoor GS NDX Investment Trust, a Dutch company, Goldman Sachs’ has transfered an interest of 14.43% of the shareholders’ equity of Nordex to different funds of the Och Ziff Management Group. The sale price has not been disclosed.
The management of Nordex AG considers the sale as a normal business transaction, stating that Goldman Sachs is a financial investor that has constructively supported the company since May 2005 and played an important role in its refinancing. In 2006 Goldman Sachs already started to exit its investment in small steps, a decision that was to be expected. Thus, in May 2006 Goldman Sachs, CMP and a number of other investors together sold 7.5 million shares via the market. In July 2008 another 13.4 million shares out of the shareholdings of Goldman Sachs, CMP and a number of other investors were sold to SKion, an investment company owned by Susanne Klatten. As a result, the Klatten family holds a total of approximately 22% of the shares in Nordex, making it the single largest shareholder of Nordex AG.
In SKion, Nordex has found a stable major shareholder. “This obtains our strategic room for manoeuvre. On the other hand, a potentially increasing free float that, in the medium term, may arise from the sale by Goldman Sachs also provides an opportunity. This is because with higher trading volumes we can attract new groups of investors to Nordex,” says Thomas Richterich, CEO of Nordex AG.