KION shares

On 18 July 2016, KION GROUP AG issued 9,890,000 new shares, corresponding to 10.0 per cent of the existing share capital, at a price per share of €46.44 to be placed in an accelerated bookbuilding offering. The gross proceeds from the capital increase amounted to approximately €459.3 million, which will be used to partly fund the planned acquisition of Dematic. As the anchor shareholder of KION GROUP AG, Weichai Power subscribed to 60.0 per cent of the new shares. This increased the Chinese company’s shareholding in the KION Group from 38.3 per cent to 40.2 per cent. Weichai Power has undertaken not to acquire more than 49.9 per cent of KION shares before 28 June 2018 (as part of a standstill agreement).

In September, as it had done in 2015, KION GROUP AG repurchased treasury shares on the basis of the authorisation from the 2016 Annual General Meeting. The 50,000 shares acquired (0.05 per cent of the share capital) are available for use in the KION Group’s employee equity programme. As at 30 September 2016, the Company therefore held 210 thousand shares, which equated to an unchanged proportion of 0.2 per cent. The free float decreased slightly, to 59.6 per cent. > DIAGRAM 02

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Nineteen brokerage houses currently publish regular reports on the KION Group. As at 30 September 2016, twelve analysts recommended KION shares as a buy and seven rated them as neutral. The median target price specified for the shares was €58.00 at the end of the quarter. > TABLE 01

Two rating agencies publish credit ratings for the KION Group. The rating awarded by Standard & Poor’s for the Group is at BB+ with a negative outlook. Moody’s rating is Ba1 under review for a downgrade.