Bank Austria sells its equity interest in Lenzing

Lenzing manufacturing plants in Austria to be expanded

The Bank Austria Group sells its 80 per cent interest in Lenzing AG at a price of 90 euros per share to "Zellulosefaser Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH", a company located in Linz/Upper Austria. The purchase price totals about 270 million euros and will be paid in cash. This will result in a capital gain of 52 million euros realised by Bank Austria. Any warranty claims are limited to a maximum of 0.1 euro per share.

The highest bid has been accepted: Bank Austria had received two binding offers. The second bid, offering a price of 80 euros, was significantly lower - by 30 million euros - than that made by the best bidder.

For several years, Bank Austria has consistently pursued the strategy of selling shareholdings in non-banks. The sale of Lenzing shares held by the bank is another major step to implement this strategy. The transaction requires approval by the relevant cartel authorities.

The future ownership structure opens up new opportunities for Lenzing AG and its manufacturing plants in Austria: Lenzing will play a leading role in the new group of companies now being created. In a parallel move, Zellulosefaser Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, which is backed by the international private equity specialist CVC Capital Partners, will take over the cellulose activities of Acordis, a European fibre manufacturer in which CVF funds hold 64 per cent of the share capital. This move creates the world's largest producer of cellulose fibres with total sales of 1.4 billion euros. The holding company of the new group will be located in Austria. Production facilities of the existing plants at Lenzing and Heiligenkreuz will be further expanded. This will contribute to job security.

Shares representing 54 per cent of the capital of Zellulosefaser Beteiligungs-gesellschaft mbH are owned by private equity funds advised by CVC. Austrian co-investors own 18 per cent of the shares and another 18 per cent interest is held by Acordis. The new company's management holds the remaining 10 per cent.

CVC is a renowned international private equity company. CVC manages global investments totalling more than 5 billion US dollars and has carried out more than 200 investment transactions over the past few years.

(Source: Bank Austria AG)