24 Sep. 2007 – The four major shareholders of OnVista AG (DE0005461602) – Burda Digital Ventures GmbH, Fritz Oidtmann, Stephan Schubert and Michael W. Schwetje – who together hold 77.4% of the shares in the company are going to sell their entire holding to the French company Boursorama S.A. An appropriate contract of sale was signed today. The contract is subject only to approval by the German antitrust authority. The relevant committees of Boursorama S.A. have already given their approval.
In addition, Boursorama S.A. today announced its intention to launch a voluntary public takeover bid to all shareholders of OnVista AG in line with the provisions of the Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act (WpÜG) for a cash payment of € 20.60 for each individual share. This price exceeds the share price of 21 September 2007 (€ 14.90 Xetra closing price) by more than a third and exactly matches the purchase price agreed with the major shareholders, which is to be paid entirely in cash. Given the 6.7 million shares, this results in a valuation of the entire company totalling € 138.02 mill. According to its own statements, Boursorama is pursuing the goal of acquiring 100% control of OnVista AG and delisting the company.
Boursorama S.A. is a major European player in online brokerage, investment products and financial websites. Founded in 1995, the company operates the leading finance portal in the French market place www.boursorama.com as well as the online bank Boursorama Banque (www.boursorama-banque.com). The listed company, with headquarters in France, generates revenues through its banking operations as well as media sales of online advertising (so-called ‘media brokerage model’). In Germany, Boursorama has been operating the online broker Fimatex since 1997. In addition, the company is present in the UK and Spain. The majority shareholder of Boursorama S.A. is Groupe Société Générale, which holds more than 56% of the shares (as at 31.12.2006).
According to Boursorama S.A., the company plans to set up a media brokerage business in Germany with OnVista and Fimatex, based on the successful French model. The company intends to build on the strong brand recognition of OnVista in the German market. The profitable media operations of OnVista will provide an additional diversification of Boursorama’s sources of revenues.
Fritz Oidtmann, Stephan Schubert and Michael W. Schwetje jointly established OnVista AG in 1998. Today, Mr. Schwetje is the sole Executive Director of OnVista AG, while both Mr. Oidtmann and Mr. Schubert are members of the Supervisory Board. Burda Digital Ventures GmbH acquired a stake in OnVista AG at the end of 1999, still prior to the company’s stock market flotation.
detailed press release in German language