ECB authorizes UniCredit to increase Commerzbank stake to 29.9%

Press Release of UniCredit S.p.A.

- Decision beyond current investment not likely in 2025 - antitrust, discussions with key stakeholders and other considerations are further extending the timeline

- Economic downside is protected, with gain carried and full optionality retained

- UniCredit's focus remains on delivery of existing strategic plan

Milan, 14 March 2025 - UniCredit has received ECB authorization to acquire a direct stake in Commerzbank of up to 29.9%.

While the approval underscores UniCredit's financial strength and regulatory compliance, there are still many factors that will determine any further steps and their associated timeline.

However, several further approvals are still required before the c.18.5% shares held through derivatives can be converted into physical shares, including from the Germany Federal Cartel Office.

In addition, UniCredit is awaiting the opportunity to initiate a constructive dialogue with the new German government once formed.

As shareholder, we are pleased that our investment has driven some positive change at Commerzbank, which, together with the recent more optimistic view on German macro, has driven a substantial increase in the bank share price. However, only significant time will reveal if the plan is executable and hence determine whether such price appreciation is justified and sustainable.

As a result, our original timeline for deciding on whether to proceed or not with a potential combination is now likely to extend well beyond the end of 2025.

UniCredit's focus remains on executing on the second phase of our UniCredit Unlocked strategy, which in today's increasingly volatile external environment will further positively differentiate our performance and distributions from those of the rest of the sector. We have secured optionality on external growth options that we shall execute on only if they meet our financial metrics and improve our exciting base plan.

CLIQ Digital AG: CLIQ Announces Consideration of Delisting

Corporate News

- Delisting considered

- Potential public tender & repurchase offers

- AGM postponed until further notice

DUSSELDORF, 10 March 2025 - On 6 March 2025, the CLIQ Group announced via an ad hoc announcement that CLIQ is considering a delisting from all stock exchanges on which the company's shares are currently listed. As part of this process, CLIQ has entered into an agreement with Dylan Media B.V., which is evaluating an acquisition of a substantial number of outstanding CLIQ shares.

Delisting

The decision to explore a delisting is primarily driven by the low investor demand for the CLIQ shares, alongside the reporting obligations and costs associated with being a publicly listed company. A possible delisting would also enhance operational flexibility and decision-making without short-term market pressures. Already for a while, capital markets have no longer been the most viable financing option for CLIQ and any turnaround in this respect is not foreseen in the near future. A potential public partial acquisition offer by Dylan Media and a potential public partial share repurchase offer by CLIQ would give CLIQ shareholders an option to dispose of their shares should they wish to not remain shareholders in an unlisted company.

Potential public partial acquisition offer by Dylan Media

Dylan Media is considering a public partial acquisition offer to CLIQ's shareholders who wish to sell their shares before CLIQ transitions into a non-listed company. Dylan Media is a privately owned Dutch investment company, funded by international investors, experienced media executives and a group of existing CLIQ shareholders, including members of the Management and Supervisory Boards. CLIQ acknowledges that Dylan Media is still negotiating with equity and debt providers to obtain additional funding and has not yet finalised the scope or conditions of its potential partial acquisition offer.

Potential public partial share repurchase offer by CLIQ

Depending on the scope and conditions of the potential offer by Dylan Media, and CLIQ's resulting shareholder structure, the Group may also propose to its General Meeting a public partial share repurchase offer. If resolved, this would trigger the acquisition of treasury shares, which would then - after the completion of CLIQ's partial public share repurchase offer - be cancelled and reduce CLIQ's share capital accordingly. Notably, in case CLIQ will launch a share repurchase offer, Dylan Media has agreed not to participate in any potential repurchase offer with the CLIQ shares it holds.

Annual General Meeting & Financial reporting

As a result of these ongoing developments, CLIQ's Annual General Meeting, originally scheduled for 11 April 2025, has been postponed to a later date. Until further notice, CLIQ intends to publish its financial results for the first quarter 2025 as planned on 8 May 2025.

Management Board statement

"BothCLIQ's Management and Supervisory Boards express their support for Dylan Media's plans. Furthermore, the Boards also support the delisting, contingent on Dylan Media holding a significant shareholding in CLIQ," said Ben Bos, member of the Management Board. "CLIQ remains committed to keeping all stakeholders informed throughout this process."

About CLIQ

The CLIQ Group is a data-driven online performance marketing company that sells bundled subscription-based digital products to consumers worldwide. The Group licenses content from partners, bundles it to digital products, and sells them via performance marketing. CLIQ is expert in turning consumer interest into sales by monetising online traffic using an omnichannel approach.

The Group operated in 40 countries and employed 132 staff from 33 different nationalities as at 31 December 2024. The company is headquartered in Düsseldorf and has offices in Amsterdam and Paris. CLIQ Digital is listed in the Scale segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN: DE000A35JS40, GSIN/WKN: A35JS4) and is a constituent of the MSCI World Micro Cap Index.

Visit our website https://cliqdigital.com/investors. Here you will find all publications and further information about CLIQ. You can also follow us on LinkedIn.

Zalando has secured more than 90% of ABOUT YOU’s share capital without treasury shares and announces firm intention to implement a squeeze-out of minority shareholders of ABOUT YOU

Corporate News

Berlin, 7 March 2025 // Zalando SE (Zalando) has successfully secured more than 90% of the share capital of ABOUT YOU Holding SE (ABOUT YOU) without treasury shares through its public takeover offer (Takeover Offer) and related agreements. The acceptance period for the Takeover Offer expired at midnight (CET) on 6 March 2025. The final results of the Takeover Offer will be published on 11 March 2025. Closing of the Takeover Offer, which is still subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to take place in summer 2025.

On this basis, Zalando has the firm intention to implement a squeeze-out of the remaining minority shareholders of ABOUT YOU following closing of the Takeover Offer and the agreements entered into with key shareholders. Zalando has informed the management board of ABOUT YOU about this firm intention today. Zalando plans to implement the squeeze-out in connection with a merger of ABOUT YOU as transferring entity with Zalando or a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zalando as acquiring entity (merger squeeze-out), unless Zalando reaches an ownership of 95% of the relevant shares, which enables a direct squeeze-out without merger. In both cases, Zalando would acquire the remaining shares of ABOUT YOU in exchange for an adequate cash compensation. The amount of the cash compensation per ABOUT YOU share will be determined at a later date.

About Zalando

Founded in Berlin in 2008, Zalando is building the leading pan-European ecosystem for fashion and lifestyle e-commerce around two growth vectors: Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B). In B2C, we offer an inspiring and quality multi-brand shopping experience for fashion and lifestyle products to more than 50 million active customers in 25 markets. In B2B, we are using our logistics infrastructure, software and service capabilities to help brands and retailers run and scale their entire e-commerce business, on or off Zalando. As an ecosystem, Zalando aims to enable positive change for the fashion and lifestyle industry.

VARTA AG: VARTA AG expects the capital measures to take effect in the short term, leading to the cancellation of the existing shares and to a delisting

VARTA AG, Ellwangen, ISIN: DE000A0TGJ55

Publication of inside information in accordance with Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014

Ellwangen, March 5, 2025.  VARTA AG (“Company”) expects that the simplified reduction of the Company's share capital to EUR 0 and a simultaneous cash and non-cash capital increase with the exclusion of subscription rights (collectively, “capital measures”), as provided for in the legally binding restructuring plan for the financial restructuring, will take effect in the short term upon entry in the commercial register.

The management board, with the consent of the supervisory board, has decided to implement the capital reduction and the simultaneous capital increase. As provided in the restructuring plan, the shares issued in return for cash and non-cash contributions as part of the re-increase of the share capital are being subscribed to solely by a company controlled by the Company's current indirect majority shareholder Dr. Dr. Michael Tojner (“MT InvestCo”), an investment company of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG (“Porsche”) and a company indirectly held by MT InvestCo and Porsche (“MidCo”).

The entry of the share capital reduction to EUR 0 will result in the previous shareholders of the Company being eliminated without compensation due to the cancellation of the VARTA shares currently issued (“existing shares”) and the termination of the current shares' stock exchange listing (delisting). The existing shares will be written off by the custodian institutions and Clearstream Banking AG in the days following the entry of the capital reduction in the commercial register.

After the entry of the capital measures in the commercial register, the Company will promptly create the conditions for the disbursement of the new EUR 60 million super senior loan. Prior to this, MT InvestCo and Porsche will provide the Company with cash funds of approximately EUR 40 million as a contribution to the capital reserve, and the transfer of shares in real estate companies with a value of approximately EUR 20 million to the Company by MT InvestCo will take effect.

The measures implemented as part of the restructuring will establish sustainable financing for the Company and make it fit for the future.

Art Technology Holdings, Inc.: Art Technology Holdings Inc. Announces Intent to Explore a Bid to Acquire Majority Control of Artnet

Business news for the stock market

Tuesday, March 4, 2025

The Silicon Valley Software Development Company was in Berlin at The Artnet Annual General Meeting of Shareholders to Explore a Tender for the Majority Control of Artnet Shares and a Subsequent Take-Private Transaction

San Francisco, CA – Last week at the Artnet Annual General Shareholder Meeting, Art Technology Holdings (ATH) formally announced their intent to explore a bid to acquire majority control of Artnet - a leader provider of auction pricing data for fine art and a well-respected media voice in the fine art industry. Senior executives from ATH were in Berlin last week to meet with shareholders and explore a tender offer for a price of €11 per share.

"Artnet is a very well-respected asset in the world of fine art. The company is the leading destination for critical data about art pricing and industry trends – creating a backbone for the development of the industry as a whole. Unfortunately, the company has not achieved its full potential and requires new leadership, ideas and technology to better serve the buyers and sellers in the global fine art market," said Garry McGuire, Executive Chairman of ATH. "We believe we can create value for shareholders and subscribers by changing management, investing working capital, and bringing Silicon Valley technology innovation to the business."

Trevor Ruegg, CEO of ATH further added, "Artnet has significant technical debt and has been starved of investment capital due to its size and public company micro-cap limitations. This is a company that should be taken private and injected with new capital and strategies to better serve their customers and the art market more broadly. ATH seeks to provide infrastructure that will become a catalyst for growth in the fine art market, creating incrementality while not disintermediating participants in the current value chain."

ATH is partnering with a syndicate of major shareholders, including Weng Fine Art (WFA), led by Rüdiger K. Weng, and a blend of private equity and ultra-high net worth individuals. ATH would tender the offer under a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) and plan to partner with existing management and board to ensure value protection as the company is taken private and delisted.

The global art market is estimated to have delivered approximately $65B USD in sales in 2024 with approximately $12B USD coming from online art sales. While the global art market has suffered from lack of growth in recent years, Artnet, with the strongest customer base across the sector, has significant growth opportunities across data licensing, media, and online art sales.

For more information, please contact ATH at pr@arttechholdings.com.

About Art Technology Holdings, Inc.:

ATH is a Silicon Valley software development company focused on enhancing the buying and selling of fine art by developing software and workflow infrastructure that supports the entire fine art sell-side ecosystem: art advisors, art galleries, auction houses, and art fairs. The company is developing B2B software solutions that use Artificial Intelligence to create a modern discovery and preference matching process through data-driven aesthetic taste development, as well as using Blockchain to address art registration and authenticity, provenance, and additional transactional friction.

APONTIS PHARMA AG: Zentiva AG submits formal request to carry out a merger squeeze-out of the minority shareholders of APONTIS PHARMA AG – merger agreement planned

Publication of inside information pursuant to Article 17 of the Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014

Monheim / Rhein, 5 March 2025. Zentiva AG today submitted a formal request to APONTIS PHARMA AG (“APONTIS PHARMA” or the “Company”, Ticker APPH / ISIN DE000A3CMGM5) pursuant to Sections 62 para.1 and para. 5 UmwG (German Transformation Act) in conjunction with Sections 327a et seq. AktG (German Stock Corporation Act), according to which a merger agreement is to be concluded between the Company and Zentiva, and the Annual General Meeting of APONTIS PHARMA AG is to resolve on the transfer of the shares of the remaining shareholders (minority shareholders) to Zentiva as the majority shareholder in return for an appropriate cash compensation (so-called squeeze-out under merger law).

Zentiva has informed APONTIS PHARMA that it holds approximately 93.83% of the Company’s share capital after deduction of the number of treasury shares of APONTIS PHARMA (170,000 shares) in accordance with Section 62 para. 1 sentence 2 UmwG. As a result, Zentiva is the majority shareholder of APONTIS PHARMA within the meaning of Section 62 (5) UmwG in conjunction with Section 327a (1) AktG.

The amount of the appropriate cash compensation that Zentiva will grant to the remaining shareholders of the Company for the transfer of the shares will be announced by Zentiva at a later date.

APONTIS PHARMA will provide information about the date of the Annual General Meeting at which a corresponding transfer resolution is to be passed in accordance with the statutory requirements.

Zentiva has proposed the commencement of negotiations on a merger agreement between Zentiva and APONTIS PHARMA.