lagardere: Full completion of EADS share disposal and details on proceeds allocation
15-Apr-2013 The sale of EADS shares, performed on Tuesday, April 9, is fully completed with the actual transfer of the shares. The Lagardère group received €2,283 million for this disposal.
The capital gain, net of taxes and transaction costs, is €1.8 billion.
As previously indicated, the Lagardère group plans to divide the proceeds from the disposal between, firstly, a one-time premium for all Group employees, secondly a reduction of the Group's debt, and finally a one-time exceptional dividend for shareholders.
The amount of this one-time dividend will be decided in the coming weeks, and thus should be announced before the General Meeting on May 3, 2013.
This one-time dividend will take the form of an advance on the dividend for FY 2013, and will be taken into consideration in the proposed allocation of earnings for FY 2013, which will be submitted for ratification by the Ordinary General Meeting that will be convened in May 2014.
In addition, the Lagardère group is reasserting its growth strategy, aiming to increase its exposure to developing activities (specifically travel retail, digital, and rights management), which could result in targeted acquisitions when opportunities will arise.