OREANDA-NEWS. Bellevue Group Ltd publishes the terms of the announced capital increase:

  • Subscription ratio: 7 registered shares will grant subscription rights for 2 new registered shares

  • Offer price per new registered share: CHF 11.00

  • Expected gross proceeds from capital increase: CHF 32.9 Mio.

At the annual general meeting on March 22, 2016, the shareholders of Bellevue Group Ltd approved the implementation of capital measures proposed by the Board of Directors in order to finance the acquisition of StarCapital Ltd and to maintain Bellevue Group's strategic flexibility.

The Board of Directors of Bellevue Group has determined the following: Up to 2'991'428 new registered shares with a nominal value of CHF 0.10 per registered share will be offered. Bellevue Group shareholders will receive one subscription right for every registered share they hold on April 11, 2016 (after market close). 7 subscription rights will allow the holder to purchase 2 new registered shares against payment of the offer price,subject to applicable selling restrictions. The offer price has been set at CHF 11.00 per new share, reflecting a discount of 24.1% to the closing share price as of Friday, April 8, 2016.

The exercise period for the subscription rights is expected to start on April 12 and to last until April 21, 2016, 12:00 noon CEST. The subscription rights are expected to be traded on SIX Swiss Exchange between April 12, 2016 and April 19, 2016. The listing and first trading day of the new registered shares on SIX Swiss Exchange is expected to occur on April 26, 2016. Offered shares that have not been exercised during the exercise period may be placed for the account of Bellevue Group at the offer price.

The core shareholders support the proposed capital increase and have expressed their intention to exercise a substantial amount of their subscription rights.

The timetable for the capital increase is as follows: 

11 April 2016 Publication of offering prospectus.
After close of trading on SIX Swiss Exchange: Record date for determination of existing shareholders for the entitlement of subscription rights.
Shareholders acquiring shares after the record date will acquire shares without entitlement to subscription rights.
12 April 2016 Start of rights exercise period and rights trading. 
19 April 2016 End of rights trading period.
21 April 2016 12:00 noon CEST: End of rights exercise period.
22 April 2016 Before market opening: press release regarding final number of shares sold in the offering and the result of the capital increase.
26 April 2016 Listing and first day of trading of new registered shares.
27 April 2016 Delivery of the new registered shares against payment of the offer price. 

The business of Bellevue Group was negatively affected by declining equity markets environment during the first quarter 2016 compared to the same quarter of the previous year. During the first quarter, the operating profit declined to around CHF 1.3 million from around CHF 4.4 million (without StarCapital).

Based on recovering equity markets since March, in particular in the healthcare sector, Bellevue Group anticipates an improvement for the remainder of the year. Moreover, Bellevue Group expects the acquisition to be immediately value accretive for all shareholders. Bellevue Group's dividend policy of payouts from operating cash flows will remain unchanged after the acquisition.

Bellevue Group
Bellevue Group is an independent Swiss financial boutique listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Established in 1993, the company and its approximately 90 employees are specialists in the fields of Brokerage, Corporate Finance and Asset Management. Bellevue Group includes the two subsidiaries Bank am Bellevue and Bellevue Asset Management. The bank boasts superb knowledge of the Swiss stock and bond market and offers independent research opinions and recommendations as well as viable solutions for capital market transactions. Bellevue Asset Management is focused on selected active equity investment strategies in growing markets, in healthcare industries as well as in other special themes such as entrepreneur-led companies.