Corporate | 26 August 2010 07:00
ARAGON AG / Miscellaneous 26.08.2010 07:00 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Aragon and Citi enter into a strategic partnership - Citi acquires 10.1% stake in Aragon Citigroup Financial Products Inc., a subsidiary of Citigroup Inc (Citi), has acquired 10.1% of the shares of stockmarket-listed Aragon AG. This stakeholding underpins a planned strategic, long-term partnership agreed between Aragon AG and Citi's European investment products business. With over 18.000 independent financial advisers (IFAs), Aragon AG has the largest financial services distribution network in German-speaking countries and is strongly expanding in Central and Eastern Europe. This partnership is designed to expand and optimise Citi's capabilities in developing marketing and distributing retail investments in Germany and Central and Eastern Europe. A particular emphasis on mutual funds, long-term savings and structured investment products is anticipated. Angermayer, Brumm & Lange Group remains the largest shareholder (38%), retaining the independence of Aragon AG. Other co-shareholders are AXA (27%) and Credit Suisse (8%). The freefloat is 17%. Dr. Sebastian Grabmaier, CEO of Aragon AG, stated: 'We are excited about the partnership with a leading global financial service player like Citi and warmly welcome them. Our belief is that modern sales organisations with forward-looking strategies such as Aragon AG will be the winners of the structural changes and of the various regulatory amendments in the financial services markets. We intend to remain the innovator and the driving force of the ongoing consolidation process within the German and CEE sales companies.' 'This partnership is part of our business strategy for bringing investment solutions to Germany and Central and Eastern Europe. We remain committed to bringing well-structured and timely investments into the market, leveraging our unrivalled capabilities, global presence and local understanding - this new partnership means that we will be able to further strengthen our knowledge and understanding of the needs of investors and IFAs across a range of investments,' said Richard Burns, Managing Director and Global Head of Retail Structured Products & Hybrid Products at Citi. Aragon AG's announcement of the results of the second quarter of 2010 on August 31, 2010 will be accompanied by further information on the strategic partnership with Citi. About Aragon AG Aragon AG is a broadly diversified financial services group with four business units: Broker Pools, Financial Consulting, Institutional Sales and Holding. Aragon AG is actively engaged in the market with several independent subsidiaries. The aim is to integrate a variety of sales models under one roof without any of the sales teams losing their own identity. The effect is a broad diversification across various asset classes and sales types, with a consequently high stability in corporate earnings. Further information about the company and its subsidiaries can be found at www.aragon.ag. About Citi Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Through Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com. The Retail Structured Products (RSP) group is part of the Institutional Clients Group within Citicorp. RSP offers a broad range of investment solutions, designed to suit all levels of risk appetite across the full range of asset classes. Additional information can be found at www.citifirst.com. About Angermayer, Brumm & Lange Group The Angermayer, Brumm & Lange Group (ABL) is an independent Merchant Banking Group with the business units Asset Management, Product Distribution and Investment Banking. Founded in 1999, ABL is today with 6.4 Billion Euro Assets under Management,approx. 400 employees active in 15 countries worldwide and with more than 18.000 independent financial advisors (IFAs) one of the leading financial services institutions in GermanyABL's corporate equity of more than 100 million Euro is used to follow a long-term buy-and-build approach. The group focuses on the topics 'German Mittelstand', Africa, Renewable Energy and Natural Resources. The firm is entirely privately-held by Christian Angermayer, Peter Brumm, Andreas Lange, Ralph Konrad and Dr. Sebastian Grabmaier as well as the Silvia Quandt family as a strategic partner. Additional information can be found at www.abl-group.de Contact: Aragon Aktiengesellschaft Ralf Funke Investor Relations Tel.: +49(0)611 890 575-0 Fax: +49(0)611 890 575-99 E-Mail: ir@aragon.ag 26.08.2010 Ad hoc announcement, Financial News and Press Release distributed by DGAP. 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