Ad-hoc | 1 December 2014 12:35
A.S. Création Tapeten AG / Key word(s): Legal Matter
01.12.2014 12:35
Dissemination of an Ad hoc announcement according to § 15 WpHG, transmitted
by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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In the ad-hoc announcement dated February 25, 2014, we reported that the
Federal Cartel Office issued a penalty notice which related to two of the
originally five allegations. One allegation had already been dropped by the
Federal Cartel Office at the time, but the Office's decision regarding the
two remaining allegations not covered by the penalty notice was still
pending. In a letter dated November 24, 2014 and delivered on November 28,
2014, the Federal Cartel Office has now informed us that the corresponding
proceedings have been abandoned after four years of thorough investigations
by the Federal Cartel Office.
This means that, besides the two known allegations to which the penalty
notice of February 2014 related, there will be no further proceedings in
Germany. A.S. Création Tapeten AG has meanwhile appealed against this
penalty notice. The prosecuting attorney's office and the Düsseldorf Higher
Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) will now examine whether the price
increase effected as of March 1, 2006 and the price increase effected as at
January 1, 2008 had been agreed between A.S. Création Tapeten AG and other
German wallpaper manufacturers and, if this is fully or partly affirmed,
whether the imposed penalty of EUR 10.0 million is adequate. As a
precautionary measure, A.S. Création Tapeten AG established a provision of
EUR 2.0 million in the 2013 financial statements.
The originally five allegations raised are essentially based on information
provided by Tapetenfabrik Gebr. Rasch GmbH & Co. KG, which caused the
investigations by the Federal Cartel Office as a crown witness ("leniency
applicant"). As three of the five allegations have meanwhile proven not to
be tenable, the Managing Board of A.S. Création Tapeten AG is of the
opinion that the general credibility of the crown witness is doubtful.
Accordingly, the Managing Board and its legal counsel remain optimistic
about the outcome of the proceedings before the Düsseldorf Higher Regional
Court.
In France, where the French Cartel Office ("Autorité de la concurrence")
has opened administrative offence proceedings on the grounds of what it
believes to constitute an information exchange which violated antitrust
law, no information has been published yet about the amount of a potential
penalty. Accordingly, no provisions have been established yet. Two
companies of the A.S. Création Group, SCE - Société de conception et
d'édition SAS and MCF Investissement SAS, are affected by these
proceedings, which were also caused by a leniency application filed by
Tapetenfabrik Gebr. Rasch GmbH & Co. KG.
Gummersbach, December 1, 2014
A.S. Création Tapeten AG
The Managing Board
Contact:
Maik Krämer
Vorstand Finanzen
Südstr. 47
D-51645 Gummersbach
Telefon + 49 - (0)22 61/542-387
Fax + 49 - (0)22 61/542-304
E-Mail: m.kraemer@as-creation.de
01.12.2014 The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements,
Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de
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Language: English
Company: A.S. Création Tapeten AG
Südstraße 47
51645 Gummersbach
Germany
Phone: +49 22 61 54 2-0
Fax: +49 22 61 54 2-3 04
E-mail: investor@as-creation.de
Internet: http://www.as-creation.de
ISIN: DE000A1TNNN5
WKN: A1TNNN
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Stuttgart
End of Announcement DGAP News-Service
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