Diemen, The Netherlands, 01 July 2005 - CSM repurchased 1,278,772 depositary receipts of inancing preference shares, epresenting an amount of EUR 30 million. Furthermore CSM repaid USD 139 million on its US Private Placement Notes 2003, representing an amount of UR 115 million.
The repurchase and prepayment follow the recent buyback of ordinary shares and represent a further step in optimizing CSM’s financial structure. These transactions have been realized by using part of the existing cash position originating from the sale of CSM’s sugar confectionery division. The stock has been repurchased from a Dutch institutional shareholder who benefits from the participation exemption under the Dutch tax regime.
Because of this stock repurchase and the prepayment under the US Private Placement Notes long term debt will decline with EUR 145 million.
As a result of the above-mentioned repurchase, the number of outstanding preference shares equals 2,983,794, representing an amount of EUR 70 million.
In compliance with IFRS the transaction-related costs of EUR 9.6 million will be charged to the result for 2005. As a result, the interest charges will decrease proportionally in the coming years.