Shareholder structure of METRO AG
In preparing the annual financial statements, the largest (indirect) shareholders of METRO AG – based on the voting right notifications received by METRO AG in accordance with the German Securities Trading Act (WpHG) – are EP Global Commerce GmbH with 29.99% of the ordinary shares as well as Meridian Stiftung and Beisheim Holding, to which a total of approximately 23.06% of the ordinary shares are allocated in a pooling agreement. These 3 shareholders thus hold a total of 53.05% of the voting rights. In addition, CECONOMY AG holds 0.99% of the ordinary shares of METRO AG. Under the terms of the 2016 demerger agreement, these shares cannot be sold until 1 October 2023. EP Global Commerce GmbH also announced on 20 November 2020 that its takeover bid was accepted for around 10.60% of METRO’s ordinary shares. If the acquisition is completed after the conditions described in the offer document have been met (mainly merger control clearances), the proportion of ordinary shares held by EP Global Commerce GmbH will increase to 40.59%.
- For more information about details of the pooling agreement between Meridian Stiftung and Beisheim Holding, see chapter 7 takeover-related disclosures in the combined management report.
As of 30 September 2020, 46.95% of METRO AG shares are free-floating and held by a number of national and international investors, whereby the geographical distribution of the international free-floating shares mainly consists of investors from the USA, the United Kingdom and continental Europe.