Bencis and Gimv-XL reach agreement on the sale of Xeikon

Bencis Capital Partners B.V. ('Bencis') and Gimv-XL (‘Gimv) announce that they entered into an agreement for the sale of XBC B.V., a company that holds a controlling interest in Xeikon N.V. (‘Xeikon’), to Flint Group ('Flint').

End September 2013, Bencis and Gimv indirectly acquired a 65.68% stake in Xeikon. After a mandatory public offer, this stake increased to above 95% further to which a squeeze-out procedure was launched. This transaction will not impact XBC B.V.’s pending claim in the squeeze out procedure to acquire 100% of the shares.

Both Bencis and Gimv recently reached an agreement with Flint Group for the sale to the latter of their indirect controlling stake in Xeikon, a leading digital solutions provider to the packaging and commercial printing market. Xeikon’s pioneering products and services will be the foundation of a newly created division to be called Flint Group Digital Printing Solutions. Flint Group (www.flintgrp.com) develops, manufactures and markets an extensive portfolio of printing consumables. Headquartered in Luxembourg, Flint Group employs some 6800 people. Revenues for 2014 were EUR 2.1 billion. On a worldwide basis, the company is the number one or number two supplier in every major market it serves.

For Gimv-XL, the sale of Xeikon will have a positive impact of EUR 5.2 million on the equity value at 30 September 2015, of which EUR 2.2 million for the listed entity Gimv nv (or EUR 0.09 per share). We are very satisfied with the return on this investment. No further financial details on this transaction will be disclosed.

The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by the competition authorities, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.

For more information on this transaction we refer to the press release of Flint Group in attachment.