Insider Information pursuant to Article 17 of the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR)
April 9, 2021, Karlsruhe (Germany) – Today, the Management Board of asknet Solutions AG (Ticker symbol: ASKN, ISIN: DE000A2E3707, WKN: A2E370), with approval of the Supervisory Board, has resolved on the repurchase of all of its outstanding bonds (ISIN: DE000A3H2VS8, WKN: A3H2VS) in the total nominal amount of EUR 6 million to be completed simultaneously with the first interest payment due on April 11, 2021. The three-year bonds, which were originally issued in the total nominal amount of EUR 9 million, were issued in October 2020 in order to refinance the existing short-term debt raised in April 2020. Subsequently, asknet repurchased EUR 3 million of the bonds in November 2020 and with this current transaction will complete the repurchase of the entire EUR 9 million of its bonds, which will subsequently be redeemed early.
The early repurchase of the 6% coupon bonds enables asknet to de-leverage its balance sheet and improve its cashflow by eliminating EUR 540,000 in annual interest expenses. To finance the bond repurchase, asknet will use the proceeds from the partial sale of the HLEE Finance S.a.r.L bonds (ISIN: DE000A2R9ZC7) for the amount of approximately EUR 5.75 million as well as available liquidity of asknet Solutions AG. The transaction will clear the company's balance sheet from any financial debt.
The decision of the management to repurchase the bonds is based on the ongoing strategy formulation process, which includes that potential investments will require fewer liquidity than previously assumed. Details of the new strategy will be announced in May, together with the publication of the Annual Report 2020. Additionally, the liquidity buffer that the company kept in reserve against the potential negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, is no longer considered necessary in view of the recent and ongoing business developments.
Contact
Magda Gajny
+49(0)721/96458-6116
Email: investors@asknet.com
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