NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, SOUTH AFRICA OR JAPAN Schaeffler AG successfully places a bond in the amount of 850 million euros

2024-03-22 | Herzogenaurach

Yesterday, Schaeffler AG successfully placed a corporate bond with a volume of 850 million euros with international investors.

The issuance comprises a euro bond in the amount of 850 million euros with an interest rate of 4.50 percent p.a. and a term until 2030.

The bond placement was carried out under Schaeffler’s current debt issuance program and will be used to refinance the acquisition of the shares in Vitesco Technologies Group AG and to further optimize the financing structure of Schaeffler AG.

Claus Bauer, Chief Financial Officer of Schaeffler AG, said: “With the most recent bond issuance, we have succeeded in optimizing the financing structure of Schaeffler AG even further. The entire acquisition of Vitesco shares is now fully financed on a long-term basis and another milestone of the transaction has been achieved.”

Settlement of the new bond is planned for March 28, 2024. The bond will be listed on the regulated market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. BNP Paribas, BofA Securities, Citigroup, and Deutsche Bank, which have already advised on the syndication process for the bridge financing and the bond issuance in January 2024 to finance the acquisition of the Vitesco shares in the context of the public tender offer, acted as Joint Active Bookrunners for the bond placement.

Here you can find press photos of Claus Bauer:
www.schaeffler.com/en/executive-board

Forward-looking statements and projections
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions could adversely affect the outcome and financial consequences of the plans and events described herein. No one undertakes any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You should not place any undue reliance on forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date of this press release. Statements contained in this press release regarding past trends or events should not be taken as representation that such trends or events will continue in the future. The cautionary statements set out above should be considered in connection with any subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements that Schaeffler, or persons acting on its behalf, may issue.

Disclaimer: Bond Issue

This announcement does not constitute an offer of securities for sale or a solicitation of an offer to purchase securities. Neither this announcement nor anything contained herein shall form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any offer or commitment whatsoever in any jurisdiction.

This communication is an advertisement for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 and underlying legislation. It is not a prospectus. The base prospectus is available, and the Final Terms of the bonds when published will be available, on the website of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange at https://www.bourse.lu/programme/Programme-Schaeffler/14509.

This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities in the United States. Any securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or the laws of any state within the U.S., and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration or in a transaction not subject to the registration requirements of the Securities Act. Any public offering of securities to be made in the United States will be made by means of a prospectus that may be obtained from the issuer or the selling security holder and that will contain detailed information about the company and management, as well as financial statements. There will be no offering of the securities in the United States. This announcement and the information contained herein may not be distributed or sent into the United States, or in any other jurisdiction in which offers, or sales of the securities described herein would be prohibited by applicable laws and should not be distributed to publications with a general circulation in the United States. The bonds are being offered and sold outside the United States only in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act.

In the United Kingdom, this announcement is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") and (ii) high net worth entities falling within Article 49(2) of the Order and (iii) persons to whom it would otherwise be lawful to distribute it (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). The bonds are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such bonds will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this announcement or any of its contents.

None of the Joint Bookrunners or any of their respective directors, officers, employees, advisers or agents accepts any responsibility or liability whatsoever for or makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information in this announcement (or whether any information has been omitted from the announcement) or any other information relating to Schaeffler or any of their subsidiaries or associated companies, whether written, oral or in a visual or electronic form, and howsoever transmitted or made available or for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this announcement or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith.

The Joint Bookrunners are acting exclusively for Schaeffler and no one else in connection with the transaction. They will not regard any other person as their respective clients in relation to the transaction and will not be responsible to anyone other than Schaeffler for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients, nor for providing advice in relation to the transaction, the contents of this announcement or any arrangement or other matter referred to herein.

In connection with the issue of the bonds, the Joint Bookrunners and any of their affiliates, acting as investors for their own accounts, may subscribe for or purchase the securities of Schaeffler and in that capacity may retain, purchase, sell, offer to sell or otherwise deal for their own accounts in such securities and other securities of Schaeffler or related investments in connection with this securities offering or otherwise. The Joint Bookrunners do not intend to disclose the extent of any such investment or transactions otherwise than in accordance with any legal or regulatory obligations to do so.

MIFID II PRODUCT GOVERNANCE / PROFESSIONAL INVESTORS AND ECPS ONLY TARGET MARKET – Solely for the purposes of each manufacturer's product approval process, the target market assessment in respect of the bonds has led to the conclusion that: (i) the target market for the bonds is eligible counterparties and professional clients only, each as defined in Directive 2014/65/EU (as amended, "MiFID II"); and (ii) all channels for distribution of the bonds to eligible counterparties and professional clients are appropriate. Any person subsequently offering, selling or recommending the bonds (a "distributor") should take into consideration the manufacturers' target market assessment; however, a distributor subject to MiFID II is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the bonds (by either adopting or refining the manufacturers' target market assessment) and determining appropriate distribution channels.

PROHIBITION OF SALES TO EEA RETAIL INVESTORS – The Notes are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor in the European Economic Area ("EEA"). For these purposes, a retail investor means a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II; (ii) a customer within the meaning of Directive 2016/97/EU (as amended, the "Insurance Distribution Directive"), where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in point (10) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II or (iii) not a qualified investor as defined in Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 14, 2017 (as amended, the "Prospectus Regulation"). Consequently, no key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 (as amended or superseded, the "PRIIPs Regulation") for offering or selling the Notes or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the EEA has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the Notes or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the EEA may be unlawful under the PRIIPs Regulation.

PROHIBITION OF SALES TO UK RETAIL INVESTORS – The Notes are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor in the United Kingdom ("UK"). For these purposes, a retail investor means a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client, as defined in point (8) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2017/565 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("EUWA"); (ii) a customer within the meaning of the provisions of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended (the "FSMA") and any rules or regulations made under the FSMA to implement Directive (EU) 2016/97, where that customer would not qualify as a professional client, as defined in point (8) of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the EUWA; or (iii) not a qualified investor as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the EUWA. Consequently, no key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the EUWA (the "UK PRIIPs Regulation") for offering or selling the Notes or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the UK has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the Notes or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the UK may be unlawful under the UK PRIIPs Regulation.