A.S. Création Tapeten AG
A.S. Création Tapeten AG: Federal Cartel Office to raise no further allegations against A.S. Création
A.S. Création Tapeten AG / Key word(s): Legal Matter 01.12.2014 12:35 Dissemination of an Ad hoc announcement according to § 15 WpHG, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the ad-hoc announcement dated February 25, 2014, we reported that the Federal Cartel Office issued a penalty notice which related to two of the originally five allegations. One allegation had already been dropped by the Federal Cartel Office at the time, but the Office's decision regarding the two remaining allegations not covered by the penalty notice was still pending. In a letter dated November 24, 2014 and delivered on November 28, 2014, the Federal Cartel Office has now informed us that the corresponding proceedings have been abandoned after four years of thorough investigations by the Federal Cartel Office. This means that, besides the two known allegations to which the penalty notice of February 2014 related, there will be no further proceedings in Germany. A.S. Création Tapeten AG has meanwhile appealed against this penalty notice. The prosecuting attorney's office and the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) will now examine whether the price increase effected as of March 1, 2006 and the price increase effected as at January 1, 2008 had been agreed between A.S. Création Tapeten AG and other German wallpaper manufacturers and, if this is fully or partly affirmed, whether the imposed penalty of EUR 10.0 million is adequate. As a precautionary measure, A.S. Création Tapeten AG established a provision of EUR 2.0 million in the 2013 financial statements. The originally five allegations raised are essentially based on information provided by Tapetenfabrik Gebr. Rasch GmbH & Co. KG, which caused the investigations by the Federal Cartel Office as a crown witness ("leniency applicant"). As three of the five allegations have meanwhile proven not to be tenable, the Managing Board of A.S. Création Tapeten AG is of the opinion that the general credibility of the crown witness is doubtful. Accordingly, the Managing Board and its legal counsel remain optimistic about the outcome of the proceedings before the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. In France, where the French Cartel Office ("Autorité de la concurrence") has opened administrative offence proceedings on the grounds of what it believes to constitute an information exchange which violated antitrust law, no information has been published yet about the amount of a potential penalty. Accordingly, no provisions have been established yet. Two companies of the A.S. Création Group, SCE - Société de conception et d'édition SAS and MCF Investissement SAS, are affected by these proceedings, which were also caused by a leniency application filed by Tapetenfabrik Gebr. Rasch GmbH & Co. KG. Gummersbach, December 1, 2014 A.S. Création Tapeten AG The Managing Board Contact: Maik Krämer Vorstand Finanzen Südstr. 47 D-51645 Gummersbach Telefon + 49 - (0)22 61/542-387 Fax + 49 - (0)22 61/542-304 E-Mail: m.kraemer@as-creation.de 01.12.2014 The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Company: A.S. Création Tapeten AG Südstraße 47 51645 Gummersbach Germany Phone: +49 22 61 54 2-0 Fax: +49 22 61 54 2-3 04 E-mail: investor@as-creation.de Internet: http://www.as-creation.de ISIN: DE000A1TNNN5 WKN: A1TNNN Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Stuttgart End of Announcement DGAP News-Service ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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