Disclosures relevant to acquisitions

The following disclosures are made in accordance with section 315a HGB.

1.  Composition of subscribed capital

The subscribed capital (share capital) of KION GROUP AG amounted to around €131.2 million as at December 31, 2023. It was divided into around 131.2 million no-par-value bearer shares. The share capital is fully paid up. All of the shares in the Company give rise to the same rights and obligations. Each share confers one vote and entitlement to an equal share of the profits. The rights and obligations arising out of the shares are defined by legal provisions.

As at December 31, 2023, the Company held 73,876 shares in treasury. The primary intention is to offer these treasury shares to staff as part of the KION Employee Equity Program (KEEP).

2.  Restrictions on voting rights or the transfer of shares

The Company is not aware of any agreements entered into by shareholders of KION GROUP AG that restrict voting rights or the transfer of shares.

In respect of the KION GROUP AG shares that they hold and are required to purchase in accordance with their individual Executive Board service contract, the members of the Executive Board have committed to a lock-up obligation for the duration of the term of their individual Executive Board service contract. As at December 31, 2023, the Executive Board members in office as at that date together held 94,997 shares in KION GROUP AG that they are required to hold under the share ownership guidelines. This equates to around 0.07 percent of the shares issued by the Company. Further details of the share ownership guidelines for the Executive Board members in office as at December 31, 2023 can be found in the 2023 remuneration report, which is published on the KION GROUP AG website.

KION GROUP AG has no rights arising from the treasury shares that it holds (section 71b AktG). By law, the voting rights attaching to the affected shares are generally disapplied in the cases set out in section 136 AktG.

3.  Direct or indirect shareholdings in the Company that represent more than 10 percent of the voting rights

As far as the Company is aware, only Weichai Power (Luxembourg) Holding S.à r.l. (‘Weichai Power’), Luxembourg, directly held more than 10 percent of the voting rights in KION GROUP AG as at December 31, 2023 and its shareholding was 46.5 percent.

According to the voting-right notifications pursuant to the German Securities Trading Act (WpHG), the voting rights held by Weichai Power are deemed to belong to the following other companies and countries:

Since the reporting date, there may have been changes to the aforementioned shareholdings of which the Company is unaware. As the shares in the Company are bearer shares, the Company only learns about changes to the size of shareholdings if these changes are notifiable pursuant to the German Securities Trading Act or other regulations.

4.  Shares with special rights that confer authority to exert control over the Company

There are no shares with special rights that confer the authority to exert control over the Company.

5.  Type of voting right controls in cases where employees hold some of the Company’s capital and do not exercise their control rights directly

There are no cases where employees hold some of the Company’s capital and do not exercise their control rights directly themselves.

6.  Appointment and removal of members of the Executive Board; amendments to the articles of association

Section 6 of the Company’s articles of association stipulates that members of the Company’s Executive Board must be appointed and removed in accordance with sections 84 and 85 AktG and section 31 MitbestG. Pursuant to article 6 (1) of the articles of association of the Company, the Executive Board must have a minimum of two members. The Supervisory Board determines the number of Executive Board members. Pursuant to section 84 AktG and section 6 (3) of the Company’s articles of association, the Supervisory Board may appoint a Chief Executive Officer and a deputy.

Section 179 (1) sentence 1 AktG requires that amendments to the articles of association be passed by resolution of the Annual General Meeting. In accordance with article 23 of the articles of association in conjunction with section 179 (2) sentence 2 AktG, resolutions at the Annual General Meeting on amendments to the articles of association are passed by simple majority of the votes cast and by simple majority of the share capital represented in the voting unless a greater majority is specified as a mandatory requirement under statutory provisions. The option to stipulate a larger majority than a simple majority in any other cases has not been exercised in the articles of association.

The Supervisory Board is authorized in article 10 (3) of the Company’s articles of association to amend the articles of association provided that such amendments relate solely to the wording.

7.  Authority of the Executive Board to issue or buy back shares

The Company is authorized to issue shares, acquire shares for treasury, and use treasury shares as follows:

Acquisition of shares for treasury

In 2023, the Company was authorized as follows to purchase shares for treasury:

• The Annual General Meeting on May 11, 2021 authorized the Company, in the period up to and including May 10, 2026, to acquire for treasury up to 10 percent of all the shares in issue at the time of the resolution or in issue on the date the authorization is exercised, whichever is the lower. The shares acquired as a result of this authorization together with other shares of the Company that the Company has already acquired and still possesses or that are deemed to be in its possession pursuant to section 71a et seq. AktG must not exceed 10 percent of the share capital at any time. The Company may use the treasury shares acquired as a result of these and earlier authorizations for any permitted purpose. In particular, the Company may retire the treasury shares or sell them through a stock exchange or by means of an offer to all shareholders. It may also sell the shares in return for a non-cash consideration, in particular in connection with the acquisition of a business, parts of a business, or equity investments. The acquired treasury shares may also be used to settle conversion rights or warrants issued by the Company or one of its affiliated companies. In addition, the acquired treasury shares may be offered to persons having an employment or service relationship with the Company or one of its affiliated companies as part of an employee share ownership program. The Company’s Supervisory Board was also authorized to offer the acquired treasury shares to members of the Company’s Executive Board as part of their Executive Board remuneration. In particular, they may be offered, promised, and transferred to the members of the Company’s Executive Board. The authorization may not be used for the purpose of trading treasury shares. The authorization may be exercised on one or more occasions, for the entire amount or for partial amounts, in pursuit of one or more aims, by the Company, by companies that are dependent on or majority-owned by the Company, or for the account of the Company or these companies. At the discretion of the Executive Board, the shares may be purchased through the stock exchange, by way of a public purchase offer made to all shareholders, or by way of a public invitation to shareholders to tender their shares.

The Company did not make use of this authorization in 2023.

Authorized capital

On the basis of a resolution of the Company’s Annual General Meeting on May 11, 2017, the Executive Board was authorized, subject to the consent of the Supervisory Board, to increase the Company’s share capital by up to €10.879 million by issuing up to 10.879 million new no-par-value bearer shares against cash and/or non-cash contributions up to and including May 10, 2022 (‘2017 Authorized Capital’). The 2017 Authorized Capital became effective when the corresponding change to the articles of association was entered in the commercial register at the Wiesbaden local court (HRB 27060) on May 12, 2017.

On the basis of a resolution of the Company’s Annual General Meeting on July 16, 2020, the Executive Board was also authorized, subject to the consent of the Supervisory Board, to increase the Company’s share capital by up to €11.809 million by issuing up to 11.809 million new no-par-value bearer shares against cash contributions on one or more occasions up to and including July 15, 2025 (‘2020 Authorized Capital’). The 2020 Authorized Capital became effective when the corresponding change to the articles of association was entered in the commercial register at the Frankfurt am Main local court (HRB 112163) on August 5, 2020.

With the consent of the Supervisory Board’s ad hoc transaction committee set up for this purpose, the Executive Board of KION GROUP AG resolved on May 22, 2017 to use part of the 2017 Authorized Capital and, disapplying shareholders’ pre-emption rights, to increase the Company’s share capital by a nominal €9.3 million to €118.090 million by issuing 9.3 million new no-par-value bearer shares in the Company. This equates to an 8.55 percent rise in the Company’s share capital in existence on the effective date and at the time of use of the 2017 Authorized Capital. The capital increase took effect when its implementation was entered in the commercial register at the Wiesbaden local court under HRB 27060 on May 23, 2017.

With the consent of the Supervisory Board, the Executive Board of KION GROUP AG furthermore resolved on November 18, 2020 to use up the 2017 Authorized Capital and use part of the 2020 Authorized Capital and to increase the Company’s share capital by a nominal €13.11 million to €131.199 million by issuing 13.11 million new no-par-value bearer shares in the Company. This equates to an 11.1 percent rise in the Company’s share capital in existence on the effective date and at the time of use of the 2017 Authorized Capital and 2020 Authorized Capital. The capital increase took effect when its implementation was entered in the commercial register at the Frankfurt am Main local court under HRB 112163 on December 7, 2020.

The Executive Board’s authorization from the Annual General Meeting relating to the fully exhausted 2017 Authorized Capital expired on May 10, 2022. Consequently, the Executive Board is currently authorized by the Annual General Meeting to use the 2020 Authorized Capital to increase the Company’s share capital by up to €279,353 by issuing up to 279,353 new no-par-value bearer shares against cash contributions.

Debt instruments

On the basis of a resolution of the Annual General Meeting on July 16, 2020, the Executive Board was authorized, in the period up to and including July 15, 2025, to issue, on one or more occasions, bearer or registered convertible and/or warrant-linked bonds and/or profit-sharing rights and/or income bonds with conversion rights or warrants and/or mandatory conversion requirements or option obligations (or a combination of these instruments) for a total par value of up to €1 billion with or without a limited term (referred to jointly as ‘debt instruments’), and to grant conversion rights / warrants to – and/or to impose mandatory conversion requirements / option obligations on – the beneficial owners of debt instruments to acquire up to 11.81 million new no-par-value bearer shares of KION GROUP AG with a pro rata amount of the share capital of up to €11.81 million (‘2020 Authorization’). The 2020 Conditional Capital of €11.81 million was created to service the debt instruments. The 2020 Authorization has not been used so far.

The 2020 Authorized Capital will be reduced by the proportion of the share capital that is attributable to shares that may or must be issued in order to service bonds with conversion rights or warrants or with mandatory conversion requirements or option obligations, if the bonds are issued during the term of the 2020 Authorized Capital.

8.  Material agreements that the Company has signed and that are conditional upon a change of control resulting from a takeover bid, and the consequent effects

In the event of a change of control resulting from a takeover bid, certain consequences are set out in the following significant contracts (still in force on December 31, 2023) concluded between KION GROUP AG or Group companies of KION GROUP AG and third parties:

KION GROUP AG

• Sustainability-linked syndicated revolving credit facility agreement dated October 4, 2021 (as amended), concluded between KION GROUP AG and, among others, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale (outstanding nominal amount as at December 31, 2023: around €1,386 million)
  In the event that a person, companies affiliated with this person, or persons acting in concert within the meaning of section 2 (5) of the German Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act (WpÜG) acquire(s) control over more than 50 percent of the Company’s voting shares, the lenders may demand that the loans drawn down be repaid and may cancel the loan facility under the sustainability-linked syndicated revolving credit facility agreement dated October 4, 2021. 
• Sustainability-linked syndicated revolving credit facilities agreement dated April 20, 2022 (as amended), concluded between KION GROUP AG and, among others, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (outstanding nominal amount as at December 31, 2023: around €1,123 million)
  The provisions in the sustainability-linked syndicated revolving credit facilities agreement dated April 20, 2022 that apply in the event of a change of control are largely identical to those in the sustainability-linked syndicated revolving credit facility agreement dated October 4, 2021.

As at December 31, 2023, the Company had promissory note agreements with a nominal amount of around €699.5 million outstanding:

• Promissory note agreements (three tranches with different coupons and different maturities) dated February 13, 2017, concluded between KION GROUP AG and Landesbank Baden-Württemberg; the latter subsequently passed them on to its investors
• Promissory note agreements (two tranches with different coupons) dated June 26, 2018, concluded between KION GROUP AG and Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen; the latter subsequently passed them on to its investors
• Promissory note agreement dated April 10, 2019, concluded between KION GROUP AG and Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen; the latter subsequently passed part of it on to its investors
• Promissory note agreements (five tranches with different coupons and different maturities) dated September 27, 2023, concluded between KION GROUP AG and Landesbank Baden-Württemberg; the latter subsequently passed them on to its investors
  The provisions in the aforementioned promissory note agreements that apply in the event of a change of control are largely identical to those in the sustainability-linked syndicated revolving credit facility agreement dated October 4, 2021.

As at December 31, 2023, the Company had access to a firmly pledged bilaterally agreed loan agreement totaling €100 million:

• Bilateral loan agreement dated June 14, 2022, concluded between KION GROUP AG and the Frankfurt branch of Bank of China Ltd.
  The provisions in the aforementioned bilateral loan agreement that apply in the event of a change of control are largely identical to those in the sustainability-linked syndicated revolving credit facility agreement dated October 4, 2021.
• Euro medium term notes, issued under a medium-term note program dated September 10, 2020, arranged by KION GROUP AG with the dealers BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, and UniCredit Bank AG (outstanding nominal amount as at December 31, 2023: €500 million)
  In the event that one person or multiple persons (the ‘relevant person[s]’), who are acting in concert within the meaning of section 34 (2) WpHG, or one or multiple third parties acting by order of the relevant person(s), at any time indirectly or directly hold(s) or has/have acquired (i) more than 50 percent of the outstanding share capital of the issuer or (ii) more than 50 percent of the shares of the issuer, to which more than 50 percent of the voting rights are assigned that can be exercised at an Annual General Meeting of the issuer under normal circumstances, and the credit rating is lowered due to a change of control within the change of control period, each beneficial owner has the right to demand repayment of their promissory note.

Group companies of KION GROUP AG

As at December 31, 2023, certain Group companies of KION GROUP AG also had finance totaling €1.503 billion outstanding in connection with the existing asset-backed securities documentation: 

• Asset-backed securities documentation in the United Kingdom dated February 15, 2018 (as amended), concluded between KION Financial Services Ltd. and K-Lift Compartment 1; the noteholders are Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (PUBL) and Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft 
• Asset-backed secured loan documentation in Sweden dated June 5, 2019 (as amended), concluded between KION Financial Services Sweden AB and the Frankfurt branch of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (PUBL) 
• Asset-backed securities documentation in France dated July 17, 2019 (as amended), concluded between Fenwick Financial Services SAS, STILL Location Services SAS, and K-Lift S.A. Compartment 2; the noteholder is tes an Ice Greek3; UniCredit Bank AG was originally the noteholder 
• Asset-backed securities documentation in Germany dated June 30, 2020 (as amended), concluded between STILL Financial Services GmbH and K-Lift Compartment 3; the noteholder is Weinberg Capital DAC; Weinberg Capital DAC issues asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) to investors 
• Asset-backed securities documentation in Italy dated October 6, 2021 (as amended), concluded between KION Rental Services S.p.A. and K-Lift Compartment 4; the noteholders are Helaba and Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft
  The provisions in the aforementioned asset-backed securities documentation that apply in the event of a change of control are largely identical to those in the sustainability-linked syndicated revolving credit facility agreement dated October 4, 2021.
• Asset-backed securities documentation in Spain dated December 19, 2019 (as amended), concluded between KION Rental Services S.A.U. and Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale
  In the event of changes to the ownership of KION GROUP AG (the guarantor) that Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale (the buyer) legitimately believes could significantly hamper the ability of KION GROUP AG to meet its obligations arising from the framework agreement dated December 19, 2019 regarding the purchase and administration of receivables, the buyer is entitled to terminate the framework agreement without notice.

9.  Compensation agreements that the Company has signed with the Executive Board members or employees and that will be triggered in the event of a takeover bid

No such agreements have been concluded between the Company and its current Executive Board members or employees.