Mannheim, September, 28, 2006 - CropEnergies AG, Mannheim (ISIN DE 000A0LAUP1), and its parent company Südzucker Aktiengesellschaft Mannheim/Ochsenfurt (ISIN DE 0007297004) have, together with Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft as the Global Coordinator, fixed the purchase price for the 25 million ordinary bearer shares in CropEnergies AG on offer at 8 per share.
Mannheim, September, 28, 2006 - CropEnergies AG, Mannheim (ISIN DE 000A0LAUP1), and its parent company Südzucker Aktiengesellschaft Mannheim/Ochsenfurt (ISIN DE 0007297004) have, together with Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft as the Global Coordinator, fixed the purchase price for the 25 million ordinary bearer shares in CropEnergies AG on offer at 8 per share. "All of the 25 million new shares on offer from the capital increase were placed within the four-day subscription period," says Joachim Lutz, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of CropEnergies AG. The gross issue proceeds of 200 million euros will go in full to CropEnergies AG. "With the successful Initial Public Offering we have built the financial basis to continue our expansion in Europe," says Dr. Lutz Guderjahn, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of CropEnergies AG. The company expects to treble CropEnergies annual production capacities, to approx. 760,000 cubic metres of bioethanol in 2008/2009. "We will realize this through the expansion of the production facilities in Zeitz, upgrading of the plant in Dunkirk, France, and construction of another new plant in Wanze, Belgium," adds Dr. Guderjahn. The initial listing takes place on 29 September on the official market (Prime Standard) at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Within the framework of the public offering (without preferential allocation) in Germany some 78 percent of the shares were placed with institutional investors and some 22 percent with private investors. Shares were allocated to institutional investors abroad as part of a private placement (including a placement in line with Rule 144A in the USA). The allocation within the framework of the offering to private investors took place in compliance with the Principles for the Allocation of Stock Issues to Private Investors, which were published on June 7, 2000 by the Stock Exchange Expert Commission at the Federal Ministry of Finance. The allocation took place in accordance with uniform criteria ('standardized allocation') for all the consortium banks. Accordingly, all the subscription orders from private investors placed with a consortium bank were allocated in full. Within the framework of the preferential allocation some 3 million shares were placed with Südzucker shareholders. After the IPO Südzucker Aktiengesellschaft Mannheim/Ochsenfurt will remain the majority shareholder in CropEnergies AG with a stake of 70.6%. Südzucker Aktiengesellschaft Mannheim/Ochsenfurt as majority shareholder and CropEnergies have agreed not so sell any CropEnergies shares within twelve months after the IPO (lock-up period). About CropEnergies AG CropEnergies AG, Mannheim, is a subsidiary of Südzucker Aktiengesellschaft Mannheim/Ochsenfurt. The Group is an established and one of the leading European manufacturers of bioethanol for the fuel sector, measured by production capacity. Ethanol manufactured from biomass is referred to as "bioethanol". Bioethanol is derived from fermenting plants that contain sugar or starch. CropEnergies utilises grain and sugar beets as raw materials. Bioethanol produced by CropEnergies is marketed to the oil and petrochemical industries under the umbrella brand name of "CropEnergies." A high-protein animal feed that is a co-product of bioethanol production has been successfully introduced to the market under the brand name of ProtiGrain®.