Press release: Leonteq updates ahead of its Annual General Meeting

PRESS RELEASE | LEONTEQ UPDATES AHEAD OF ITS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Zurich, 23 March 2023 | Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR

Leonteq AG (SIX: LEON) today provides an update on voting positions from its largest shareholder, Raiffeisen Switzerland Cooperative (Raiffeisen), ahead of its Annual General Meeting 2023 due to take place on 30 March 2023.

On 22 March 2023, Leonteq was informed by its largest shareholder, Raiffeisen, that it intends to oppose the Board of Director’s proposal to introduce a capital band in the Articles of Association (agenda item 3.1). The Board has made its proposal in line with the new Swiss corporate law, which entered into force on 1 January 2023. Raiffeisen currently holds approx. 29% of Leonteq shares. The proposal requires a two thirds majority of the shareholder votes present or represented at the general meeting and it is therefore unlikely that this resolution will be approved.

Raiffeisen expressed reservations about the proposed future rights of the Board of Directors of Leonteq to issue new shares of up of 10% of the share capital with the possibility to exclude subscription rights of existing shareholders under certain specified circumstances. It also mentioned reservations about the potential impact on Leonteq’s free float resulting from the proposed capital reduction within the capital band of up to 50% over the period of five years. According to SIX Swiss Exchange, Leonteq’s free float is currently at 62.8%. All proposals made to Leonteq’s shareholders carried unanimous support by all the members of the Board of Directors. Leonteq published the invitation to its Annual General Meeting along with detailed proposals and explanations on 3 March 2023.

The Board of Directors believes that it has made a shareholder friendly proposal by asking for an authorisation to increase its share capital by issuing a maximum of 1,893,410 registered shares with the right to withdraw or restrict shareholder’s subscription rights in certain specified cases and to the extent the increase does not exceed 10% of the then current share capital. Further it is convinced that the capital reduction by means of potential share buybacks is accretive to all shareholders. Leonteq also outlined in its brochure “Amendments to the Articles of Association” published with the invitation to the Annual General Meeting that at this point in time there are no plans to increase the share capital.

As announced previously, the Board of Directors has approved a programme to buy back up to CHF 18 million of Leonteq AG shares, which is expected to be launched at the beginning of April 2023 and to run until the end of December 2023. In the event that the vote on the capital band does not reach the required majority on 30 March 2023, Leonteq intends to propose a capital reduction for the shares that will be repurchased under the programme at a future general meeting.

Until such time, Leonteq will continue to engage in a constructive dialogue with its shareholders, including Raiffeisen.

The invitation to the Annual General Meeting with the detailed proposals and explanations is available on Leonteq’s website at www.leonteq.com/agm.

Important dates
30 March 2023 Annual General Meeting 2023
03 April 2023 Ex-dividend date
04 April 2023 Record date
05 April 2023 Payment date
20 July 2023 Half-year 2023 results

CONTACT
Media Relations 
+41 58 800 1844
media@leonteq.com

Investor Relations 
+41 58 800 1855
investorrelations@leonteq.com

LEONTEQ
Leonteq is a Swiss fintech company with a leading marketplace for structured investment solutions. Based on proprietary modern technology, the company offers derivative investment products and services and predominantly covers the capital protection, yield enhancement and participation product classes. Leonteq acts as both a direct issuer of its own products and as a partner to other financial institutions. Leonteq further enables life insurance companies and banks to produce capital-efficient, unit-linked pension products with guarantees. The company has offices and subsidiaries in 13 countries, through which it serves over 50 markets. Leonteq AG is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX: LEON). www.leonteq.com

DISCLAIMER
This press release issued by Leonteq AG (the “Company”) serves for information purposes only and does not constitute research. This press release and all materials, documents and information used therein or distributed in the context of this press release do not constitute or form part of and should not be construed as, an offer (public or private) to sell or a solicitation of offers (public or private) to purchase or subscribe for shares or other securities of the Company or any of its affiliates or subsidiaries in any jurisdiction or an inducement to enter into investment activity in any jurisdiction, and may not be used for such purposes. Copies of this press release may not be made available (directly or indirectly) to any person in relation to whom the making available of the press release is restricted or prohibited by law or sent to countries, or distributed in or from countries, to, in or from which this is restricted or prohibited by law.

This press release may contain specific forward-looking statements, e.g. statements including terms like “believe“, “assume“, “expect“, "target" “forecast“, “project“, “may“, “could“, “might“, “will“ or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may result in a substantial divergence between the actual results, financial situation, development or performance of the Company or any of its affiliates or subsidiaries and those explicitly or implicitly presumed in these statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: (1) general market, macroeconomic, governmental and regulatory trends, (2) movements in securities markets, exchange rates and interest rates and (3) other risks and uncertainties inherent in our business. Against the background of these uncertainties, you should not rely on forward-looking statements. Neither the Company nor any of its affiliates or subsidiaries or their respective bodies, executives, employees and advisers assume any responsibility to prepare or disseminate any supplement, amendment, update or revision to any of the information, opinions or forward-looking statements contained in this press release or to adapt them to any change in events, conditions or circumstances, except as required by applicable law or regulation.