Energie Austria schedule

Exactly according to schedule, VERBUND will hold a special meeting of stockholders on the subject of "Energie Austria" at the beginning of September. The VERBUND Supervisory Board made preparations for this forthcoming meeting today.

In the framework of this meeting of stockholders the VERBUND Board of Management will inform itself in detail on the facts of the Energie Austria project and request its stockholders to approve of the formation of the by far biggest Austrian power group. Energie Austria has power sales amounting to 41,000 gigawatt hours (GWh), a 90 percent share of hydropower and a market share of 55 percent in Austria. What is of special importance is the fact that the company is open to additional Austrian participants.

Given the clear situation of facts the VERBUND management is confident that the merger of the power activities of Energie AG OÖ, EStAG and VERBUND will have to be accepted by the VERBUND stockholders for economic reasons. The Board of Management will undertake every possible step in the run up to this EGM in order to achieve the consent of the stockholders.

The merger will create a synergy potential of a total of 3,800 million ATS per year. After the merger, the total equity value of the group will amount to 103 billion ATS and will thus be 26 percent higher than in the case of a stand-alone valuation of the individual partner companies.

With its excellent market position - Energie Austria ranks sixth among power groups within the relevant market (radius 500 km) – the company offers the opportunity for Austria to act as a partner of equal rank in the European energy market and play an active role in the future developments.