Meinl International Power Ltd.
EANS-News: Meinl International Power Ltd.
Board of Directors convenes
Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) in Vienna for April 21, 2009
St. Helier, Jersey (euro adhoc) -
Board to receive authorisation to return free cash to certificate holders Further future returns shall be made possible by sale of PIs portfolio of assets
ots.CorporateNews transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer is responsible for the content of this announcement.
investments/EGM
Jersey, 27 March 2009 - The Board of PI Power International (PI) announces the Notice of an EGM in Vienna for 21 April 2009, 10 am, in accordance with the requisition of a group of shareholders.
The resolutions presented to certificate holders at the EGM include:
an authorisation of the Board to return free cash to certificate holders in one or more tranches, with the expectation of an initial return of approx. EUR 300 million in total or such other amount as can be lawfully and economically distributed, the change to the investment objectives of the Company whereby the Board is authorised to sell or otherwise dispose of all or any assets of the Company and no investments in new projects can be made without certificate holders´ approval, an authorisation of the Board to distribute to certificate holders proceeds of the sale of the Company´s assets.
"These proposed changes enable us to fulfil what we have promised to our certificate holders before our election as independent Board of Directors: To minimise the losses of our certificate holders caused by the previous board and the Meinl Bank Group", the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Wolfgang Vilsmeier, explains. The Board has now substantially finished the review of the existing portfolio assets and has taken into consideration the dramatically changed economic and investment conditions compared to those prevailing at the time of the initial public offering. In addition the Board has evaluated the economically unfavourable impact upon PI´s business of the contractual relationships between PI and Meinl Bank AG or its associates like Meinl Power Management Limited. The management contract with Meinl Power Management Limited will cause substantial cash out flows in the future and will negatively affect profitability, which will result in unsatisfying returns on equity.
The Board has drawn the following conclusions:
PI is not ideally suited to act as a long-term investor for its investments, especially as many of the projects approved by the previous Board of Directors involve major financial risks. Many of the projects can be developed profitably only at a high level of leverage. In addition the currently unfavourable conditions on the international credit markets make leveraging of PI´s projects additionally more expensive and negatively affect a profitable development of these projects. Also the Company´s structure is extremely complex and has turned out to be very inefficient. Chairman of the Board of Directors Wolfgang Vilsmeier adds: "To be honest, under these circumstances PI investors are taking `equity-like´ risk while getting only `bond-like´ returns".
In addition the proposed resolutions cover, amongst others, a change of the name of the Company to "PI Power International Limited" and changes to the Articles of Association of the Company and the election of a smaller Board of Directors. Several of the proposed resolutions will also require the consent of the Jersey Financial Services Commission. Detailed information on the content of all proposed resolutions will be available at the Company's website www.powerinternational.eu.
Finally Vilsmeier invites all certificate holders of PI to take part at the EGM. As the Company is subject to Jersey Company Law all certificate holders who intend to attend and vote at the EGM have to complete and sign the Form of Proxy that will be available for download - both in German and English - on the website of the Company www.powerinternational.eu.
More information on PI Power International is available at: www.powerinternational.eu
end of announcement euro adhoc
Further inquiry note:
Mick Stempel
Hochegger Financial Relations GmbH
T: +43 1 504 69 87 - 385
M: m.stempel@hochegger.com
Mag. Stephanie Cekon
Hochegger Financial Relations GmbH
T: +43 1 504 69 87 - 338
M: s.cekon@hochegger.com
Branche: Energy
ISIN: AT0000A05W59
WKN:
Index: other listings
Börsen: Wiener Börse AG / Third Market