The shareholders of CPH Chemie + Papier Holding AG (CPH) voted at Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) in Perlen to approve the separation proposed in March 2024 of the company’s paper manufacturing business from its chemistry and packaging activities by 98.2%. The attendees also approved all the meeting’s further agenda items. A total of 132 shareholders attended the EGM, representing 78.2% of the company’s voting shares.
As a result of the EGM’s resolutions, CPH will be split into two focused companies which will each be able to further successfully pursue their own specific strategy: the globally active and growth-oriented CPH Group AG with its chemistry (Zeochem) and packaging (Perlen Packaging) divisions; and Perlen Industrieholding AG, in which are bundled the paper manufacturing business (Perlen Papier AG) and the real-estate assets of the Perlen industrial site.
The Perlen paper business and real-estate assets will be spun off via a capital reduction and the distribution to shareholders of a dividend-in-kind: CPH shareholders will receive one share in the new Perlen Industrieholding AG for every CPH share they hold.
The now-approved transaction offers the opportunity to substantially increase the global market presence of the newly-named CPH Group AG and its Chemistry and Packaging divisions and to well equip the company for the further challenges ahead. In geographical terms, CPH Group AG will put a particular future focus on international niche markets with above-average growth potential in Asia, the USA and Latin America. At the same time, the continuation of the Perlen Papier AG brand is a clear commitment to the Perlen-based paper manufacturing business, which, with its high productivity, remains soundly competitive. As a virtually debt-free enterprise, CPH Chemie + Papier Holding AG is taking this strategic action with a firm eye to the future and from a position of strength. The transaction is also fully supported by CPH’s anchor family shareholders, who will remain invested in both companies.
“We welcome today’s decision by our shareholders to approve the spin-off of our Perlen paper manufacturing operation and real-estate assets and to create two separate companies that can each focus firmly on their specific businesses,” says Peter Schaub, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CPH Chemie + Papier Holding AG. “We are convinced that both CPH Group AG and the new Perlen Industrieholding AG will be well able to consistently pursue their own business strategies and, in doing so, will both increase their overall company value over the longer term.”