So wie es aussieht haben die guten Nachrichten bei CHS USA den Kurs beflügelt. Eigentlich nicht verwunderlich den die Mutter schreibt ja sehr gute Zahlen.
CHS Electronics signs definitive agreement to Sell its European Operations
Miami, Florida, December 14, 1999 - CHS Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:HS) announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell substantially all of its European operations to a group of its senior managers in Europe. Under the terms of the transaction, CHS will be relieved of all obligations to the holders of its $200 million senior notes, $50 million convertible debentures, and up to $47 million of CHS corporate guarantees for certain of its European operations upon consummation of an exchange offer by the purchaser ("Newco"). Additionally, CHS will receive $11 million in cash, or be relieved of an equivalent amount of liabilities, and receive a 10% equity interest in Newco. The consideration CHS will receive in this transaction is valued at approximately $300 million.
Claudio Osorio, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CHS, stated, "We are pleased to announce this agreement which provides significant value to our shareholders by eliminating essentially all of the Company's long term debt. More importantly, it enables us to focus our energies in Europe on those businesses retained by CHS, including our e-commerce business that will ship products from our central distribution center in The Netherlands, through a new company to be called CHSE.com, and The PC Way, a European assembler of PCs through a joint venture with Trigem Computer."
The transaction is subject to shareholder approval, and successful completion of the exchange offer.
Mark E. Keough, CHS Chief Operating Officer is leading the management group. Mr. Keough stated, "We are pleased to have found a solution that creates value for debt and equity holders while continuing to build the leading IT equipment marketing business in Europe. With the capital issues resolved, we look forward to refocusing our efforts on customers and suppliers. We expect the new company to be among the top three distributors in Europe." Mr. Osorio concluded, "Until now, e-commerce has essentially been a U.S. phenomenon. Our target is global e-commerce with an emphasis on international markets. By early next year, we anticipate selling products to our database of over 125,000 global customers, providing them with the best price and availability and the fastest delivery."
For the nine months ended September 30, 1999, these operations generated sales of $2.8 billion, or 41% of total Company sales. The Company's Germanic subsidiaries, CHS Germany, CHS Austria, and Frank & Walter, which filed for creditor protection in October, will be excluded from the proposed transaction. European management will assume complete operating responsibility for, and control of, the European business pursuant to a management agreement with CHS effective immediately.
Miami-based CHS Electronics is an international distributor of microcomputers, peripherals, and software to over 125,000 resellers in over 40 countries in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. CHS believes it is one of the largest microcomputer distributors in Europe. Information regarding CHS Electronics can be found on the Company's web site at http://www.chse.com.
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