The air group Air France-KLM announced on Wednesday a “consolidation of its shares” and a reduction in its capital, an operation without impact on the value held by shareholders.
Bringing together, among others, the airlines Air France And KLM Royal Dutch Airlines as well as low cost Transavia, the Franco-Dutch group explained on July 12, 2023 in a press release the two financial maneuvers. THE consolidation of shares “will result in the allocation of 1 new ordinary share with a nominal value of 10 euros against 10 old ordinary shares with a nominal value of 1 euro and in the division by 10 of the number of shares in circulation”. This combination is a “purely technical exchange operation with no direct impact on the total value of the Company’s shares held in the portfolio by each shareholder”, specifies Air France-KLM.
The consolidation operations will begin on July 31, 2023, with an exchange period being open from that date until August 30, 2023 (inclusive) “to allow shareholders who do not hold a number of shares multiple of 10 to proceed to the purchase or sale of old shares in order to obtain a number of old shares which is a multiple of 10”. The combination will take effect on August 31, 2023.
There capital reduction “by reducing the nominal value of the Company’s shares” is a consequence of the decision on July 4 of the Air France-KLM Board of Directors to implement the authorization granted to it by the General Assembly. The nominal value of each share of the Company will be reduced from 10 euro to 1 euro, a reduction of 9 euros per share. The amount of this capital reduction will be allocated to the “issue premium” account.
After the capital reduction, the par value of the new shares will be identical to the par value of the current shares (before the reverse stock split). The reduction by way of a nominal reduction and allocation as an issue premium “is a purely technical operation, no impact nor on the market value of the Company’s shares, nor on the number of shares in circulation”.
