Renewed Success of AXA Employee Share Offering in 2007: Total Subscription up by 47%
November 29 2007 - 3:17AM
PR Newswire (US)
AXA's employees worldwide hold 5.10% of AXA's share capital PARIS,
Nov. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- On August 20, 2007 AXA announced
the launch of its 2007 Shareplan offering, a capital increase
reserved to its employees worldwide, with a subscription period
from September 24, 2007 to October 9, 2007 for all countries
(except Belgium), and from September 24, 2007 to October 23, 2007
for Belgium. In most countries, two investment options were
available: a traditional plan and a leveraged plan. Approximately
44,000 employees in 36 countries, representing approximately 39% of
eligible employees, subscribed to Shareplan 2007. The number of
subscribers thereby increased by almost 50% compared to 2006(1),
further demonstrating employees' confidence in the development of
the Group and in its project Ambition 2012, as well as the success
of the integration of Winterthur employees. Employees investing in
Shareplan 2007 will have direct voting rights at AXA's general
shareholders' meetings and will thereby be able to express directly
their opinion on the decisions driving the strategy of the AXA
Group. At the end of Shareplan 2007, AXA's employees hold around
5.10% of the share capital and 6.29% of the voting rights. The
aggregate proceeds from the offering stand at more than Euro 552
million, for a total of 22 million newly issued shares, subscribed
at a price of Euro 23.23 for the traditional plan and Euro 24.89
for the leveraged plan(2). The new shares have been created with
full rights from January 1, 2007. This offering raises the total
number of AXA shares outstanding to 2,121 million as of November
28, 2007(3). (1) Following notably the acquisition of Winterthur,
the number of countries in which the operation took place rose from
32 to 36 in 2007. More than 100,000 employees could subscribe to
Shareplan in 2007, versus 90,000 last year. (2) Euro 29.03 for the
leveraged plan in Germany. (3) Estimated FY2007 fully diluted
weighted average number of shares (basis for earnings per share
calculation) is 2 065 million. This press release is available on
the AXA Group web site: http://www.axa.com/ About AXA AXA Group is
a worldwide leader in Financial Protection. AXA's operations are
diverse geographically, with major operations in Western Europe,
North America and the Asia/Pacific area. IFRS revenues amounted to
Euro 79 billion for full year 2006 (Euro 51 billion for 1H07) and
IFRS adjusted earnings amounted to Euro 5,140 million (Euro 3,424
million for 1H07). The AXA ordinary share is listed and trades
under the symbol AXA on the Paris Stock Exchange. The AXA American
Depository Share is also listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol
AXA. AXA Investor Relations: Etienne Bouas-Laurent:
+33.1.40.75.46.85 Paul-Antoine Cristofari: +33.1.40.75.73.60
Emmanuel Touzeau: +33.1.40.75.49.05 George Guerrero:
+1.212.314.28.93 AXA Media Relations: Christophe Dufraux:
+33.1.40.75.46.74 Laurent Secheret: +33.1.40.75.48.17 Armelle
Vercken: +33.1.40.75.46.42 IMPORTANT LEGAL INFORMATION AND
CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS CONCERNING FORWARD- LOOKING STATEMENTS This
press release contains "forward-looking statements" which involve
risks and uncertainties. These statements include, but are not
limited to, statements that are predictions of or indicate future
strategy, forecasts, events, trends, plan or objectives. Undue
reliance should not be placed on such statements because, by their
nature, they are subject to known and unknown risks and
uncertainties and can be affected by other factors that could cause
actual results and AXA's plan and objectives to differ materially
from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements
(or from past results). These risks and uncertainties include,
without limitation, the risk of future catastrophic events
including possible future terrorist related incidents, economic and
market developments, regulatory actions and developments,
litigations and other proceedings. Please refer to AXA's Document
de Reference for the year ended December 31, 2006, for a
description of certain important factors, risks and uncertainties
that may affect AXA's business. AXA undertakes no obligation to
publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements,
whether to reflect new information, future events or circumstances
or otherwise. This press release is not an offer for sale within
the United States of any security of AXA or any of its affiliates.
Securities of AXA or any of its affiliates may not be offered or
sold in the United States absent registration under U.S. securities
laws or unless exempt from registration under such laws.
DATASOURCE: AXA Group CONTACT: AXA Investor Relations: Etienne
Bouas-Laurent, +33-1-40-75-46-85, Paul-Antoine Cristofari,
+33-1-40-75-73-60, Emmanuel Touzeau, +33-1-40-75-49-05, George
Guerrero, +1-212-314-28-93; AXA Media Relations: Christophe
Dufraux, +33-1-40-75-46-74, Laurent Secheret, +33-1-40- 75-48-17,
Armelle Vercken, +33-1-40-75-46-42 Web site:
http://www.axa-equitable.com/
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