- Double-digit dividend increase for the eleventh time in succession
- Personnel change in the Management Board
- New Supervisory Board Members
The Supervisory Board of ALTANA AG (NYSE: AAA, FSE: ALT) today agreed on the following dividend proposals of the Management Board:
- Special dividend of €33.00 from the sale of ALTANA Pharma to Nycomed. The total purchase price for the Pharmaceuticals business amounts to roughly €4.7 billion; the net gain of the transaction amounts to roughly €4.5 billion.
- Increase in regular dividend for the business year 2006 by 18% to €1.30 (prior year: €1.10).
- Bonus dividend of €0.50 from the adjustment to the future balance sheet structure. The distribution of the bonus dividend is planned to create an equity and debt structure appropriate for a specialty chemicals company in the future balance sheet of the ALTANA Group.
As a result, the total dividend will amount to altogether €4,732 million. This corresponds to an amount of €34.80 per dividend-bearing share (136 million). The distribution is subject to approval of ALTANA AG’s Annual General Meeting on May 3, 2007.
Effective as of the end of the Annual General Meeting on May 3, 2007, Dr. Matthias Wolfgruber (53) was appointed new Chairman of the Management Board of ALTANA AG. ALTANA’s present CEO, Dr. Nikolaus Schweickart (63), who has been a member of the Management Board for 20 years, thereof 17 as CEO, will resign from the Board and go into retirement. Dr. Hermann Küllmer (63), member of the Management Board since 1990, will also go into retirement. Martin Babilas (35) will succeed Dr. Küllmer as Chief Financial Officer.
The Supervisory Board acknowledged the efforts of the two Management Board members who are stepping down from their mandates and extended its gratitude to them for their many years of successful management of the company.
The election of four new Supervisory Board members will be proposed to the Annual General Meeting on May 3, 2007. Namely, Dr. Helmut Eschwey, Chairman of the Board of Management of Heraeus Holding GmbH; Dr. Fritz Fröhlich, CFO of Akzo Nobel until 2004; Mr. Werner Spinner, member of the Management Board of Bayer AG until 2003; and Dr. Carl Voigt, Division Head of Degussa AG until 2006.
Justus Mische, ALTANA’s present Chairman of the Supervisory Board, as well as Dr. Ernst-Uwe Bufe,
Prof. Wolfgang A. Herrmann and Prof. Heinz Riesenhuber will resign from their mandates in the Supervisory Board. The Management Board extended its gratitude to the Supervisory Board members who are stepping down for their successful work.