6.  DISCLOSURES REQUIRED BY TAKEOVER LAW

The following disclosures according to sections 289a and 315a German Commercial Code (HGB) represent conditions as of the balance sheet date. As required by section 176 (1) sentence 1 German Stock Corporation Law (“Aktiengesetz” – AktG), the disclosures are explained in the sections below.

For further details, please refer to note 16, as well as 37 - 39, in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Composition of capital

The subscribed capital of United Internet AG as of December 31, 2021 amounts to € 194,000,000 divided into 194,000,000 registered no-par shares. Upon completion of the capital reduction resolved by the Management Board on February 14, 2023, with the approval of the Supervisory Board, by means of canceling 2,000,000 treasury shares, subscribed capital was reduced to € 192,000,000 and is divided into 192,000,000 registered no-par shares. Each share entitles the owner to one vote. There are no other share categories. In the case of a capital increase, the commencement of dividend entitlement for new shares may be determined separately from the moment of contribution. All shares are listed on the stock exchange.

Limitations affecting voting rights or the transfer of shares

There are legal limitations affecting voting rights of certain shares pursuant to section 71b AktG and section 71d S. 4 in conjunction with section 71b AktG. At the end of the reporting period on December 31, 2022, United Internet held 7,284,109 treasury shares representing 3.75% of capital stock. Upon completion of the capital reduction resolved by the Management Board on February 14, 2023, with the approval of the Supervisory Board, by means of canceling 2,000,000 treasury shares, and the buyback of 13,899,596 shares (without fractional amounts) as part of the public share buyback offer to the shareholders of United Internet AG, United Internet holds 19,183,705 treasury shares, corresponding to 9.99% of the current capital stock of 192 million shares.

There are also legal limitations affecting voting rights regarding a conflict of interests pursuant to section 136 (1) AktG for shares held by the Management Board and Supervisory Board.

Among the current members of the Management Board, Mr. Ralph Dommermuth indirectly held 99,000,000 shares of United Internet AG (51.03% of capital stock) as of December 31, 2022. Upon completion of the aforementioned capital reduction and buyback of 13,899,596 shares as part of the public share buyback offer (of which 5,044,795 shares were from Mr. Ralph Dommermuth), Mr. Dommermuth indirectly holds 93,955,205 shares of United Internet AG (48.94% of capital stock). Moreover, Mr. Martin Mildner held 15 shares of the Company (0.00% of capital stock) as of December 31, 2022.

As of December 31, 2022, no current members of the Supervisory Board held shares in United Internet AG.

There are no limitations affecting the transfer of shares.

Direct and indirect participations in capital with over 10% of voting rights

On December 31, 2022, the Company’s CEO, Mr. Ralph Dommermuth, residing in Germany, indirectly held 99,000,000 shares or 51.03% of the 194,000,000 shares in United Internet AG. At present, Mr. Ralph Dommermuth indirectly holds 93,955,205 shares or 48.94% of the 192,000,000 shares in United Internet AG. The Management Board is not aware of further participations in capital exceeding 10% of voting rights.

Special rights

Mr. Ralph Dommermuth is personally entitled to nominate two members of the Supervisory Board. This right is exercised by naming a person for the Supervisory Board to the Company’s Management Board. The nomination becomes effective as soon as the nominated person declares his acceptance of the Supervisory Board seat to the Management Board. A requirement for the aforementioned nomination right is that Mr. Ralph Dommermuth holds shares himself or via affiliated companies pursuant to section 15ff. AktG representing at least 25% of the Company’s voting capital and can prove as much to the Management Board on nomination of the Supervisory Board member by providing depository account statements or similar documents. Mr. Dommermuth has so far not made use of this nomination right.

The Management Board is not aware of any further shares with special rights.

Appointment and dismissal of Management Board members, amendments to Company articles

The appointment and dismissal of Management Board members is determined by sections 84, 85 AktG in conjunction with section 1 of the rules of procedure for the Supervisory Board. According to section 6 (1) of the Company’s articles, the Management Board consists of at least one person. The Supervisory Board appoints and dismisses the members of the Management Board, determines their number and can appoint one member of the Management Board as Chairman.

Each amendment of the Company’s articles requires the adoption of a shareholders’ meeting resolution with a majority of at least three quarters of capital represented at the vote. Pursuant to section 22 of the Company’s articles in conjunction with section 179 (1) sentence 2 AktG (Changes in capital stock and number of shares), the Supervisory Board is authorized to make amendments to the Company’s articles insofar as they only concern formulation.

Powers of the Management Board to issue new shares

The Management Board is entitled to issue new shares under the following circumstances:

The Management Board is authorized, subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board, to increase the capital stock in the period ending August 31, 2023, by a maximum of € 77,500,000.00 by issuing on one or more occasions new no-par shares for cash and/or non-cash contributions (Authorized Capital 2020).

Subject to the following restrictions, shareholders shall be granted subscription rights.

The Management Board is authorized, subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board, to exclude fractional amounts from the shareholders’ subscription rights and to also exclude subscription rights to the extent that this is necessary in order to grant subscription rights for new shares to bearers of warrants and convertible bonds issued by the Company or its subsidiaries in the amount to which they would be entitled on exercise of their warrant or conversion rights or fulfillment of their conversion obligation. In the case of a capital increase in return for cash contribution, the Management Board is further authorized, subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board, to exclude shareholders’ subscription rights for an amount of up to 10% of the capital stock existing at the time Authorized Capital 2020 becomes effective, or – if this amount is lower – at the time the resolution to use Authorized Capital 2020 is adopted, if the new shares are issued at an issuance price which is not substantially below the market price of those Company shares already listed at the time of the final determination of the issuance price, which shall be as near in time as possible to the share issuance date. This maximum amount of 10% of the capital stock includes the proportionate share of capital stock attributable to treasury shares sold on or after the effective date of this authorization in direct or analogous application of section 186 (3) sentence 4 AktG, as well as the proportionate share of the capital stock attributable to shares subject to conversion and/or warrant rights or conversion obligations from bonds issued pursuant to the authorization of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting of May 20, 2020, with the exclusion of subscription rights in accordance with section 186 (3) sentence 4 AktG. The Management Board is further authorized, subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board, to exclude shareholders’ subscription rights in the case of capital increases in return for non-cash contribution in order to grant shares for the purpose of acquiring companies, parts of companies, interests in companies or other assets, including rights and receivables, or as part of business combinations. The above mentioned authorizations to exclude subscription rights are limited in total to an amount of up 20% of the capital stock existing at the time Authorized Capital 2020 becomes effective, or – if this amount is lower – at the time the resolution to use Authorized Capital 2020 is adopted. This maximum amount of 20% of the capital stock includes the proportionate share of capital stock attributable to shares subject to conversion and/or warrant rights or conversion obligations from bonds issued pursuant to the authorization of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting of May 20, 2020, with the exclusion of subscription rights, as well as the proportionate share of capital stock attributable to treasury shares sold on or after the effective date of this authorization in a manner other than via the stock exchange or by means of an offer to all shareholders.

The Management Board is further authorized, subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board, to determine the further details of the capital increase and its execution.

Capital stock is conditionally increased by up to € 25,000,000.00, divided into up to 25,000,000 no-par value registered shares (Conditional Capital 2020). The conditional capital increase shall only be implemented to the extent that the bearers or holders of warrant rights or conversion rights or obligations from bonds with warrants or convertible bonds that have been issued or guaranteed by the Company or a subordinated Group company in the period ending August 31, 2023, on the basis of the Management Board’s authorization resolved by the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting of May 20, 2020, exercise their warrant or conversion rights or, to the extent that they are obligated to convert their bonds, fulfill their obligation, or to the extent that the Company exercises a right to grant shares in the Company, instead of paying the cash amount due (or parts thereof), and to the extent that cash compensation is not granted or treasury shares or shares in another listed company are not used to service bonds. The new shares shall be issued at the warrant or conversion price to be determined in accordance with the above authorizing resolution. The new shares shall participate in profits from the beginning of the fiscal year in which they are created; to the extent that it is legally permissible, the Management Board may, with the approval of the Supervisory Board, determine the profit participation of new shares and, notwithstanding section 60 (2) AktG, also for a fiscal year already expired.

The Management Board is authorized, subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board, to determine the further details concerning the execution of the conditional capital increase.

Powers of the Management Board to buy and use treasury shares

The authorization to acquire and use treasury shares that was granted by the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on May 18, 2017 in accordance with section 71 (1) number 8 AktG expired on September 18, 2020. Against this background, the Annual Shareholders' Meeting of May 20, 2020 issued a new authorization pursuant to section 71 (1) number 8 AktG, to acquire and use treasury shares. This authorization is valid from September 19, 2020 to August 31, 2023.

The authorization is limited to an amount of 10% of the capital stock existing at the time the Annual Shareholders' Meeting adopts the resolution or – if this amount is lower – at the time the authorization is exercised. The authorization can be exercised directly by the Company, or by a dependent or majority-owned corporation of the Company, or by third parties commissioned by dependent or majority-owned corporations of the Company, and permits the purchase of treasury shared in their entirety or in parts on one or more occasions.

Treasury shares may be acquired via the stock exchange or by means of a public purchase offer made to all shareholders or by means of a public request made to all shareholders to submit sales offers or by granting tender rights to shareholders.

• If acquisition is made via the stock exchange or by means of a public purchase offer, the per share purchase price (excluding ancillary acquisition costs) paid by the Company must not be more than 10% above or below the arithmetic mean of the closing auction prices of the Company’s no-par value shares in the Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s Xetra trading system (or an equivalent successor system) over the last ten stock exchange trading days before the conclusion of any transaction imposing an obligation (if the acquisition is made via the stock exchange) or before the publication of the decision to submit a public purchase offer (if the acquisition is made by means of a public purchase offer). Should the share price deviate significantly from the offered purchase price or from the limits of the offered purchase price range after a public purchase offer is published, the offer may be adjusted. In this case, the relevant purchase price shall be determined based on the corresponding stock exchange price on the last trading day before the announcement of the adjustment and must not be more than 10% higher or lower than that amount.
  
  The volume of a public purchase offer may be limited. If, in the case of a public purchase offer, the volume of the tendered shares exceeds the volume intended to be bought back, tender rights, if any, may be partially excluded so that shares may be acquired based on the proportions of tendered shares (percentages of tendered shares) rather than based on the proportions of the tendering shareholders’ shareholdings in the Company (shareholding percentages). Tender rights, if any, may also be partially excluded such that priority is given to smaller lots of up to 100 shares offered per shareholder and such that the number of shares is rounded in accordance with commercial rounding principles in order to avoid fractions of shares.
  
  If acquisition is made by means of a public request made to all shareholders to submit sales offers, the Company will stipulate a purchase price range per share within which sales offers may be submitted. The purchase price range may be adjusted if, during the submission period, the share price deviates significantly from the share price prevailing at the time of publication of the request to submit sales offers. The purchase price per share (excluding ancillary acquisition costs) to be paid by the Company and that the Company calculates on the basis of the received sales offers must not be more than 10% above or below the arithmetic mean of the closing auction prices of the Company’s no-par value shares in the Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s Xetra trading system (or an equivalent successor system) over the last three stock exchange trading days before the cutoff date described below. The cutoff date is the date on which the Company‘s Management Board makes its final and formal decision on the publication of the request to submit sales offers or the adjustment thereof.
  
  The volume of offers that may be accepted may be limited. If, due to the limited volume, not all of several equal sales offers can be accepted, tender rights, if any, may be partially excluded so that shares may be acquired based on the percentages of tendered shares rather than based on the shareholding percentages. Tender rights, if any, may also be partially excluded such that priority is given to smaller lots of up to 100 shares tendered per shareholder and such that the number of shares is rounded in accordance with commercial rounding principles in order to avoid fractions of shares.
  
  
• If acquisition is made by granting tender rights to the shareholders, the rights may be allocated per Company share. A number of tender rights determined based on the ratio of the Company’s capital stock to the volume of shares to be bought back by the Company will entitle a tendering shareholder to sell one Company share to the Company. Tender rights may also be allocated in such a way that one tender right is allocated for a certain number of shares determined based on the ratio of the capital stock to the buyback volume. Fractions of tender rights will not be allocated; in case thereof, partial tender rights are excluded. The price or the limits of the offered purchase price range (in each case excluding ancillary acquisition costs) at which a share may be sold to the Company when a tender right is exercised will be determined in accordance with the provisions of the sub-section above, with the relevant cutoff date being the date of publication of the buyback offer with the granting of tender rights, and adjusted if necessary also in accordance with the provisions of the sub-section above, with the relevant cutoff date being the date of publication of the adjustment. The Company’s Management Board will determine the further details of the tender rights, in particular their conditions, term and, where appropriate, tradability.

In addition, the Management Board is authorized to sell treasury shares in a manner other than via the stock exchange or by means of an offer to all shareholders if the shares are sold for cash at a price that is not substantially below the stock exchange price of the Company’s shares at the time of sale. The shareholders’ subscription rights are excluded in this context. However, this authorization is subject to the condition that the shares sold with the exclusion of subscription rights pursuant to section 186 (3) sentence 4 AktG must not exceed in aggregate 10% of the capital stock either at the time the authorization becomes effective or – if this is lower – at the time the authorization is exercised. This limit of 10% of the capital stock includes those shares that are issued during the term of this authorization until the sale of treasury shares from authorized capital with the exclusion of subscription rights pursuant to section 186 (3) sentence 4 AktG. This limit of 10% of the capital stock also includes those shares that are issued or are to be issued in order to service warrant and/or conversion rights and/or conversion obligations provided that the bonds were issued during the term of this authorization in analogous application of section 186 (3) sentence 4 AktG with the exclusion of subscription rights.

The Management Board is also authorized, in addition to a sale via the stock exchange or a use in another manner that complies with the principle of equal treatment of all shareholders, to use treasury shares for the following purposes:

• As (partial) consideration in connection with the acquisition of companies or interests in companies or parts of companies or in connection with business combinations.
• To float shares of the Company on foreign stock exchanges on which they were previously not admitted to trading. The price at which these shares are floated on foreign stock exchanges (excluding ancillary acquisition costs) must not be more than 5% below the arithmetic mean of the prices of the Company’s no-par value shares in the closing auctions of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s Xetra trading system (or an equivalent successor system) over the last three stock exchange trading days before the day of their flotation on the foreign stock exchange.
• To grant United Internet shares as part of remuneration and/or employee stock ownership programs such that United Internet shares are offered or transferred to members of the Management Board of United Internet AG and/or to individuals who are or were in an employment relationship with the Company and/or to members of the management of affiliated companies. Insofar as United Internet shares are to be transferred to members of the Company’s Management Board, the decision on this is incumbent upon the Company’s Supervisory Board.

Shareholders’ statutory subscription rights with regard to these treasury shares will be excluded in accordance with sections 71 (1) no. 8 and 186 (3) and (4) AktG to the extent that these shares are used pursuant to the above authorizations. Furthermore, the Managing Board is authorized to exclude shareholders’ subscription rights for fractional shares if treasury shares are sold by means of an offer to all shareholders.

The authorizations to exclude subscription rights are in aggregate limited to an amount of up 20% of the capital stock existing at the time these authorizations become effective or – if this amount is lower – at the time the resolution to sell treasury shares is adopted. This maximum amount of 20% of the capital stock includes the proportionate share of capital stock attributable to shares that are subject to conversion and/or warrant rights or conversion obligations under bonds issued pursuant to the authorization of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting of May 20, 2020, with the exclusion of subscription rights, as well as the proportionate share of the capital stock attributable to shares issued from Authorized Capital 2020 on the basis of the authorization of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting of May 20, 2020, with the exclusion of subscription rights.

In addition, the Management Board is authorized to redeem treasury shares without any further resolution of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting being required either for the redemption or the implementation thereof. The redemption may also be implemented in accordance with section 237 (3) no. 3 AktG without a capital reduction and in such a manner that, as a result of the redemption, the proportionate share of the Company’s remaining no-par value shares in the capital stock is increased in accordance with section 8 (3) AktG. In accordance with section 237 (3) no. 3 2nd half-sentence AktG, the Management Board is authorized to amend the number of shares specified in the Articles of Association accordingly. The redemption may also be implemented in combination with a capital reduction, in which case the Management Board is authorized to reduce the capital stock by the proportionate share of capital stock attributable to the redeemed shares. The Supervisory Board is authorized to amend the number of shares and the capital stock amount specified in the Articles of Association.

The foregoing authorizations are granted for the period beginning September 19, 2020. They may be exercised once or several times, in their entirety or partially, individually or collectively. They also cover the use of treasury shares that have been acquired on the basis of previous authorizations to acquire treasury shares and treasury shares that have been acquired in accordance with section 71d sentence 5 AktG or (i) by any company controlled or majority-owned by the Company or (ii) by third parties acting for the account of the Company or of any company controlled or majority-owned by the Company.

Material agreements conditional to a change of control following a takeover bid

A bank consortium has granted United Internet AG a syndicated loan facility of € 810 million until January 2025. In fiscal 2020, the Company exercised a contractually agreed extension option and extended the term of the revolving syndicated credit facility entered into on December 21, 2018 for the period January 2025 to January 2026. A credit facility of € 690 million was agreed for this extension period.

• The members of the consortium were granted the right to terminate their share of the syndicated loan facility or the syndicated loan if a third party or a group of third parties acting in concert acquired a majority of the shares in United Internet AG or held the majority of voting shares at an Annual Shareholders' Meeting of the Company. The right of termination is available to each member of the bank consortium individually within 30 days of the announcement of the change of control by the Company. However, this right of termination does not apply if the majority of shares or voting rights at an Annual Shareholders' Meeting are acquired by Mr. Ralph Dommermuth or his direct relatives.

Furthermore, several promissory note loans of United Internet AG totaling € 1,100.0 million are outstanding at the end of the reporting period on December 31, 2022.

• The lenders of the promissory notes were granted the right to terminate their share of the respective promissory note loans if a third party or a group of third parties acting in concert acquired a majority interest in United Internet AG. The right of termination is available to each lender individually within 30 days of the announcement of the change of control by the Company. However, this right of termination does not apply if the majority of the shares are acquired by Mr. Ralph Dommermuth.

Compensation agreements in the event of a change of control following a takeover bid

No compensation agreements have been concluded with members of the Management Board or employees of the Company in the event of a change of control following a takeover bid.