Month: February 2010

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. has today announced that, in the period between 22 and 26 February 2010, the company bought a total of 390,000 shares (corresponding to 0.15033% of the company’s share capital) on the automated share market at an average price of € 2.74347 per share, for a total of € 1,069,954.70, in the context of the authorisation of the company’s AGM, held on 29 April 2009 (previously communicated as per Art. 144 bis of Consob regulation 11971/1999), to effect share buy back operations.

The details of the operations, as conducted daily, are indicated below:

Date N° of shares bought Weighted average price 22/02/2010 70,000 2.77189 23/02/2010 80,000 2.74986 24/02/2010 80,000 2.72590 25/02/2010 80,000 2.73052 26/02/2010 80,000 2.74275

Following these operations and taking account of the shares already in the portfolio, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. now directly holds 17,850,101 of the company’s shares (or 6.88051% of the share capital).

The subsidiary Mondadori International S.A. helds a further 4,517,486 shares (corresponding to 1.7413% of the share capital).

Consequently, as of today the total number of shares held now amounts to 22,367,587 (or 8.62183% of the share capital).

***

It should be noted that the authorisation issued by the Shareholders 2009 limits the purchase of the company’s own shares to a maximum of 10% of the share capital, taking account of the shares already held in the portfolio by both the company and its subsidiaries. Given that 10% of the company’s share capital amounts to 25,942,983 ordinary shares and that the company, on the date of the authorisation issued by the AGM already held, either directly or indirectly through the subsidiary Mondadori International S.A., a total of 20,097,587 shares, the Shareholders consequently authorised the eventual buy back of an additional maximum of 5,845,396 ordinary shares, corresponding to 2.253% of the share capital.

The authorisation will expire on the approval by the AGM of the company’s accounts for the year to 31 December 2009.

In line with the Shareholders’ authorisation, buy backs are effected on regulated markets as per art. 132 of the legislative decree of 24 February 1998 n. 58 and art. 144 bis, para. 1, B of Consob regulation 11971/99 according to operating procedures established by the regulations for the organisation and management of the markets themselves, which, does not permit the direct combination of offers to buy with predetermined offers to sell.

It should also be noted that acquisition operations has been conducted in line with the norms foreseen by the EU regulation 2273/2003; in terms of daily volumes the company did not purchase a quantity greater than 25% of the average daily volume of Mondadori shares traded on the regulated market and calculated on the basis of the average daily volume of trading of Mondadori shares in the 20 trading days prior to the dates of purchase.

The Board of Directors of Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. will ask the forthcoming Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders to renew authorisation to effect share buy backs, following the expiry with the approval of the Annual Report for the year to 31 December 2009, authorisation already granted by the AGM of 29 April 2009, which had defined a limit of up to 10% of the share capital.

The Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders, scheduled for 27 April 2010 (or 28 April on an eventual second calling) will also be asked to authorise the use of shares involved in such buy back operations or already in the company’s portfolio, as per art. 2357 ter of the Civil Code.

The highlights of the Board of Directors’ proposal are as follows:

• Underlying motivation

The underlying reason for the request for authorisation to effect buy backs and make use of company shares is that it will allow the Board of Directors to:

– use company shares for the exercise of options for the purchase of shares assigned to participants in the stock option plans put in place by the Shareholders;

– use company shares, either bought or in the portfolio, for the exercise of rights, also conversion rights, deriving from financial instruments issued by the company, its subsidiaries or third parties;

– use company shares, either bought or in the portfolio, as part or whole payment in any eventual acquisitions or equity investments that fall within the company’s stated investment policy;

– take advantage, where and when considered strategic for the company, of investment opportunities, also in relation to available liquidity.

• Duration

The validity will extend to the approval of the Annual Report for the financial year 2010.

• Cap on the number of shares that may be bought

The proposed new authorisation relates – also in consideration of the increase in the number of shares that may be bought introduced by current legislation – a limit of 15% of the company’s share capital, taking account of the shares already held in the portfolio by both the company and its subsidiaries.

In particular, given that 15% of the company’s share capital corresponds to 38,914,474 shares and that the company currently holds, either directly or indirectly a total of 22,207,587 of its own shares, corresponding to 8.56% of the share capital, the new authorisation would give the Board the faculty to buy back a further 16,706,887 ordinary shares, corresponding to 6.44% of the share capital (taking account also of any eventual reduction resulting from further acquisitions made in the context of the current Shareholders’ authorisation).

• Method of acquisition and the price range

Buy backs would be effected on regulated markets as per art. 132 of the legislative decree of 24 February 1998 n. 58 and art. 144 bis, para. 1, B of Consob regulation 11971/99 according to operating procedures established by the regulations for the organisation and management of the markets themselves, which, does not permit the direct combination of offers to buy with predetermined offers to sell.

Consequently, the corresponding minimum and maximum price of sale will be determined at the same conditions that applied to previous authorisations agreed by the Shareholders, i.e. at a unit price not less than the official market price on the day prior to any operation, less 20%, and not more than the official market price on the day prior to any operation, plus 10%.

In terms of price and daily volumes, acquisition operations will in any case be conducted in line with the norms foreseen by the EU regulation 2273/2003.

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. has today announced that, in the period between 15 and 19 February 2010, the company bought a total of 1,035,000 shares (corresponding to 0.39895% of the company’s share capital) on the automated share market at an average price of € 2.73130 per share, for a total of € 2,826,899.35, in the context of the authorisation of the company’s AGM, held on 29 April 2009 (previously communicated as per Art. 144 bis of Consob regulation 11971/1999), to effect share buy back operations.

The details of the operations, as conducted daily, are indicated below:

Date N° of shares bought Weighted average price 15/02/2010 200,000 2.68858 16/02/2010 205,000 2.70299 17/02/2010 210,000 2.74544 18/02/2010 210,000 2.76253 19/02/2010 210,000 2.75427

Following these operations and taking account of the shares already in the portfolio, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. now directly holds 17,460,101 of the company’s shares (or 6.73018% of the share capital).

The subsidiary Mondadori International S.A. helds a further 4,517,486 shares (corresponding to 1.7413% of the share capital).

Consequently, as of today the total number of shares held now amounts to 21,977,587 (or 8.47150% of the share capital).

***

It should be noted that the authorisation issued by the Shareholders 2009 limits the purchase of the company’s own shares to a maximum of 10% of the share capital, taking account of the shares already held in the portfolio by both the company and its subsidiaries. Given that 10% of the company’s share capital amounts to 25,942,983 ordinary shares and that the company, on the date of the authorisation issued by the AGM already held, either directly or indirectly through the subsidiary Mondadori International S.A., a total of 20,097,587 shares, the Shareholders consequently authorised the eventual buy back of an additional maximum of 5,845,396 ordinary shares, corresponding to 2.253% of the share capital.

The authorisation will expire on the approval by the AGM of the company’s accounts for the year to 31 December 2009.

In line with the Shareholders’ authorisation, buy backs are effected on regulated markets as per art. 132 of the legislative decree of 24 February 1998 n. 58 and art. 144 bis, para. 1, B of Consob regulation 11971/99 according to operating procedures established by the regulations for the organisation and management of the markets themselves, which, does not permit the direct combination of offers to buy with predetermined offers to sell.

It should also be noted that, in terms of price and daily volumes, acquisition operations are conducted in line with the norms foreseen by the EU regulation 2273/2003, and that, in terms of daily volumes, the company will not purchase a quantity greater than 25% of the average daily volume of Mondadori shares traded on the regulated market and calculated on the basis of the average daily volume of trading of Mondadori shares in the 20 trading days prior to the dates of purchase.

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. has today announced that, in the period between 8 and 12 February 2010, the company bought a total of 845,000 shares (corresponding to 0.32571% of the company’s share capital) on the automated share market at an average price of €2.63538 per share, for a total of €2,226,900.15, in the context of the authorisation of the company’s AGM, held on 29 April 2009 (previously communicated as per Art. 144 bis of Consob regulation 11971/1999), to effect share buy back operations.

The details of the operations, as conducted daily, are indicated below:

Date N° of shares bought Weighted average price 08/02/2010 80,000 2.63072 09/02/2010 175,000 2.63247 10/02/2010 185,000 2.60498 11/02/2010 200,000 2.66217 12/02/2010 205,000 2.64100

Following these operations and taking account of the shares already in the portfolio, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. now directly holds 16,425,101 of the company’s shares (or 6.33123% of the share capital).

The subsidiary Mondadori International S.A. helds a further 4,517,486 shares (corresponding to 1.7413% of the share capital).

Consequently, as of today the total number of shares held now amounts to 20,942,587 (or 8.07254% of the share capital).

***

It should be noted that the authorisation issued by the Shareholders 2009 limits the purchase of the company’s own shares to a maximum of 10% of the share capital, taking account of the shares already held in the portfolio by both the company and its subsidiaries. Given that 10% of the company’s share capital amounts to 25,942,983 ordinary shares and that the company, on the date of the authorisation issued by the AGM already held, either directly or indirectly through the subsidiary Mondadori International S.A., a total of 20,097,587 shares, the Shareholders consequently authorised the eventual buy back of an additional maximum of 5,845,396 ordinary shares, corresponding to 2.253% of the share capital.

The authorisation will expire on the approval by the AGM of the company’s accounts for the year to 31 December 2009.

In line with the Shareholders’ authorisation, buy backs are effected on regulated markets as per art. 132 of the legislative decree of 24 February 1998 n. 58 and art. 144 bis, para. 1, B of Consob regulation 11971/99 according to operating procedures established by the regulations for the organisation and management of the markets themselves, which, does not permit the direct combination of offers to buy with predetermined offers to sell.

It should also be noted that, in terms of price and daily volumes, acquisition operations are conducted in line with the norms foreseen by the EU regulation 2273/2003, and that, in terms of daily volumes, the company will not purchase a quantity greater than 25% of the average daily volume of Mondadori shares traded on the regulated market and calculated on the basis of the average daily volume of trading of Mondadori shares in the 20 trading days prior to the dates of purchase.

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. today stipulated a preliminary contract with Società Holding Industriale di Grafica S.p.A. for the acquisition of 50% of the share capital of Mondolibri S.p.A., of which Mondadori already holds 50% as part of a joint venture with DirectGroup Bertelsmann.

The transaction value of this deal is €6.75 million.

With this acquisition Mondadori will increase its stake in the company to 100%.

Mondolibri, a leading player in the mail order book market and one of Italy’s most important online retailers, is comprised of two divisions: Book Clubs, which is in the mail order sale of editorial and multimedia products through book clubs alongside more than 70 retail outlets and a web platform, and Bol.it, an on-line shop for editorial and multimedia products.

In 2008, Mondolibri generated total revenues of €82 million, of which €19 million deriving from e-commerce.

The operation will give the Mondadori Group complete control of Mondolibri, offering, on the one hand, significant opportunities for synergies with the Mondadori bookshop chain; and, on the other hand, the autonomous management of Bol.it, an important, strategic and fast-growing channel for online sales.

The effective completion of the operation is subject to necessary approval by the relevant competition and media authorities.