Vitesco Technologies: Spin-Off Requires Improved Market Conditions

• Executive Board resolution: Spin-off with listing of powertrain business no longer to take place this year due to ongoing economic uncertainty
• Vitesco Technologies to become increasingly independent / spin-off can thus be implemented with greater flexibility in response to market conditions
• CEO Dr. Elmar Degenhart: “We are continuing to rigorously pursue our plans for the spin-off. This is undoubtedly the right step, which we are committed to completing together, as soon as the market environment has improved noticeably and has become more predictable than it is at present.”
• Supervisory Board and Annual Shareholders’ Meeting approval of spin-off is no longer needed this year and will therefore not be pursued for the time being
• New date for virtual Annual Shareholders’ Meeting: July 14, 2020

Hanover, April 30, 2020. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting ongoing economic uncertainty,Continental’s Executive Board has decided not to implement the planned spin-off with listing of the powertrain business Vitesco Technologies this year and to complete this step as soon as the market environment has improved noticeably and is more stable.

The Executive Board also decided to continue preparing the powertrain business for the intended spin-off as planned at a later point in time. In the coming weeks, Continental’s Executive Board together with the management of Vitesco Technologies will discuss and decide about the transitional period up to this point in time. The goal is to further strengthen Vitesco Technologies future independence and to help it successfully use the time and opportunities until the day that it is organizationally independent. By doing so, Continental is ensuring that the spin-off planned for later can be implemented with the shortest possible lead-in time and great flexibility once the market conditions change.

The intended spin-off at a later point in time requires the approval of both the Supervisory Board and the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. These resolutions are no longer needed this year and Continental will therefore not pursue them for the time being. Continental has rescheduled this year’s Annual Shareholders’ Meeting as an online-only event on July 14, 2020.

“Without a doubt, clean drive systems are the value-creating business of the future. We are therefore more convinced than ever that Vitesco Technologies has very good prospects for profitable growth. To make the most of these opportunities, a high degree of entrepreneurial flexibility and thus independence on the highly dynamic powertrain market are required. Although the effects of the coronavirus crisis have temporarily halted the market, the basis for future market growth has not changed. We are therefore continuing to rigorously pursue our plans for the spin-off. This is undoubtedly the right step, which Continental and Vitesco Technologies are committed to completing together, as soon as the market environment has improved noticeably and become more stable and more predictable than it is at present,” said Continental’s CEO Dr. Elmar Degenhart, explaining the decision.

Andreas Wolf, CEO of Vitesco Technologies, added: “The current COVID-19 pandemic is temporarily dampening the market outlooks, but not our high motivation for independence. We are now arranging the organizational and procedural requirements so that Continental and Vitesco Technologies are in a position to swiftly implement the spin-off with listing once the market environment is suitable. The decisive preparations for this will have been completed by the end of the year, and then it is a matter of timing with the market environment. Until then, we will continue to push forward with our strategy focused on electrification under the umbrella of the Continental Group.”