Press release
Paris, 8 March 2016
Orange launches an employee shareholding offer
Orange announces the launch of Orange Ambition 2016, an employee shareholding offer. The offer of Orange shares is extended to eligible employees of the Group's French entities taking part in the Group Savings Plan (PEG) as well as retirees with holdings in the PEG, and to the foreign entities taking part in the recently set up International Group Savings Plan (PEGI).
A maximum of 11.5 million newly issued Orange shares, that would represent 0,43% of the capital, will be offered to Group employees. The goal is to increase the proportion of Orange's capital held by employees, which amounted to 4,99% of the capital as of 31st of December 2015. The transaction is subject to articles L.3332-18 et seq. of the French Labour Code. Eligible employees of the Group's French entities may subscribe via allocation of all or part of their 2015 employee profit-sharing share.
The principal conditions of the offer are the following:
- Subscription price: the subscription price for Orange shares will be set on April 26th 2016 and will be equal to the average closing price of the Orange share on the Euronext Paris market for the period of March 29th (inclusive) to April 25th 2016 (inclusive), less a discount of 20%.
- Share custody: the shares will be acquired by employee investment funds (FCPE), or in registered form as the case may be, in the PEG or in the PEGI and may not be sold or transferred for five years.
- Orange share acquisition schemes: the shares may be acquired conventionally or under a guaranteed scheme. In the guaranteed scheme, the amount invested will be guaranteed and the employees will benefit from the potential increase of the share price.
- Employer contribution: employees will receive an employer's contribution in the form of shares.
As of the publication of this press release and during the entire offer period, the financial institution managing the share issue (BNP Paribas) may conduct hedging transactions in connection with the guaranteed scheme.
Share issue schedule:
- share reservation period: March 9th to 24th 2016
- subscription price announced: April 26th 2016
- subscription/renunciation period: April 28th to May 2nd 2016
- share capital increase and delivery: May 31st 2016
These dates are indicative and may be modified.
For more information, the document required under paragraph 5 of Article 212-4 of the General Regulations of the French Financial Market Authority (AMF) and Article 14 of AMF Instruction 2005-11 of 13 December 2005 is available in the French language on the company's website www.orange.com under the heading Group/Investors/Regulated information.
About Orange
Orange is one of the world's leading telecommunications operators with sales of 40 billion euros in 2015 and 156,000 employees worldwide at December 31, 2015, including 97,000 employees in France. Present in 28 countries, the Group has a total customer base of 263 million customers worldwide at December 31, 2015, including 201 million mobile customers and 18 million fixed broadband customers. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies, under the brand Orange Business Services. In March 2015, the Group presented its new strategic plan "Essentials2020" which places customer experience at the heart of its strategy with the aim of allowing them to benefit fully from the digital universe and the power of its new generation networks.
Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).
For more information on the internet and on your mobile: www.orange.com, www.orange-business.com, www.livetv.orange.com or to follow us on Twitter: @presseorange.
Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange or Orange Brand Services Limited.
Press contacts: +33 1 44 44 93 93
Tom Wright; tom.wright@orange.com
Olivier Emberger; olivier.emberger@orange.com
