ESPERITE (ESP) announces termination of audit engagement in relation to 2018 annual report
Amsterdam, The Netherlands – 3 July 2019
Esperite N.V. (Euronext: ESP, “Esperite”) announces that its statutory auditor, accon avm controlepraktijk B.V. (“Accon”) has terminated the audit engagement in relation to the 2018 annual report due to the non-observance by Esperite of a deadline imposed by Accon. The Board of Esperite considers the termination ineffective due to the lack of a reasonable notice period, and is currently assessing whether to initiate legal proceedings against Accon.
On 21 March 2019, Accon informed Esperite that from the financial year 2019 onwards it plans to shift its focus to providing accounting and advisory services to organisations in the public domain and SMEs only. For strategic reasons, Accon has decided to convert its license to audit public interest entities (PIE) into a regular license under the Dutch Accounting Firms (Supervision) Act as of 30 June 2019.
Accon successfully agreed an extension of its PIE licence with the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) in order to complete the audit of Esperite’s 2018 annual report. However, today Accon informed Esperite that it has agreed with the AFM to hand in its PIE licence as of today, which means that Accon is no longer in the position to continue and finalize the audit of Esperite’s 2018 annual report.
Esperite will continue to strive to publish its 2018 annual report as promptly as practicable, but such publication is likely to be considerably delayed if Esperite is forced to engage a new statutory auditor. Esperite will update its shareholders and other stakeholders on any significant developments if and when appropriate.
About ESPERITE N.V.
ESPERITE Group (Euronext: ESP), listed at Euronext Amsterdam and Paris, is a leading international company in regenerative and predictive medicine established in 2000.
To learn more about ESPERITE Group, or to book an interview with CEO Frederic Amar: +31 575 548 998 – ir@esperite.com or visit the website at www.esperite.com.
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This press release contains inside information as referred to in article 7 paragraph 1 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014 (Market Abuse Regulation).
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