TomTom 2005 Annual Report Download - page 37

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37
Obligations฀of฀shareholders฀to฀disclose฀
holdings
Under฀the฀Disclosure฀of฀Holdings฀in฀Listed฀Companies฀
Act฀of฀1996฀(Wet฀Melding฀Zeggenschap฀In฀Ter฀Beurze฀
Genoteerde฀Vennootschappen฀1996)฀(the฀“Disclosure฀of฀
Holdings฀Act”),฀any฀person฀or฀legal฀entity฀who,฀directly฀or฀
indirectly,฀acquires฀or฀disposes฀of฀an฀interest฀in฀the฀
capital฀and/or฀the฀voting฀rights฀of฀a฀limited฀liability฀
company฀incorporated฀under฀Dutch฀law฀with฀an฀official฀
listing฀on฀a฀stock฀exchange฀within฀the฀European฀
Economic฀Area฀must฀give฀written฀notice฀of฀such฀
acquisition฀or฀disposal฀if,฀as฀a฀result฀of฀such฀acquisition฀or฀
disposal,฀the฀percentage฀of฀capital฀interest฀and/or฀voting฀
rights฀held฀by฀said฀person฀falls฀within฀a฀different฀
percentage฀range฀to฀that฀held฀by฀such฀person฀prior฀to฀
such฀acquisition฀or฀disposal.฀The฀percentage฀ranges฀
referred฀to฀in฀the฀Disclosure฀of฀Holdings฀Act฀are฀0-5,฀5-10,฀
10-25,฀25-50,฀50-66฀2/3฀and฀over฀66฀2/3.฀Notification฀must฀
be฀given฀to฀us฀and฀to฀the฀Dutch฀securities฀regulator฀
(Autoriteit฀Financiële฀Markten)฀(the฀“AFM”)฀upon฀passing฀
each฀percentage฀threshold.
As฀at฀31฀December฀2005,฀we฀do฀not฀know฀of฀any฀person฀
or฀legal฀entity฀holding฀an฀interest฀in฀our฀ordinary฀share฀
capital฀and/or฀voting฀rights฀of฀more฀than฀5%฀other฀than:฀
P.A.฀Geelen฀ 18.7%
P.F.฀Pauwels฀ 18.7%
The฀Corinne฀Vigreux-Goddijn฀2005฀Trust฀ 18.7%
The฀Harold฀Goddijn฀2005฀Trust฀ 18.7%
We฀received฀the฀above฀initial฀notifications฀after฀our฀listing฀
on฀Euronext฀Amsterdam฀on฀27฀May฀2005.฀These฀
percentages฀do฀not฀take฀into฀account฀the฀impact฀of฀
dilution฀on฀our฀ordinary฀shares.
Anti-takeover฀measure
Our฀Articles฀of฀Association฀provide฀for฀the฀possibility฀of฀
issuing฀preference฀shares฀to฀Stichting฀Continuïteit฀
TomTom฀(the฀“Foundation”),฀established฀on฀26฀May฀
2005,฀as฀an฀anti-takeover฀measure.฀The฀purpose฀of฀the฀
Foundation฀is฀to฀safeguard฀our฀interests฀and฀those฀of฀our฀
subsidiaries฀in฀such฀a฀way฀that฀these฀interests฀as฀well฀as฀
the฀interests฀of฀all฀those฀involved฀in฀the฀organisation,฀
are฀safeguarded,฀and฀that฀influences,฀which฀in฀
contravention฀with฀those฀interests฀could฀affect฀our฀
continuity฀and/or฀our฀corporate฀identity,฀are฀fended฀off.฀
We฀believe฀that฀the฀issue฀of฀preference฀shares฀may฀have฀
the฀effect฀of฀preventing,฀discouraging฀or฀delaying฀an฀
unsolicited฀attempt฀to฀obtain฀(de฀facto)฀control฀and฀may฀
help฀us฀to฀determine฀our฀position฀in฀relation฀to฀a฀bidder฀
and฀its฀plans,฀and฀to฀seek฀alternatives.฀
We฀granted฀the฀Foundation฀a฀call฀option฀(the฀“Call฀
Option”)฀entitling฀it฀to฀acquire฀from฀us฀preference฀shares฀
up฀to฀a฀maximum฀of฀50%฀of฀our฀total฀issued฀and฀
outstanding฀share฀capital฀(excluding฀issued฀and฀
outstanding฀preference฀shares)฀at฀the฀time฀the฀Call฀
Option฀is฀exercised.฀The฀Foundation฀is฀entitled฀to฀exercise฀
the฀Call฀Option฀in฀one฀or฀more฀tranches.฀We฀are฀entitled฀
to฀terminate฀the฀agreement฀with฀the฀Foundation฀with฀
immediate฀effect.฀Any฀termination฀of฀the฀agreement฀with฀
the฀Foundation฀will฀prevent฀the฀Foundation฀from฀
exercising฀the฀Call฀Option฀with฀regard฀to฀any฀preference฀
shares฀that฀were฀not฀acquired฀prior฀to฀the฀termination,฀
but฀will฀not฀negate฀the฀rights฀of฀the฀Foundation฀pursuant฀
to฀a฀(partial)฀exercise฀of฀the฀Call฀Option฀prior฀to฀the฀
termination฀or฀pursuant฀to฀any฀preference฀shares฀already฀
issued฀and฀outstanding฀at฀the฀time฀of฀the฀termination.฀
Under฀the฀terms฀of฀a฀separate฀agreement฀entered฀into฀
between฀us฀and฀the฀Foundation฀on฀26฀May฀2005,฀we฀
have฀the฀right฀to฀require฀the฀Foundation฀to฀exercise฀the฀
Call฀Option฀if฀(i)฀we฀expect฀a฀hostile฀takeover฀may฀be฀
attempted฀or฀(ii)฀in฀the฀opinion฀of฀the฀Management฀
Board,฀a฀single฀shareholder฀(or฀group฀of฀shareholders)฀
holds฀a฀“substantial฀number”฀of฀our฀ordinary฀shares.฀
The฀issue฀of฀preference฀shares฀in฀this฀manner฀would฀
cause฀substantial฀dilution฀to฀the฀voting฀power฀of฀any฀
shareholder,฀including฀a฀shareholder฀attempting฀to฀gain฀
control฀of฀us.
Our฀Articles฀of฀Association฀grant฀the฀Management฀Board฀
the฀irrevocable฀authority฀to฀issue฀preference฀shares,฀or฀
grant฀rights฀to฀subscribe฀for฀preference฀shares,฀up฀to฀a฀
maximum฀of฀50%฀of฀the฀outstanding฀share฀capital฀of฀
ordinary฀shares,฀for฀a฀period฀of฀two฀years฀ending฀on฀
13฀May฀2007,฀subject฀to฀the฀approval฀of฀the฀Supervisory฀
Board.฀This฀authority฀may฀be฀renewed฀by฀a฀resolution฀of฀