FAQs

Quick answers to the most urgent questions. If your question is not among them you will find a more extensive list in Downloads.

Terms

The offer period is a time frame (usually several weeks) during which it is possible for you as an eligible employee to purchase KION shares at preferential conditions as part of the KEEP 2019 program. The offer period will be determined by the KION GROUP AG Executive Board in a formal resolution. Important: The acquisition of KION shares as part of the KEEP 2019 program is only possible during this period.

By issuing the declaration of acceptance, you declare your binding consent to purchase the desired number of KION GROUP AG share packages. Once the signed declaration has been submitted to the KION GROUP AG or to Equatex, you are legally obliged to pay the corresponding purchase price.

A dividend is a share in the profit paid by a public limited company to its shareholders. Whether or not the KION GROUP AG pays out a dividend, and how high this dividend shall be, is decided at the Annual General Meeting of shareholders, which takes place at least once a year. The share of the profit between the shareholders is based on the number of shares they own.

The holding period is the period of time you are required to hold shares you purchased under KEEP 2019 in order to receive the bonus shares. It is defined as three years in the KEEP 2019 Terms & Conditions. It begins on the first day of the offer period. All shares purchased under KEEP 2019 are subject to the holding period, during which you can in principle sell shares (according to capital market compliance rules) as long as they were not purchased as part of the KEEP Starter Package. If share packages or single shares are sold within the holding period, the right to acquire a possible bonus share for each share package is forfeited. Only complete share packages, i.e. those comprising three KION shares held in your EquatePlus account until the end of the holding period, entitle you to receive bonus shares.

The KEEP Starter Package can be considered as a kind of welcome gift for all employees participating in KEEP 2019 who did not participate in any previous KION GROUP AG share program (first-time participants). As a first-time participant, you will receive three shares in each package but only have to pay for two. The total value of these free shares is limited to EUR 360.

The blocking period is a period of time you may not sell shares you purchased as part of the KEEP Starter Packages. It is defined in the KEEP 2019 Terms & Conditions as three years. It only applies to shares that have been purchased in the KEEP Starter Packages under preferential conditions. All shares, not only the free shares, in these discounted share packages may not be sold, mortgaged or transferred during this time period. KION shares subject to the blocking period are given a blocking notice, which you can easily view on EquatePlus.

The Starter Package is only available for purchase by program participants, for whom KEEP 2019 is the first KION GROUP AG share program they are taking part in.

Eligibility and participation

In general, you are eligible if, at the beginning of the offer period, you have been continuously em-ployed for at least one year by a company that is participating in KEEP 2019. The Terms & Condi-tions may stipulate additional requirements for participation.

Members of the KION GROUP AG Executive Board, as well as the management boards at Linde Ma-terial Handling GmbH and STILL GmbH are not eligible.

Yes. All employees may participate in KEEP 2019, if, at the beginning of the offer period, they have been continuously employed for at least one year by a company that is participating in the program. This also applies when the employment contract is dormant at the time the offer is made. Maternity leave, unpaid leave, parental leave or partial retirement do not preclude participation in KEEP 2019.

No. The declaration of acceptance to purchase KION shares under KEEP 2019 can only be submitted once. The number of KION share packages ordered cannot be changed once it has been successful-ly entered on EquatePlus.

In order to be eligible to purchase one or more KION share packages during the KEEP 2019 offer period, you must have an employment contract with the KION GROUP AG or with one of the companies participating in KEEP 2019 at the beginning of the offer period and fulfill all other participation requirements. You may participate in KEEP 2019 by submitting a declaration of acceptance, even if you terminate your employment contract after the offer period begins. Your right as a first-time participant to purchase a KEEP Starter Package will remain. However, any right to receive bonus shares will be forfeited, since in this case the employment contract will end before the end of the holding period.

The purchase of KION shares under KEEP 2019 does not incur charges in addition to the purchase price.

However, tax and social security contributions may be incurred when selling shares purchased under KEEP 2019. There is a separate KEEP 2019 tax information sheet available on the KEEP microsite (http://keep.kiongroup.com) or at your local HR department.

Equatex charges transaction fees for the sale or transfer of KION shares. You will find an overview of the transaction costs on EquatePlus.

Please note: Any right to receive bonus shares will be forfeited if you sell your KION shares during the holding period.

Purchase process

If you wish to purchase share packages under KEEP 2019, you declare your acceptance to the KION GROUP AG during the offer period. An online platform is provided for this purpose: EquatePlus. You can then purchase the desired number of share packages during the offer period on EquatePlus.

If you are not currently receiving remuneration, the participating company can accept an alternative method of payment. In this eventuality, information is available from the local HR department.

Holding and blocking period

You can sell KEEP 2019 share packages during the three-year holding period at any time as long as you comply with the rules of capital market compliance. However, if you sell share packages during the holding period, any right to bonus shares is forfeited.

An exception to this applies to KION share packages bought at a discounted price as part of the KEEP Starter Package. These share packages must not be touched for three years, beginning with the first day of the offer period. Please note: This blocking period applies not only to the shares received free of charge in the KEEP Starter Packages, but to all KION shares purchased in the KEEP Starter Package.

Selling shares

KION shares purchased as part of KEEP 2019 can generally be transferred at any time to another deposit account.

Please note: If you transfer the shares to another deposit account during the three-year holding period, any right to receive bonus shares is forfeited. The same applies to a sale during that period.

Exceptions to this are shares bought as part of the KEEP Starter Package. These are subject to a three-year blocking period, during which they may neither be sold nor transferred to another deposit account.

It is only possible to sell KION shares purchased as part of KEEP 2019 via EquatePlus and in compliance with capital market rules – insofar as the shares have not already been transferred to another deposit account. Capital market compliance rules must be adhered to when selling KION shares.

It is only possible to sell shares outside if the shares bought as part of KEEP 2019 have already been transferred to a private deposit account.

It is not possible to sell KION shares purchased as part of a KEEP Starter Package if the blocking period is still in effect.

A sale during the holding period nullifies any right to bonus shares. All other details about selling KION shares can be found on EquatePlus (e.g. transaction conditions, acceptance times, etc.).

EquatePlus conditions apply to the sale or transfer of KION shares. Apart from that the banking fees in the current index of prices and services apply. Below are some examples of transaction prices for the purchase and sale of shares:

  • Sale of shares – if applicable 0,40 %
  • Brokerage fee for sale of shares Minimum fee per transaction EUR 15.00
  • Straight through order execution incl. real-time trading interface; batch trading for fractions – if applicable Minimum fee per transaction EUR 15.00
  • Payment fee (per transaction)
    SEPA/ACH EUR 2.00
    WIRE EUR 7.00

Fees in EUR or in %, excl. VAT

Please note that transferring shares to another deposit account may incur costs and expenditures charged by third-party banks.

Legal and tax aspects

The KEEP 2019 participant becomes a “co-owner” in the KION Group with respective voting and dividend rights.

Generally, every KION share entitles you to receive a dividend. Whether the KION GROUP AG pays dividends to its shareholders, and the amount of the dividend, is decided in the general meeting that takes place at least once annually. KEEP participants will have any potential dividends reinvested in KION shares (or fractional shares) and allocated to their personal EquatePlus accounts.

Further information

For questions about KEEP 2019, please contact your local HR department.

- Dematic employees:

- KION NA employees:

You will find further information about KEEP 2019 on the KEEP microsite (http://keep.kiongroup.com).

For all queries relating to your personal EquatePlus account, please call the Equatex Contact Center: +1 855 983 5230

All information about the KION GROUP AG and about KION shares can be found under http://kiongroup.com/ir.

There are a couple of reasons why you may not yet have received any information about KEEP 2019, e.g.:

  • You are not eligible to participate.
  • Your email address and/or postal address were incomplete or incorrect when they were submitted to the KION GROUP AG. If this might be the case, please ensure that your employer has the correct current address. Your local HR departments can help with any questions.

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