Herzogenaurach - On behalf of its Dutch subsidiary adidas International Finance B.V., adidas AG announces that the Company is redeeming the ? 400 million convertible bond, issued in August 2003 and guaranteed by adidas AG, pursuant to § 3 (3) of the Terms and Conditions of the Bonds prior to maturity on October 8, 2009, effective November 23, 2009. In accordance with the Terms and Conditions of the Bonds, outstanding bonds will be redeemed on this date at their principal amount plus interest accrued as far as bondholders do not exercise their conversion rights by the end of November 9, 2009. 

 

In light of the current adidas AG share price, the Company expects that most or all bondholders will exercise their conversion rights. If all bondholders exercise their conversion rights, this would result in up to 15,684,313 new shares being issued from the Company's Contingent Capital 2003/II. The new shares will be entitled to dividends as of the beginning of the financial year 2009.

 

As far as the conversion rights are exercised, adidas AG will reduce its net debt and increase its equity, bringing the Company closer to its declared goal of financial leverage below 50%.

 

 

The adidas Group is one of the global leaders within the sporting goods industry, offering a broad range of products around three core segments: adidas, Reebok and TaylorMade-adidas Golf. Headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany, the Group has more than 38,000 employees and generated sales of EUR 10.8 billion in 2008.

 

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Media Relations	Investor Relations
Jan Runau	John-Paul O'Meara
Chief Corporate Communications Officer	Head of Investor Relations
Tel.: +49 (0) 9132 84-3830	Tel.: +49 (0) 9132 84-2751
Kirsten Keck	Dennis Weber
Corporate PR Manager	Investor Relations Manager
Tel.: +49 (0) 9132 84-6207	Tel.: +49 (0) 9132 84-4989
Katja Schreiber
Corporate PR Manager
Tel.: +49 (0) 9132 84-3810

 

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