Dear registered shareholder,
Yesterday DSM’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) was held. A total
of 1,700 shareholders participated in the meeting; together they represented
47% of the company’s share capital. Among the participants were very many
holders of registered shares, who either attended the meeting in person or had
instructed others to vote on their behalf.
With this letter I would like to inform you about the outcome of the AGM with
regard to the Loyalty Dividend program, the final dividend for 2006 and the
option offered by ABN AMRO Bank to reinvest this dividend in DSM shares via a
DRIP (Dividend Re-Investment Plan).
Loyalty Dividend program
In view of the ruling that the Enterprise Section of the Amsterdam Court of
Appeals made on 28 March 2007, DSM has decided to withdraw its proposal for a
Loyalty Dividend program. The Loyalty Dividend program will therefore not be
introduced. The consequence of this decision for you as a registered
shareholder is that the registration of your shares under this program will be
cancelled and ANT will transfer the shares back to your securities account
with your bank as soon as possible, at no cost to you.
You need not take any action to deregister your shares; this will be taken
care of on your behalf. On the other hand, of course you remain free to
instruct ANT at all times to either sell your shares directly or deregister
them in accordance with the procedures about which we have informed you
previously. However, we would advise shareholders who wish to take part in the
DRIP (see below) not to have their shares deregistered before the new shares
they obtain under the DRIP have been transferred to their account with ANT.
Towards any costs you may have incurred in having your shares registered, DSM
will pay you € 25.00 per registration (inclusive of VAT).
ANT will transfer this amount to your account in the coming month.
ANT will also take care of the payment of the final dividend for 2006 on your
registered shares and will do so without deducting any fees, as promised.
Obviously, DSM regrets these developments. We are grateful to you for your
positive response to our proposal to reinforce our relationships with our
shareholders through this novel instrument. By opting for this way of settling
things we hope to resolve the matter in the most shareholder-friendly way.
DSM will continue to pursue its aim of reinforcing its relationship with its
shareholders and enhancing its information provision to them. We will now look
for other ways to fulfill this aim. We will continue to inform you directly
about developments at DSM even after your shares have been deregistered,
unless you object to this.
Dividend 2006
At the AGM a dividend of €1.00 per ordinary share was declared for 2006, in
accordance with the proposal made by DSM. An interim dividend of € 0.33 having
been paid in August 2006, the final dividend for 2006 amounts to € 0.67 per
share. This dividend will be payable to shareholders on the number of ordinary
DSM shares held by them on 29 March 2007 at close of business. The final
dividend will be made payable on 27 April 2007. For further details see the
enclosed letter from ANT, the agency that will manage the dividend payments to
you as registered shareholder.
DRIP (dividend reinvestment plan)
By giving its approval for an amendment to DSM’s Articles of Association, the
AGM has made it possible for ABN AMRO Bank to offer DSM shareholders a
dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP for short). The details of this plan are
explained in the enclosed letter from ABN AMRO Bank. You can also find
information on this dividend reinvestment plan on our website:
http://www.dsm.com/nl_NL/html/invest/drip_intro.htm
If you wish to take part in the DRIP, please make this known to ANT by filling
in the reply form attached to the enclosed letter from ANT and sending it to
ANT. ANT will then add the new DSM shares obtained under the DRIP to the
shares that have already been registered in your name. We would advise
shareholders who wish to take part in the DRIP not to have their shares
deregistered before the new shares they obtain through the DRIP have been
added to their account with ANT.
I hope I have informed you sufficiently about yesterday’s developments before,
and during the AGM. If you have any questions about the matters described in
this letter or about any other matters relating to DSM, please do not hesitate
to contact us.
With kind regards,
Dries Ausems
