05/20/2014

QSC places € 150 million promissory note loan

Cologne, Frankfurt, May 20, 2014. QSC AG is optimizing its financing structure and extending the term of its financing. As announced, the company has placed a debut promissory note loan in the amount of € 150 million on the capital market to accomplish this. Commerzbank accompanied the transaction.

Within the framework of the placement, the promissory note was offered with both fixed and variable interest rates and with terms of 5 and 7 years. As a result of strong demand on the part of investors, QSC decided to raise the volume to € 150 million. The spread between all offered tranches was at the lower end of the marketing range. The loan was placed with some 30 investors domiciled in Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria and Asia, with the majority of the investors coming from the savings bank sector.

QSC Chief Financial Officer Barbara Stolz notes: "We utilized the very good capital market environment to secure our financing into the coming decade." QSC will be utilizing a portion of the promissory note loan to replace a consortial credit facility that runs through September 2016. Moreover, in contrast to what was still being planned at the outset of the year, it is now possible to redeem a factoring contract in the amount of € 11 million, which had been assumed together with the majority interest in INFO AG in 2011. This redemption would impact net debt during the further course of the year and would therefore be presented separately in calculating free cash flow, as it is based upon an obligation stemming from acquisitions and represents merely a technical financial restructuring on the outside capital side. Moreover, this new financing will broaden the company's latitude for investments in future growth. QSC Chief Financial Officer Stolz stresses: "The focus of the current fiscal year will be squarely on investing in innovations. In addition to strengthening our own development activities, we do not preclude potential further acquisitions of smaller technology companies." Just last February, QSC acquired the majority stake in Munich-based encryption specialist FTAPI.

QSC: ICT solutions for medium-sized businesses
QSC AG offers medium-sized businesses extensive ICT services from one source: everything from telephony, data transfer, Housing and Hosting to IT Outsourcing and IT Consulting. As an SAP Gold Partner and Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, QSC AG also has special knowledge in the fields of SAP and Microsoft Implementation. In-house developed Cloud services for highly diverse applications round off the portfolio. With its own ultra-modern network infrastructure as well as Germany-based computer centers certified by TÜV and ISO, QSC is among the leading medium-sized providers of ICT services in Germany. The company offers both custom-made solutions for individual ICT requirements and a modular product portfolio for smaller business customers and distribution partners. QSC employs around 1,700 people and is listed in the TecDAX.

Queries to:
QSC AG
Arne Thull
Head of Investor Relations
Phone: +49 221 669-8724
Fax: +49 221 669-8009
E-mail: invest@qsc.de
Internet: www.qsc.de

Commerzbank
Stefan Oldendorf
Phone: +49 69 136 24883
E-mail: stefan.oldendorf@commerzbank.com