Frequently Asked Questions
Here you will find frequently asked questions about Pfeiffer Vacuum.
What is the listing history of Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG?
What was the Initial Public Offering price in New York?
How many shares are in circulation?
Which is the Pfeiffer Vacuum Security Identification Code?
What happens with ADRs in the course of the delisting?
Have you conducted stock splits?
Does Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG pursue a specific dividend policy?
Does a rating exist for Pfeiffer Vacuum?
Who are your major competitors in your core business of vacuum pumps and components?
Which market segments are of special importance for you?
What is the listing history of Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG?
On July 16, 1996, Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG was the third German company ever, and the first German small business, to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (Trading Symbol PV). In view of the low trading volume and the high listing cost, the company decided to delist from the NYSE, effective October 4, 2007. The deregistration became effective beginning January 2008.
Since April 1998, the Company did a dual listing on the Neuer Markt Stock Exchange in Frankfurt am Main.
Starting January 1st, 2003, Pfeiffer Vacuum was admitted to the Prime Standard at Deutsche Boerse, Frankfurt (Trading Symbol PFV). Since March 24, 2003, Pfeiffer Vacuum is part of the TecDAX index, combining 30 of the most important technology driven companies listed in Frankfurt.
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What was the Initial Public Offering price in New York?
The IPO price was US$ 11.50 per ADR. Today, factoring in the capitalization measures that have since been conducted, this would represent a price of € 6.26 per no-par share of stock (see also the answer to the stock split question.)
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How many shares are in circulation?
As of December 31, 2007, there are 8,970,600 shares in circulation, representing a share capital of
€ 22,964,736.00. One share equals € 2.56. 100 % of the shares are free float.
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Which is the Pfeiffer Vacuum Security Identification Code?
German ordinary shares: ISIN DE 0006916604
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What happens with the ADRs in the course of the delisting?
You will be contacted by your broker who will offer you to change the ADRs into the German Pfeiffer Vacuum shares until October 04, 2008 latest.
The American depositary charges a fee of US$ 5.00 per 100 ADRs. This fee will be born by Pfeiffer Vacuum. Any fees charged by the broker, the clearinghouse or the investor's personal bank have to be born by the investor. Since a conversion is neither a purchase nor a sale of the shares, the German speculation period does not restart.
Have you conducted stock splits?
Yes. When the Company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1996, 800,000 shares representing a par value of DM 50.00 each were subscribed. At that time, seven ADRs represented one original share of stock having a par value of DM 50.00.
In July 1998, the stock was split ten for one, i.e. one old original share of stock was converted to ten new original shares of stock. At the same time, the existing shares of bearer stock having a par value of DM 50.00 each were converted to no-par shares. At the same time the ratio between ADRs and original shares was changed into 1:1.
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Does Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG pursue a specific dividend policy?
Since 1998, Pfeiffer Vacuum wants its shareholders to participate in the Company's earnings by distributing a dividend. In general, the yearly dividend increase is related to the increase of the net income. The company has the highest payout ratio within the TecDAX index.
For fiscal 2005, a dividend of 1.35 Euro per share was distributed, for 2006 2.50 Euro and for 2007 3.15 Euro. Thus, 75 percent of the 2007 net income were distributed to the shareholders.
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Does a rating exist for Pfeiffer Vacuum?
Yes. SES Rating GmbH in Hamburg, Germany, an independent rating agency, has again allocated Pfeiffer Vacuum with an A + rating in January 2005. Only a few of the 30 companies within the TecDAX index have achieved this excellent high rating, judging the equity risk of an investment in a company.
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Who are your major competitors in your core business of vacuum pumps and components?
Our major competitors are Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum, Germany (part of the Swiss-based Oerlikon Group); Edwards Ltd., United Kingdom; Adixen, France, of the Alcatel Group; Varian Inc., USA. There also exists a number of Japanese pump manufacturers serving mainly the Japanese market, as well as other European fore vacuum pump producers.
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Among others, you supply pumps to the Semiconductor industry. What is your market share in this industry?
In past years, between 12 % and 14 % of our total sales were made with the tool manufacturers of computer chips. We are, therefore, not dependent on this rather cyclical business. Some of our competitors selling up to 50 % to the semi industry suffer much more from the volatility of the semi industry.
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Which market segments are of special importance for you?
We are a supplier to the Analytical industry (manufacturers of analytical instruments, among others for bio and genom technology, surface analysis and quality assurance). Our major OEM customers are located in Germany, England, USA and Japan.
Customers in research & development are of importance for us, too. We supply pumps and components to institutes of physics and chemistry at all major universities worldwide as well as to privately held R & D institutes and to the large multinational research institutes. We have a high reputation as supplier of high tech vacuum pumps in this segment. The R & D segment is not very dependent on the economic ups and downs and therefore gives us a constant utilization.
The coating business plays another major role for us. We supply our products to the manufacturers of architectural glass and wear protection. The coating of films, optical lenses, headlights and reflectors is done under vacuum, too. Moreover, all major producers of CD and DVD systems rely on the proven quality of Pfeiffer Vacuum pumps and components. The solar technology will be of growing importance.
Pfeiffer Vacuum also serves a broad and heterogeneous number of customers in different industries that need vacuum technology within their production processes. This includes a variety of applications in the fields of metallurgy, leak detection, electron beam welding, freeze and vacuum drying.
Its one of the strengths of Pfeiffer Vacuum neither to depend on one market segment, nor on a region or product.
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