FRANKFURT AM MAIN, 2 January 2013 – The DOUGLAS founding family Kreke and Advent International today announced the result of the voluntary public tender offer for DOUGLAS HOLDING AG after the expiry of the additional acceptance period. During the additional acceptance period, which ended on 21 December 2012, 456,972 shares were tendered to Beauty Holding Three AG, a holding company indirectly held in part by funds advised by Advent International and in part by the Kreke family. Together with the shares tendered in the acceptance period totaling 79.84 percent and the 12.73 percent shareholding acquired from Lobelia Beteiligungs GmbH (the Kreke family), this makes up a total shareholding of 93.73 percent. In addition, Beauty Holding Three AG made share purchases outside the tender offer totaling a further 2.38 percent and has thus acquired 96.11 percent of all shares. DOUGLAS shareholders who have tendered their shares during the additional acceptance period are expected to receive payment of the offer price of EUR 38 per share on 9 January 2013.

As already announced, at 95 percent, Beauty Holding Three AG has reached the size of shareholding needed to make a request for a squeeze-out of the remaining shareholders in DOUGLAS HOLDING AG in accordance with the provisions of the German Securities  Acquisition and Takeover Act (WpÜG). DOUGLAS shareholders who have not accepted the tender offer by 21 December 2012 can therefore tender their shares for the price of EUR 38 per share in cash during a further tender period ending at midnight CET on 20 March 2013. Further details of this further tender period can be obtained from the offer document and the announcement published on 20 December 2012.

Ranjan Sen, General Manager of Advent International GmbH in Frankfurt: “We are delighted that the offer has received such a positive response, in particular during the additional acceptance period. Advent International and the Kreke family will now jointly evaluate the resulting options and further promote the  development of the DOUGLAS Group.” Dr. Jörn Kreke, founder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of DOUGLAS HOLDING AG,
adds: “We are very pleased about the clear result and the high acceptance of our offer. In Advent International, we have a strong partner at our side. With a stable ownership structure, we will now jointly carry forward the success story of the group and strengthen and expand the market position of the DOUGLAS Group.”

Further information on the public tender offer may be accessed on www.douglas-offer.com.

Important legal information https://s17401.pcdn.co/ Disclaimer

This announcement is neither an offer to purchase nor an invitation to submit for sale the shares of DOUGLAS HOLDING AG. The terms and conditions of the takeover offer as well as other provisions pertaining to the takeover offer are solely governed by the offer document which is published in the internet under http://www.douglas-offer.com. The terms and conditions of the takeover offer may differ from the general information described here. It is urgently recommended that investors and owners of shares of DOUGLAS HOLDING AG (“Douglas Shareholders”) read the entire offer document and all documents connected with the takeover offer, because they contain important information. This announcement contains specific forward-looking statements. These statements do not represent facts and are characterised by words such as “expect”, “believe”, “estimate”, “intend”, “aim”, “assume” or similar expressions. Such statements express the intentions, opinions or current expectations of Beauty Holding Three AG (the “Bidder”) and persons acting in concert with the Bidder pursuant to Section 2 para. 5 sentence 1 and sentence 3 of WpÜG with respect to possible future events, e.g., regarding the possible consequences of the takeover offer for DOUGLAS HOLDING AG, for those DOUGLAS Shareholders who choose not to accept the takeover offer or for future financial results of DOUGLAS HOLDING AG. Such forward-looking statements are based on current plans, estimates and forecasts which the Bidder and the persons acting in concert with the Bidder pursuant to section 2 para. 5 sentence 1 and sentence 3 of WpÜG have made to the best of their knowledge, but which do not claim to be correct in the future. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and generally cannot be influenced by the Bidder and persons acting in concert with the Bidder within the meaning of Section 2 para. 5 sentence 1 and sentence 3 of WpÜG. The forward-looking statements contained in this announcement could turn out to be incorrect; future events and developments could considerably deviate from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement.

The takeover offer is issued exclusively under the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, expecially under the WpÜG and the Regulation on the Content of the Offer Document, Consideration for Takeover Offers and Mandatory Offers and the Release from the Obligation to Publish and Issue an Offer (“WpÜG Offer Regulation”) and certain applicable provisions of U.S. securities law. The takeover offer is not executed according to the provisions of jurisdictions (including the jurisdictions of Canada, Australia, and Japan) other than those of the Federal Republic of Germany and certain applicable provisions of U.S. securities law. Thus, no other announcements, registrations, admissions or approvals of the takeover offer outside the Federal Republic of Germany have been filed, arranged for or granted. The Douglas Shareholders cannot rely on having recourse to provisions for the protection of investors according to another jurisdiction than that of the Federal Republic of Germany. Any contract that is concluded on the basis of this takeover offer is exclusively governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany and is to be interpreted in accordance with them.

DOUGLAS Shareholders in the United States (the “U.S. Shareholders”) are notified that this takeover offer is being made in respect of securities of a company that is a foreign private issuer within the meaning of the Securities Exchange Act of of the United States of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and whose shares are not registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act. Before deciding to sell DOUGLAS Shares, U.S. Shareholders should carefully read the section “Important information U.S. Shareholders” of the offer document because there are considerable differences between this takeover offer and public tender offers for securities of U.S. companies. This takeover offer is being made in reliance on, and in  compliance with exemptions from the application of certain provisions of the Exchange Act. Consequently, the Bidder is not required to comply with all of the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act and accordingly is subject to publication and other procedural requirements with regard to, inter alia, withdrawal rights, offer period, settlement procedures, and timing of payments, which may differ from the relevant requirements governing public tender offers in the United States.