Relationship with Shareholders
Danfoss’ share capital amounts to 1,024m DKK and is divided into two share classes: A-shares account for 425m DKK and B-shares for 599m DKK. A-shares entitle the holder to ten votes for every 100 DKK share (nominal value) while B-shares entitle the holder to one vote for every 100 DKK share (nominal value). The holders of A-shares also have pre-emptive rights to A-shares in the event of any increases in share capital. Otherwise no shares have special rights.
The Bitten and Mads Clausen Foundation and the Clausen family jointly own all A-shares and a number of B-shares corresponding to 99.5% of the votes. The remaining votes are assigned to employees shares. At the end of 2008, Danfoss had approximately 6,500 registered, named employee shareholders, of which approximately one quarter are no longer employed at Danfoss. Around three quarters of shareholders reside in Denmark, while the remaining shareholders live outside Denmark. The employee shareholders and senior management own about 3% of the share capital and hold about 0.5% of the votes. All employee shares are B-shares.