Acquisition expected to close on March 29, 2019

Tokyo, Japan – Global investment firm The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) today announced that it completed its tender offer[1] to acquire shares in Orion Breweries Ltd., Japan’s fifth largest beer brewery, on March 22, 2019. This is a joint acquisition with Nomura Capital Partners Co., Ltd., and is expected to close on March 29, 2019. Carlyle’s equity for this investment will come from Carlyle Japan Partners III, L.P., an investment fund advised by Carlyle Japan L.L.C.

Following the transaction, Carlyle will own a 49% stake in Orion Breweries while Nomura will own a 51% stake in the company.

Headquartered in Urasoe, Okinawa Prefecture, Orion Breweries has produced and distributed alcoholic beverages and soft drinks since 1957. Its main products are “Orion” branded beer and beer taste products produced in its own factory in Nago, Okinawa. It has long been the largest beer brand in Okinawa. In 1975, the firm entered into the Okinawa hotel market with the opening of the Hotel Royal Orion in Naha, and later, Hotel Orion Motobu Resort and Spa in 2014.

Takaomi Tomioka, Managing Director of the Carlyle Japan buyout advisory team, said, “Orion Breweries has expanded its business over the past 60 years on the back of high brand value and support from the Okinawa community, making it Okinawa’s top beer brand. Carlyle will support the firm’s management teams and employees to realize further growth and entrench the pride that the people of Okinawa have in Orion Breweries. Carlyle is fully committed to sharing its knowledge and experience to strengthen Orion’s management capabilities, drawing upon our global network for support while collaborating with Nomura, a prominent Japanese financial company, to fully leverage our combined strengths.”

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About The Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across four business segments: Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions. With $216 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2018, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of our investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,650 people in 31 offices across six continents.

The Carlyle Group is the only global investment firm that has dedicated Japan buyout funds denominated in Japanese yen. Carlyle’s Japan buyout funds, which have made 24 investments in Japan, have a track record of supporting Japanese companies’ business expansion overseas, enhancing their operational efficiency and strengthening their management infrastructure. In September 2015, Carlyle announced that it raised ¥119.5 billion (approximately $1.0 billion) for its third Japanese buyout fund, Carlyle Japan Partners III.

About Orion Breweries

Company name: Orion Breweries, Ltd.

Established: 1957

Representative Director: Kiyoshi Yonamine (CEO)

Headquarters: 1985-1 Gusukuma, Urasoe, Okinawa, Japan

Main Businesses: Manufacturing and sales of beer and beer taste products. Sales of soft drinks, Operations of hotels

Media Contact:

The Carlyle Group

Tammy Li

Phone: +852 2878 5236

Email: tammy.li@carlyle.com

Public relations agency: Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide (Japan) K.K.

Contact persons: Yusuke Yamanaka, Abi Sekimitsu

Tel：03-5791-8725/5793-2388

E-mail：CarlylePress.Tokyo@ogilvy.com

[1] For details of the tender offer, please refer to the attached [“Notice of Results of Tender Offer for Shares in Orion Breweries, Ltd. (Unlisted)”] issued by Ocean Holdings Co., Ltd. Ocean Holdings Co. Ltd., which is jointly managed and operated by The Carlyle Group and Nomura Capital Partners Co., Ltd., has been established solely to acquire shares of common stock in Orion Breweries.

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(Hong Kong, 15 February 2019) Private equity arm of CITIC Capital Holdings Limited (“CITIC Capital”) is pleased to announce that, CITIC Capital Asian Foods Holdings Limited, a company wholly owned by its investment funds (Note 1), has completed the acquisition of the global business of the Amoy Brand, including the Hong Kong-based headquarters, Amoy Food Ltd, (collectively referred to as “Amoy Food” or “the Company”) from Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (“Ajinomoto Co.”). In addition, Ajinomoto Co. will subscribe 15% shares in CITIC Capital Asian Foods Holdings Limited to work with CITIC Capital to explore opportunities in China. This is the sixth carve-out deals CITIC Capital has completed within two years (Note 2).

Established in 1908 in Xiamen city, Fujian Province, Amoy Food enjoys a long history of success in seasonings/sauces and frozen foods market and has developed into one of the leading Asian brands with global reach. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Amoy Food serves both foodservice and retail customers across over 40 countries with deep roots in Hong Kong, the U.S., Mainland China, and Europe. Amoy Food has been a well-recognized household brand for Asian foods in global Chinese community.

Following the transaction, CITIC Capital will leverage its extensive network and track records in creating values for portfolio companies to further expand Amoy Food’s businesses in Asia and other overseas markets and continue to drive growth for the company.

Yichen ZHANG, Chairman & CEO of CITIC Capital, said: “We are excited about the opportunity to invest in Amoy and work closely with Ajinomoto Co., who is the global leader of high-quality seasoning and foods and pioneer of “Umami” with 110 years history and wide-ranging portfolios. Leveraging the strong shareholders and century-long brand equity, we see solid growth potential for high-quality Asian sauces and frozen foods across global Asian population. We look forward to leveraging CITIC Capital’s unique resources to grow the business alongside with the management team.”
Latham & Watkins LLP and JunHe LLP served as legal counsel to CITIC Capital.

Note 1: The investment is made through CITIC Capital China Partners and CITIC Capital Japan Partners.
Note 2: Recently completed carve-out deals include McDonald’s business in Mainland China and Hong Kong, sexual wellness company LifeStyles, Wall Street English, financial information database operator Global Marketing Intelligence Division, and leading supply chain pooling solution provider China Merchants Loscam.

About CITIC Capital Holdings Limited

Founded in 2002, CITIC Capital is an alternative investment management and advisory company. The firm manages over USD25 billion of capital across 100 funds and investment products through its multi-asset class platform covering private equity, real estate, structured investment & finance, and asset management. CITIC Capital has over 160 portfolio companies that span 11 sectors and employ over 830,000 people around the world.
CITIC Capital’s private equity arm, CITIC Capital Partners, focused on control buyout opportunities globally, has completed over 60 investments in the past years in China, Japan, U.S. and Europe. The private equity arm currently manages USD6.6 billion of committed capital. For more information, please visit www.citiccapital.com www.citiccapital.com

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Kinnevik AB (publ) (“Kinnevik”) today announced that it has committed to invest SEK 0.9bn in MatHem, Sweden’s leading independent pure-play online grocery retailer, in a combination of 0.4bn in primary capital and 0.5bn in secondary shares taking Kinnevik’s ownership to 38%.

The Nordic countries have long been held to be leaders in innovation, digital transformation and technological adoption with some of the world’s fastest broadband speeds, highest mobile penetration rates and a track-record of having created the highest number of unicorns per capita in the last decade. Yet in some areas the same Nordic countries are distanced by the true innovators.

Food is one such sector, but we believe that will change as the food sector is about to go through more transformation in the next ten years than it has in the past hundred. The strongest trend is a shift from offline to online, and with our deep understanding of e-commerce and of the digital consumer, we want to be driving this shift.

The benefits for the consumer of food moving online are significant. The online model enables significant time savings by removing travel time to and from stores as well as time spent in store. Today, time is a scarce resource and the potential of saving time will be an increasingly powerful addition to any company’s value proposition. Food can also be an expression of one’s identity, beliefs and desires, as well as a tool for managing wellness. Online food provides the customer with both a wider and deeper assortment as well as fresher food as the number of intermediaries in the value chain is reduced. The online business model can also contribute to us reducing the burden on our planet by cutting waste through better resource management and optimizing transportation.

MatHem is Sweden’s leading independent pure-play online grocery retailer with a strong household brand built over the past ten years. The company can deliver to more than half of the Swedish households and had a turnover of approximately SEK 1.5bn in 2018. Last year MatHem exceeded one million deliveries, highlighting the strategic value of a pure-play online grocery platform with regular and recurring delivery directly to people’s homes. MatHem’s partnership with Clas Ohlson is the first step to efficiently leverage that platform, delivering additional products and services on top of the company’s own food assortment.

Read more about our vision of the food sector and our investments at www.kinnevik.com

Georgi Ganev, CEO of Kinnevik, commented:

“I am proud of our investment in MatHem, our third investment in the Nordic food sector. This is a sector with huge potential given its significant share of household spend, its non-cyclical nature and attractive purchase patterns in terms of frequency and basket size. MatHem has built a strong brand and recently launched an updated platform which places the company in a strong position to continue to capture market shares as the shift to online accelerates within the grocery sector.”

Tomas Kull, Chief Executive Officer of MatHem, added:

“MatHem is ready to take the next step in its growth journey and with Kinnevik’s track-record of building successful digital brands and its insight into the digital consumer space, I believe that we have found the perfect partner. Building on our deep customer relationships, we will continue to develop our assortment and ensure a seamless customer experience to drive growth going forward.”

Closing is conditional on customary regulatory approvals and is expected during the first quarter of 2019.

This information is information that Kinnevik AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 08.00 CET on 14 February 2019.

For further information, visit www.kinnevik.com or contact:

Torun Litzén, Director Investor Relations
Phone +46 (0)70 762 00 50
Email press@kinnevik.com

Kinnevik is an industry focused investment company with an entrepreneurial spirit. Our purpose is to build digital businesses that provide more and better choice. We do this by working in partnership with talented founders and management teams to create, develop and invest in fast growing businesses in developed and emerging markets. We believe in delivering both shareholder and social value by building companies that contribute positively to society. Kinnevik was founded in 1936 by the Stenbeck, Klingspor and von Horn families. Kinnevik’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Stockholm’s list for large cap companies under the ticker codes KINV A and KINV B.

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Wendel has agreed to sell its 40% holding in PlaYce (formerly SGI Africa) to CFAO for net proceeds of €32.2
million, following an initial investment of €25.3 million at the end of July 2016.
PlaYce was created in 2015 by CFAO, primarily to support the development of the Carrefour brand, which
CFAO operates through a joint venture with the Group, across several West African countries.
Since inception, PlaYce has opened three shopping centers (two in Abidjan and one in Douala), representing
a total selling area of around 21,400 sq. m. (with over 15,000 additional sq. m. currently being developed)
and creating over 1,300 direct and indirect jobs (at PlaYce, its subcontractors and CFAO Retail).

In line with its strategy to refocus on large assets, Wendel has agreed with CFAO to sell its holding according
to the terms mentioned above.

Agenda
21.03.2019
Résultats annuels 2018 / Publication de l’ANR du 31 décembre 2018 (avant Bourse).
03.21.2019
2018 Full-Year Results / Publication of NAV as of December 31, 2018 (pre-market release).

About Wendel
Wendel is one of Europe’s leading listed investment firms. The Group invests in Europe, North America and Africa in companies which are leaders in their field, such as Bureau
Veritas, Saint-Gobain, Cromology, Stahl, IHS, Constantia Flexibles and Allied Universal. Wendel plays an active role as a controlling or lead shareholder in these companies.
We implement long-term development strategies, which involve boosting growth and margins of companies so as to enhance their leading market positions. Through OranjeNassau Développement, which brings together opportunities for investment in growth, diversification and innovation, Wendel is also a shareholder Tsebo in Africa.
Wendel is listed on Eurolist by Euronext Paris.
Standard & Poor’s ratings: Long-term: BBB, stable outlook – Short-term: A-2 since January 25, 2019
Moody’s ratings: Long-term: Baa2, stable outlook – Short-term: P-2 since September 5, 2018
Wendel is the Founding Sponsor of Centre Pompidou-Metz. In recognition of its long-term patronage of the arts, Wendel received the distinction of “Grand Mécène de la
Culture” in 2012.

For more information:
Follow us on Twitter @WendelGroup

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Carlyle supported graze’s international expansion

London – Global investment firm The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) today announced it has agreed to sell graze, the UK’s largest healthy snack brand, to Unilever.  Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

Carlyle acquired graze in November 2012 through Carlyle Europe Technology Partners II (CETP II).  During Carlyle’s ownership, graze experienced strong growth in its delivery service, as well as expansion into retail stores in the UK and US, with products being stocked in Sainsbury’s, Boots, Costco and Target.

Founded in 2008, graze’s purpose is to put excitement into healthy snacking, providing a range of snacking nuts, seeds, trail mixes and snack bars, with no artificial ingredients. Having started with a snack box delivery service, graze is now a multichannel brand, with products available via retail stores, ecommerce and direct to consumer. 

Fernando Chueca, Managing Director on the CETP advisory team said: “It has been a delight to support graze with its international expansion, and development into the largest multi-channel brand in the healthy snacking sector.  We wish graze and Unilever continued success.”

Anthony Fletcher, graze CEO said: “This deal marks a transformational moment in graze’s growth journey. graze believes that learning from Unilever’s sustainable living plan will become a key driver for the business.”

“graze has an incredibly exciting future ahead as part of Unilever and we look forward to working closely with the team to keep on inventing new healthy snacks, as well as continuing to work to understand the role technology can play in improving the food industry. We thank Carlyle for all the support it has lent to graze on our journey.”

Nitin Paranjpe, President of Unilever’s Food & Refreshment business said: “graze is the number one healthy snacking brand in the UK – delivering consumers fabulously tasty snacking options, delivered in beautiful packaging. A truly multichannel brand, graze offers personalisation, convenience and great nutrition, brilliantly meeting the needs of millennial consumers.”

“Accelerating our presence in healthy foods and out of home this is an excellent strategic fit for the Unilever Food & Refreshment business, and a wonderful addition to our stable of purpose driven brands.  We look forward to working with the graze team to grow the business, leveraging their tech and ecommerce expertise for our wider portfolio, and offering more consumers the opportunity to snack in a healthier way.”

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About The Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with $212 billion of assets under management across 339 investment vehicles as of September 30, 2018. Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, many of whom are public pensions. Carlyle invests across four segments – Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Credit and Investment Solutions – in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Carlyle has expertise in various industries, including: aerospace, defense & government services, consumer & retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, real estate, technology & business services, telecommunications & media and transportation. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,625 people in 31 offices across six continents.

Web: www.carlyle.com 
Videos: www.youtube.com/onecarlyle  
Tweets: www.twitter.com/onecarlyle   
Podcasts: www.carlyle.com/about-carlyle/market-commentary

About graze

graze, the UK’s largest healthy snacking brand, has been helping consumers reimagine how snacking can fuel their busy lives over the last ten years.

With an innovative tech-led multichannel model operating direct-to-consumers, online and via retail, the business has access to unique data enabling it to pioneer innovation, as well as maintaining relationships with its most loyal customers.

Graze is present in over 30,000 top retailers across the UK, as well as national US retailers such as Target, Walgreens and 7Eleven.

About Unilever

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2.5 billion consumers a day. It has 161,000 employees and generated sales of €53.7 billion in 2017. Over half (57%) of the company’s footprint is in developing and emerging markets. Unilever has more than 400 brands found in homes all over the world, including Persil, Dove, Knorr, Domestos, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Wall’s, PG Tips, Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum and Lynx.

Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) underpins the company’s strategy and commits to:

• Helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being by 2020.
• Halving the environmental impact of our products by 2030.
• Enhancing the livelihoods of millions of people by 2020.

The USLP creates value by driving growth and trust, eliminating costs and reducing risks. The company’s sustainable living brands are growing 46% faster than the rest of the business and delivered 70% of the company’s growth in 2017.

Unilever was ranked as an industry leader in the 2018 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In the FTSE4Good Index, it achieved the highest environmental score of 5. It led the list of Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders in the 2017 GlobeScan/SustainAbility annual survey for the seventh year running, and achieved four A ratings across Climate Change, Water, Forests and Supplier Engagement in CDP’s 2018 Global Supply Chain report. Unilever has pledged to become carbon positive in its operations by 2030, and to ensure 100% of its plastic packaging is fully reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit www.unilever.com.

For more information on the USLP: www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/

Media Contacts:

The Carlyle Group

Catherine Armstrong
Catherine.Armstrong@carlyle.com
+44 20 7894 1632

graze

graze@instinctif.com

Unilever

Frida Critien
+44 (0) 7824 089 836
Press-Office.London@unilever.com

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1 February 2019 – Seafood investor Broodstock Capital invests in Norwegian marine
health player Åkerblå. The objective is to strengthen the service offering and increase
customer benefit through further investments in knowledge, expertise and increased
R&D focus, as well as ramping up Åkerblå’s international efforts.
Åkerblå was established in 1991 under the name Havbrukstjenesten. The company
subsequently rebranded to Åkerblå in 2014. It provides consulting and certification services
within fish health, environment and technical operations, primarily for fish farming
companies. Åkerblå also provides services to operators of wellboats and service vessels,
pharmaceutical companies, institutions within research and education, as well as public
sector bodies.

Åkerblå is the only company in the world with accreditation status for control of fish
health, and the only player in Norway with accreditation status for both fish health control,
environmental surveys and technical services.
“Åkerblå has a highly competent team that has succeeded with its strategy of establishing a
local presence close to its customers. The company has grown steadily, year after year, and
we are proud to become a co-owner. Broodstock Capital’s strategy is to invest in market
leaders within niches of the supply chain to the seafood industry, and to own and develop
businesses in partnership with founders, management and existing owners. The Åkerblå
investment represents the core of Broodstock Capital’s investment strategy,” says Simen
Landmark, partner at Broodstock Capital.
Today’s owners remain
Åkerblå employs approximately 85 people across 13 regional offices along the Norwegian
coast, with its headquarters at Frøya in Trøndelag, Norway. In 2018, the company had
revenues of approximately NOK 100 million and delivered a positive operating profit margin
in line with previous years.

Broodstock Capital’s investment consists of a combination of acquisition of shares and an
equity injection to contribute to further development and growth of Åkerblå, both in
Norway and Internationally. Current owners and Broodstock Capital have in total made NOK
20 million in new capital available to Åkerblå.
Following completion of the transaction, Broodstock Capital will own half of the company.
Current owners Arild Kjerstad, Asgeir Østvik and Roger Sørensen will own the other half.
Roger Sørensen continues in his role as CEO of the company.
“Broodstock Capital contributes with both expertise and capital. This gives us the
opportunity to invest even more in competence, R&D and system improvements that will
benefit our customers. Amongst other things, we want do digitalise even more of our
services, which will make our clients’ data even more accessible to them,” says Roger
Sørensen, CEO of Åkerblå.
Sørensen also refers to the fact that the company recently established a dedicated R&D
department to become an even more attractive cooperation partner for the industry,
universities and research institutions.
“We will ramp up our commitment to further developing our highly skilled professionals,
both through competence-enhancing measures and development of new technology within
all our service areas,” Roger Sørensen adds.
Targets international growth

Today, the majority of Åkerblå’s business is related to the Norwegian aquaculture industry.
Outside Norway, the company has operations in Iceland, Canada and Spain. As new owners
enter the company, the ambition is to increase its international presence.
“Åkerblå’s competence and systems are transferable to other aquaculture markets. Our
ambition is to develop the world’s leading competence hub for knowledge-based marine
health services. Broodstock Capital has significant international activity through our
portfolio companies. We anticipate that Åkerblå will capitalise on this network to fast-track
entry into new markets and further strengthen its position in countries already present,”
says Håkon Aglen Fredriksen, partner at Broodstock Capital.
Broodstock Capital’s Håkon Aglen Fredriksen and Simen Landmark will join the Åkerblå
board of directors. Pål Kristian Moe, partner of Trondheim-based advisory firm Impello
Management becomes chairman of the board, while Arild Kjerstad and Asgeir Østvik
continues as members of the board of directors.
Broodstock Capitals funds focus exclusively on investments in small and medium sized
businesses within the seafood industry in general and in the fish supplier industry
specifically. In addition to its investment in Åkerblå, Broodstock Capital has invested in net
cleaning robot supplier MPI – Multi Pump Innovation, RAS system supplier Billund
Aquaculture AS, seafood software company Maritech Systems AS, and water treatment
company NP Innovation AB.

For further information, please contact:
Simen Landmark, partner at Broodstock Capital, tel: +47 45 22 46 48, e-mail: slb@broodstock.no
Håkon Aglen Fredriksen, partner at Broodstock Capital, tel: +47 90 13 01 85, e-mail: haf@broodstock.no
Roger Sørensen, CEO of Åkerblå, tel: +47 91 53 71 23, e-mail: roger.sorensen@akerbla.no

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