Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:ARW) announced today that it has entered
into a Settlement Agreement with E.ON SE (EOAN:GR) and VEBA Electronics
LLC relating to certain disputes originating from Arrow’s acquisition of
Wyle Electronics from the VEBA Group in August of 2000. Under the
Settlement Agreement, E.ON will pay Arrow an aggregate amount of $110
million.
The Settlement Agreement provides for, among other things:
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The final and irrevocable settlement among Arrow, E.ON and VEBA of all
present or future claims relating to or arising out of the Wyle
acquisition, including settlement of related income tax disputes; and
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The dismissal of all litigation between Arrow, E.ON and VEBA including
all claims and counterclaims before the District Court of Frankfurt am
Main in Germany, and the termination of a related ongoing mediation
proceeding that commenced in December 2009.
Under the Settlement Agreement, Arrow retains the right to past
insurance recoveries and any future amounts recovered from pending
claims or claims yet to be asserted under any relevant identified or
unidentified insurance policies.
Arrow believes that the settlement amount together with any insurance
recoveries will be sufficient to cover any potential future costs
relating to environmental clean-up activities and any other asserted or
unasserted claims related to environmental matters arising out of the
Wyle Acquisition, however it is possible unexpected costs beyond those
anticipated could occur.
Arrow Electronics (www.arrow.com)
is a global provider of products, services and solutions to industrial
and commercial users of electronic components and enterprise computing
solutions. Arrow serves as a supply channel partner for more than
120,000 original equipment manufacturers, contract manufacturers and
commercial customers through a global network of more than 390 locations
in 53 countries.
Safe Harbor
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe
harbor" for forward-looking statements. This press release includes
forward-looking statements, including statements addressing future
financial results. These statements are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results or facts to differ
materially from such statements for a variety of reasons including, but
not limited to: industry conditions, the company’s implementation of its
new global financial system and the company’s planned implementation of
its new enterprise resource planning system, changes in product supply,
pricing and customer demand, competition, other vagaries in the global
components and global ECS markets, changes in relationships with key
suppliers, increased profit margin pressure, the effects of additional
actions taken to become more efficient or lower costs, the company’s
ability to generate additional cash flow and the other risks described
from time to time in the company’s reports to the Securities and
Exchange Commission (including the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K
and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q). Forward-looking statements are
those statements, which are not statements of historical fact. These
forward-looking statements can be identified by forward-looking words
such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "may," "will,"
"believes," "seeks," "estimates," and similar expressions. Shareholders
and other readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which
they are made. The company undertakes no obligation to update publicly
or revise any of the forward-looking statements.