DGAP-Adhoc: A.S. Création Tapeten AG: New decision of the court of appeal in the French anti-trust proceedings

In April 2016, the court of appeal ("Cour d'appel") in Paris reduced the penalties imposed by the French competition authority ("Autorité de la concurrence") on two French member companies of the A.S. Création Group, namely SCE - Société de conception et d'édition SAS ("SCE") and MCF Investissement SAS ("MCF), by EUR 2.9 million from a total of EUR 5.0 million to EUR 2.1 million. The French competition authority subsequently lodged an appeal with the French Supreme Court ("Cour de cassation") against this verdict. In November 2017, the Supreme Court revoked the verdict of the court of appeal and returned the case to the court of appeal in Paris, which retried the case.

The court of appeal today announced the verdict and confirmed the total penalties of EUR 5.0 million originally imposed by the French competition authority. An appeal against this verdict may be lodged with the Supreme Court within one month. Should the verdict become final, it would have no effect on the results of operation of A.S. Création, as the penalty of EUR 5.0 million originally imposed by the French competition authorities was expensed in full in the consolidated financial statements for 2014. This verdict would have no effect on A.S. Création's financial position, as French law required the original penalties of EUR 5.0 million to be paid in full.

The decision as to whether SCE and MCF will request an appeal will be made on the basis of a review of the written grounds of the verdict, which SCE and MCF will carry out together with their legal counsel.

Gummersbach, December 20, 2018

A.S. Création Tapeten AG

The Managing Board