Group structure and ownership

Structure of the operating activities of the Comet Group

The Group’s commercial activities are divided into four operating segments: Plasma Control Technologies (PCT), X-Ray Systems (IXS), Industrial X-Ray Modules (IXM) and ebeam Technologies (EBT). Financial information is reported by segment. The financial data for the individual segments is found in the segment information within the notes to the consolidated annual financial statements.

Listed Group company: Comet Holding AG

Comet Holding AG (the "Company") is the Group’s only company listed on a stock exchange. The Company’s registered office is in Flamatt, Switzerland. The registered shares of Comet Holding AG have been listed in the main market segment of the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich since December 17, 2002.

Ticker symbol

COTN

Security number

382 575

ISIN

CH0003825756

Closing price at December 31, 2017

CHF 153.4

Market capitalization at December 31, 2017

CHF 1,189 million

The stock price shown takes into account the ten-for-one stock split performed on April 28, 2017. Assorted data on the stock of Comet Holding AG is provided inside the cover flap at the front of the annual report.

Non-listed Group companies

Comet Holding AG has no publicly traded subsidiaries.

Basis of consolidation

The following companies’ results were consolidated in the accounts of the Comet Group at December 31, 2017:

Company

Registered office

Currency

Capital stock

Equity interest in % *

2017

2016

Comet Holding AG

Flamatt, Switzerland

CHF

7,753,658

100%

100%

Comet AG

Flamatt, Switzerland

CHF

2,000,000

100%

100%

Comet Electronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.

Shanghai, China

CNY

5,466,148

100%

100%

Comet Mechanical Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.

Shanghai, China

CNY

1,655,420

100%

100%

Comet Technologies USA, Inc.

Shelton, CT, USA

USD

1,000

100%

100%

Comet Technologies Korea Co. Ltd.

Suwon, Korea

KRW

500,000,000

100%

100%

Yxlon International GmbH

Hamburg, Germany

EUR

110,000

100%

100%

Yxlon International A/S

Taastrup, Denmark

DKK

601,000

100%

100%

Yxlon International KK

Yokohama, Japan

JPY

10,000,000

100%

100%

Yxlon (Beijing) X-Ray Equipment Trading Co. Ltd.

Beijing, China

CNY

1,077,000

100%

100%

* Comet Holding AG also holds 100% of the voting rights in all companies.

Registered shareholders

At December 31, 2017, Comet Holding AG had 3,303 voting shareholders of record (i.e., voting shareholders registered in the share register; prior year: 1,691). Of the total issued registered stock, 100% (prior year: 100%) represented free float. Comet Holding AG held no treasury stock at December 31, 2017 (prior year: none).

The structure of share ownership size classes among the shareholders of record at December 31, 2017 was as follows:

Number of shares

Number of shareholders

1 to 1,000

2,941

1,001 to 10,000

313

10,001 to 50,000

33

50,001 to 100,000

13

More than 100,000

3

This analysis does not capture the stock of shareholders who were not registered in the share register. At December 31, 2017 these shares of unregistered owners amounted to 40% of the total (prior year: 34%).

Significant shareholders

Ownership interests in companies domiciled in Switzerland whose shares are listed at least partly in Switzerland must be notified both to the issuer company and to the SIX Swiss Exchange when the holder’s voting rights reach, increase above or fall below certain thresholds. These notification thresholds are 3%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 33 1/3%, 50% and 66 2/3% of voting rights.  

The relevant details are set out in the Swiss Stock Exchange Act (BEHG) and in the Ordinance of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority on Stock Exchanges and Securities Trading (the FINMA Stock Exchange Ordinance).

At December 31, 2017 the Company, according to disclosure notifications, had the following significant shareholders (defined for this purpose as holding voting rights in excess of 3% of the Comet capital stock recorded in the Swiss commercial register of companies):

Beneficial owner

Direct shareholder

Share of voting rights as disclosed by shareholders

Haldor Foundation

Tringle Investment Pte Ltd

10.13%

Pictet Asset Management SA (Direction de Fonds)

Pictet (CH) Swiss Mid Small Cap

4.82%

Cologny Advisors LLP

Camox Master Fund

3.26%

On February 8, 2018, Pictet Asset Management SA (Direction de Fonds) notified a reduction of its shareholding to 2.87%.

The Company has not been notified of nor is aware of any other shareholders that held more than 3% of its shares. To the best of the Company’s knowledge, there were no voting pool agreements.

Reportable changes during the fiscal year

In the fiscal year under review, eight reportable announcements were published. For a complete list of all announcements under section 20 BEHG, refer to the publication platform of the disclosure section of the SIX Swiss Exchange:   www.six-exchange-regulation.com/publications/significant-shareholders.html

Cross-shareholdings

There were no cross-shareholdings with other publicly traded companies.