Group structure and ownership
Structure of the operating activities of the Comet Group
The Group’s commercial activities are divided into four divisions: Plasma Control Technologies (PCT), X-Ray Systems (IXS), Industrial X-Ray Modules (IXM) and ebeam Technologies (EBT). Financial reporting is segmented along these divisional lines. The financial data for the individual divisions is found in the segment reporting within the notes to the consolidated annual financial statements, beginning on page 54 of this annual report.
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.
Assorted data on the stock of Comet Holding AG is provided on page 32 of the annual report.
Non-listed Group companies
Comet Holding AG has no publicly traded subsidiaries.
The following companies’ results were consolidated in the accounts of the Comet Group at December 31, 2019:
Basis of consolidation
* Comet Holding AG also holds 100% of the voting rights in all companies.
Registered shareholders
At December 31, 2019, Comet Holding AG had 3,932 voting shareholders of record (i.e., voting shareholders registered in the share register; prior year: 5,121). Of the total issued registered stock, 100% (prior year: 100%) represented free float. Comet Holding AG held no treasury stock at December 31, 2019 (prior year: nil).
The structure of share ownership size classes among the shareholders of record at December 31, 2019 was as follows:
This analysis includes only the stock of shareholders who were registered in the share register. At December 31, 2019 the shares of unregistered owners amounted to 31% of the total (prior year: 27%).
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, 2019 the Company, according to disclosure notifications, had the following significant shareholders (defined for this purpose as shareholders with voting rights in excess of 3% of the Comet capital stock recorded in the Swiss commercial register of companies):
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, three 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/en/home/publications/significant-shareholders.html
Cross-shareholdings
There were no cross-shareholdings with other publicly traded companies.