Additional information on takeover law and explanatory notes

1. The subscribed capital of the company amounts to € 72,753,334.00. It is divided into 72,753,334 registered no-par-value shares with a pro-rata share of the company’s share capital of € 1.00. Of this amount, 70,048,834 are class A shares and 2,704,500 are class S shares (class of shares). The class S shares constitute only shareholdings in the net profit/loss and net assets of the S division, while the class A shares constitute only shareholdings in the net profit/loss and net assets of the A division. The S division consists of the part of the company that deals with the acquisition, holding, selling, letting, management and development of properties not specific to port handling (Real Estate subgroup). All other parts of the company make up the A division (Port Logistics subgroup). The dividend entitlement of holders of class S shares is based on the proportion of the distributable profit for the year attributable to the S division, and the dividend entitlement of holders of class A shares is based on the remaining proportion of distributable profit for the year (Article 4 [1] of the articles of association). Each share entitles the holder to one vote at the Annual General Meeting (Article 20 [1] of the articles of association) and gives the holder the rights and responsibilities laid down in the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG) and the articles of association. If the statutory provisions require a special resolution to be adopted by holders of a given class of shares, only the holders of that class of shares shall be entitled to vote.

2. To the Executive Board’s knowledge, there are no restrictions on voting rights or the transfer of shares, including those arising from agreements between shareholders.

3.  Details on direct or indirect capital shareholdings which entitle the holder to more than 10 % of the voting rights can be found in the notes to the consolidated financial statements, no. 35 Equity and no. 48 Related party disclosures

4. There are no shares with special rights granting powers of control.

5.  Employees who hold stakes in the company’s equity exercise their shareholders’ rights at their own discretion. There is no control of the voting rights.

6.1 As per Article 8 sentence 1 of the company’s articles of association, the Executive Board consists of two or more people. Members of the Executive Board are appointed and dismissed by the Supervisory Board in accordance with Section 84 AktG in conjunction with Section 31 MitbestG and Article 8 of the articles of association.

6.2 Amendments to the articles of association can be made by means of a resolution of the Annual General Meeting. In line with Sections 179 and 133 AktG and Article 22 of the articles of association, a simple majority of the votes cast at the Annual General Meeting is sufficient for amendments to the articles of association. If a capital majority is required in addition to a majority of the votes, a simple majority of the share capital represented when the resolution is passed is adequate. Where the law prescribes a larger voting or capital majority for specific amendments to the articles of association, the legally required majority applies. In accordance with Article 11 (4) of the articles of association, the Supervisory Board is authorised to carry out amendments to the articles of association that relate only to the wording. If an amendment to the articles of association in the event of a capital increase or steps taken in accordance with the German Reorganisation of Companies Act (UmwG) is designed to change the relationship between Class A and class S shares, special resolutions by the Class A and class S shareholders affected are required as per Section 138 AktG. Amendments to the articles of association become effective when they are recorded in the commercial register.

7.1 Subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board, the Executive Board was authorised by the Annual General Meeting on 21 June 2017 to increase the company’s share capital until 20 June 2022 by up to € 35,024,417.00 by issuing up to 35,024,417 new registered class A shares for subscription in cash and/or kind in one or more stages (Authorised Capital I, see Article 3 [4] of the articles of association). The statutory subscription rights of class S shareholders shall be excluded. The Executive Board is additionally authorised, subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board, to exclude the statutory subscription rights of class A shareholders in those cases covered in more detail in the resolution, such as issue for contributions in kind or issue in return for cash, provided the issue price is not substantially lower than the stock exchange price of those class A shares which are already listed at the time of the issue, and provided the new class A shares do not account for more than 10 % of share capital. Furthermore, the issue of new class A shares while excluding the subscription rights of class A shareholders is limited to a total of 20 % of the share capital attributable to class A shares. All class A shares issued or that could be issued under other authorisations with the exclusion of subscription rights count towards this 20 % limit.

7.2 Subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board, the Executive Board is additionally authorised under Article 3 (5) of the articles of association to increase the company’s share capital until 20 June 2022 by up to € 1,352,250.00 by issuing up to 1,352,250 new registered class S shares by subscription in cash and/or kind in one or more stages (Authorised Capital II, see Article 3 [5] of the articles of association). The statutory subscription rights of holders of class A shares shall be excluded. The Executive Board is authorised, with the approval of the Supervisory Board, to exclude the statutory subscription rights of holders of class S shares as is necessary to equalise fractional amounts.

7.3 The Annual General Meeting on 16 June 2016 authorised the Executive Board, subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board, to issue on one or more occasions up to 16 June 2019 bearer or registered bonds with warrants or convertible bonds or combinations of these instruments (hereinafter known collectively as “debenture bonds”) and to grant the bearers or creditors of the debenture bonds warrants or conversion rights for up to 10,000,000 new registered class A shares in the company, each representing € 1.00 of the share capital, subject to the detailed terms of the debenture bonds. The total nominal amount of the debenture bonds issued under this authorisation may not exceed € 200,000,000.00. The debenture bonds are to be divided into partial debentures of the same class, each with equal rights. The respective terms of the debenture bonds may also provide for a warrant or conversion obligation as well as an issuer put option to provide class A shares in the company as of the end of the term or at an earlier date. Class S shareholders’ subscription rights are excluded. Subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board, class A shareholders’ subscription rights to the partial debentures can also be excluded in full or in part in order to equalise fractional amounts, to grant subscription rights to the holders or creditors of outstanding warrants and/or debenture bonds and to the extent that debenture bonds are issued for cash, whereby debenture bonds with rights, options or obligations to convert them into class A shares or an issuer put option for class A shares may account for no more than 10 % of the share capital attributable to class A shares. Furthermore, the issue excluding the subscription rights of class A shareholders is limited to a total of 20 % of the share capital attributable to class A shares. All class A shares issued or that could still be issued under other authorisations with the exclusion of subscription rights count towards this 20 % limit. Conditional capital of € 10,000,000.00 is available to service warrants and conversion rights and obligations as well as any tender rights. This allows up to 10,000,000 new registered class A shares to be issued (see Article 3 [6] of the articles of association).

7.4 The Annual General Meeting held on 16 June 2016 authorised the company to purchase class A treasury shares up to a maximum of 10 % of the company’s share capital attributable to class A shares at the time of the resolution or, if lower, at the time that the authorisation is exercised, until 15 June 2021. This authorisation may be used for any legally permissible purpose, except for trading in treasury shares. At the discretion of the Executive Board, the purchase may be made via the stock exchange, by way of a public purchase offer made to all class A shareholders or by way of a public invitation to submit sales offers. In addition to selling class A shares in the company acquired under this authorisation via the stock exchange or offering them to all shareholders in proportion to their shareholdings, the Executive Board was also authorised – subject to the approval of the Supervisory Board – to use these shares for all legally permissible purposes. This includes in particular selling shares in exchange for cash consideration at a price that is not significantly lower than the market price of shares in the company of the same rights at the time of the sale, using shares to settle rights or obligations of bearers or creditors resulting from convertible bonds or bonds with warrants issued by the company or by companies in which the company holds a majority stake, issuing or offering shares for sale to employees of the company or to employees or members of the executive bodies of an associated company, the sale of shares to third parties in return for contributions in kind, as well as redeeming shares, even in a simplified process in accordance with Section 237 (3–5) AktG. In the above cases – excluding redemption – the rights of shareholders to subscribe for treasury shares are also excluded. With the exception of shares sold in return for contributions in kind or the redemption of shares, the class A shares sold or used while excluding subscription rights may not exceed 10 % of the share capital attributable to class A shares.

Further details of the authorisations stated in sections 7.1 to 7.4, particularly the conditions of purchase or issue, the possibilities to exclude subscription rights and their limits, can be found in the corresponding authorisation resolutions and – for the authorisations listed in sections 7.1 to 7.3 – in Article 3 of the articles of association.

7.5 Under Article 6 of the articles of association and Section 237 (1) AktG, the company is authorised to redeem Class A or S shares against payment of appropriate compensation if the shareholders whose shares are to be redeemed have given their consent.

8.  The following material agreements include regulations that apply in the case of a change of control, as may result from a takeover bid:

In September 2015, the company took out three promissory note loans with a total volume of € 53 million and issued a total of 44 registered bonds with a combined nominal value of € 22 million. Partial repayments will be due between 30 September 2022 and 30 September 2025 for the promissory note loans and between 30 September 2027 and 30 September 2030 for the registered bonds.

In October 2018, the company took out three more promissory note loans with a total volume of € 80 million and issued a further 40 registered bonds with a combined nominal value of € 20 million. The individual promissory note loans will be due for repayment between 5 October 2025 and 5 October 2028. The registered bonds are due for repayment on 5 October 2033.

In the event of a change of control at HHLA, the holders of registered bonds and the creditors of promissory note loans or relevant tranches thereof are entitled to demand early repayment. In the case of debenture bonds and loans or relevant tranches thereof from 2015, however, the relevant bondholder or loan creditor is only entitled to demand such early repayment if continuation is deemed unreasonable. A change of control can be said to have taken place if the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg directly or indirectly holds less than 50.1 % of the voting rights in HHLA.

The service contracts valid during the reporting period for Executive Board members also contain a regulation that states they have a right to severance pay if their membership of the Executive Board is terminated due to a change of control or comparable circumstances.  Section 9

9. The service contracts of the members of the Executive Board contain a clause that provides for the payment of compensation to the respective Executive Board member in the event of them losing their Executive Board seat without good cause – including termination due to a change of control which may happen, for instance, following a voluntary or mandatory takeover offer. In line with the recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code, the compensation is limited to a maximum of two annual salaries (including other benefits) and not more than the total remuneration for the remaining term of the service contract.

The provisions described above correspond to the legal situation and are standard practice at comparable listed companies. Their intention is not to complicate any possible takeovers.