Munich/London February 1, 2018 – Aurelius Omega Limited (“AOL”), a group company of AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN DE000A0JK2A8) refers to the proposed acquisition of the books division of Connect Group PLC (“Connect Books”) pursuant to a share purchase agreement dated 20 December 2017.

Very shortly after signing of the transaction, we were informed that there was a severe under-performance of the Connect Books business for the month of December 2017, which led to a significant decrease in forecasted EBIT for the financial year 2017/2018. This was a marked deviation from the forecasts provided to us by Connect Group before signing of the transaction. As a result of this change, our banking partners confirmed that they could no longer provide financing for the proposed acquisition.

We have made several attempts to find a mutually satisfactory solution with Connect Group and the banking partners, but it now appears unlikely that the transaction will proceed.