Consumables

KEMET and NEC Sign Amendment to Option Agreement

Monday 08. September 2014 - KEMET Corporation (NYSE: KEM) ("KEMET"), a leading global supplier of electronic components, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, KEMET Electronics Corporation ("KEC"), and NEC Corporation ("NEC") have entered into an amendment to the parties' March 12, 2012 Option Agreement.

“This Amendment provides KEMET with additional flexibility in managing our capital structure,” stated Per Loof, Chief Executive Officer of KEMET. “It allows us greater opportunity to benefit from improving economic conditions and the improved financial performance by KEMET while maintaining our options to increase our investment in NEC TOKIN.”
The Amendment extends the date by which KEC can exercise its first option to purchase additional shares of common stock of NEC TOKIN Corporation (“NEC TOKIN”) until April 30, 2015, and also extends the beginning date by which KEC can exercise its second option to purchase all of the outstanding shares of NEC TOKIN common stock. The amendment also delays the date when NEC can require KEC to purchase all of the outstanding shares of NEC TOKIN common stock (the “Put Option”) by a minimum of eight months until April 1, 2015, and in the event that KEMET issues new debt securities to refinance its outstanding 10½% senior notes due 2018 prior to NEC’s delivery of its notification to exercise the Put Option, then the earliest date on which NEC may exercise the Put Option is further extended beyond the scheduled maturity date or redemption in full of such new debt securities, but in any event not beyond November 1, 2019. In that event, the Put Option will expire on October 31, 2023.
Additional provisions of this amendment specify the date by which NEC’s indemnification obligations under the Option Agreement expire; extend until May 1, 2015, the earliest date that NEC may convert a portion of its existing NEC TOKIN preferred stock into NEC TOKIN common stock; and require KEC to permit the repayment by NEC TOKIN to NEC on April 30, 2015 of at least 2 billion Japanese yen of the currently outstanding amount of 25.5 billion Japanese yen of the debt obligation NEC TOKIN owes to NEC. Additional details can be found in KEMET’s Current Report on Form 8-K (File No. 1-15491) filed on September 4, 2014.