REGULATED INFORMATION
GHENT, Belgium, 28 March 2018 - Ablynx [Euronext Brussels and Nasdaq: ABLX] today announced, in accordance with Article 14 of the Belgian Law of 2 May 2007 regarding the publication of major shareholdings in issuers whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market (the "Transparency Law"), that it received a notification of shareholdings from BlackRock, Inc. on 26 and 27 March 2018.
BlackRock, Inc. (taking into account the holdings of its subsidiary undertakings) notified Ablynx that it has downward crossed the 5% threshold of voting rights on 22 March 2018 upward crossed the 5% threshold again on 23 March 2018. BlackRock, Inc. now holds a total of 4,130,259 voting securities of Ablynx, representing 5.49% of the current 75,253,667 outstanding voting rights of Ablynx (versus 5.16% notified previously on 22 March 2018).
The most recent notification contains the following information:
- Reason for the notification: acquisition or disposal of voting securities or voting rights
- Notification by: a parent undertaking or a controlling person
- Persons subject to the notification requirement:
| Name | Address (for legal entities) |
| BlackRock, Inc. | 55 East 52nd Street, New York, NY, 10055, U.S.A. |
| BlackRock (Netherlands) B.V. | Rembrandt Tower, 17th floor, Amstelplein, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| BlackRock Advisors (UK) Limited | 12 Throgmorton Avenue, London, EC2N 2DL, U.K. |
| BlackRock Advisors, LLC | 100 Bellevue Parkway, Wilmington, DE, 19809, U.S.A. |
| BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited | 161 Bay Street, Suite 2500, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 2S1, Canada |
| BlackRock Asset Management Deutschland AG | Max-Joseph-Straße 6, Munich, 80333, Germany |
| BlackRock Asset Management North Asia Limited | 15/F, 16/F, 17/F Citibank Tower & 17/F ICBC Tower, 3 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong |
| BlackRock Financial Management, Inc. | 55 East 52nd Street, New York, NY, 10055, U.S.A. |
| BlackRock Fund Advisors | 400 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA, 94105, U.S.A. |
| BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, National Association | 400 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA, 94105, U.S.A. |
| BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited | Level 37, Chifley Tower, 2 Chifley Square, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia |
| BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited | 12 Throgmorton Avenue, London, EC2N 2DL, U.K. |
| BlackRock Investment Management, LLC | 1 University Square Drive, Princeton, NJ, 8540, U.S.A. |
| BlackRock Japan Co., Ltd. | 1-8-3 Marunouchi Chiyoda-ku, Trust Tower Main, Tokyo, 100-8217, Japan |
- Transaction date: 23 March 2018
- Threshold that is crossed: 5%
- Denominator: 75,253,667
- Details of the most recent notification:
| Name of select subsidiaries of BlackRock | % of voting rights | % of voting rights held through financial instruments* | Total of both |
| BlackRock (Netherlands) B.V. | 0.01% | 0.01% | |
| BlackRock Advisors (UK) Limited | 1.67% | 0.04%1 / 0.07%3 | 1.78% |
| BlackRock Advisors, LLC | 0.01% | 0.23%2 | 0.24% |
| BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited | 0.01% | 0.01% | |
| BlackRock Asset Management Deutschland AG | 0.28% | 0.28% | |
| BlackRock Asset Management North Asia Limited | 0.00% | 0.00% | |
| BlackRock Financial Management, Inc. | 0.00% | 0.58%2 | 0.58% |
| BlackRock Fund Advisors | 0.72% | 0.11%1 | 0.83% |
| BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, National Association | 0.44% | 0.07%1 / 0.11%2 | 0.62% |
| BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited | 0.00% | 0.00% | |
| BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited | 0.16% | 0.01%3 | 0.17% |
| BlackRock Investment Management, LLC | 0.09% | 0.80%2 | 0.89% |
| BlackRock Japan Co., Ltd | 0.03% | 0.06%3 | 0.09% |
| TOTAL | 3.42% | 2.07% | 5.49% |
* Type of financial instrument: 1'Securities lent' and 2'Contract for Difference' and 3'Depository Receipt'
- Chain of controlled undertakings through which the holding is effectively being held: Please see the full chain of control in the Transparency Notification.
- Additional information: The disclosure obligation arose due to total holding in voting rights for BlackRock, Inc. crossing the threshold of 5%. Additionally, the disclosure obligation arose due to voting rights attached to shares for BlackRock, Inc. crossing the threshold of 3%.
A full version of the transparency notifications is available on Ablynx website, under the section Investors.
The Articles of the Association of Ablynx NV provide for shareholders notification threshold of 3%, 5% or a multiple of 5% of the total number of existing voting rights.
About Ablynx
Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of Nanobodies, proprietary therapeutic proteins based on single-domain antibody fragments, which combine the advantages of conventional antibody drugs with some of the features of small-molecule drugs. Ablynx is dedicated to creating new medicines which will make a real difference to society. Today, the Company has more than 45 proprietary and partnered programmes in development in various therapeutic areas including inflammation, haematology, immuno-oncology, oncology and respiratory disease. The Company has collaborations with multiple pharmaceutical companies including AbbVie; Boehringer Ingelheim; Eddingpharm; Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA; Merck KGaA; Novo Nordisk; Sanofi and Taisho Pharmaceuticals. The Company is headquartered in Ghent, Belgium. More information can be found on www.ablynx.com.
For more information, please contact
Ablynx:
Dr Edwin Moses
CEO
t: +32 (0)9 262 00 07
m: +32 (0)473 39 50 68
e: edwin.moses@ablynx.com
Lies Vanneste
Director Investor Relations
t: +32 (0)9 262 01 37
m: +32 (0)498 05 35 79
e: lies.vanneste@ablynx.com
Follow us on Twitter @AblynxABLX
Ablynx media relations:
Consilium Strategic Communications
Mary-Jane Elliott, Philippa Gardner, Sukaina Virji
t: +44 (0)20 3709 5700
e: ablynx@consilium-comms.com
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
Dan Katcher or Joseph Sala
t: +1 212-355-4449
Attachment:
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2c470bea-1cc8-4220-b8c3-f16c20eedd40
