(new: details on Krones)

FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Internet service provider United Internet will be included in the mid-cap index MDax from this Monday. In exchange, the share of mechanical engineering company Krones was eliminated, as the bottling plant manufacturer had violated a rule on quality assurance in the index rules of Deutsche Borse.

Among other things, the German Corporate Governance Code states that the chairman of the audit committee must be independent. Krones had apparently violated this rule in May. At the Annual General Meeting (AGM), the former CFO Norbert Broger was elected Chairman of the Audit Committee.

After Deutsche Borse learned of this, Krones was removed from the Dax family with the index review for September. The company now wants to return to the MDax as quickly as possible and announced "immediate measures" "to ensure that all the basic criteria of Deutsche Borse for index membership are met again in the very near future.

The earliest date for a return to the mid-cap index would be mid-December. In view of Krones' current free float value of a good 1.5 billion euros, a return should not be a problem.

United Internet's former place in the SDax was taken this Monday by the newcomer to the Borsen and hydrogen specialist Thyssenkrupp Nucera. In addition, the internet provider Ionos, a subsidiary of United Internet, was included in the index for smaller stocks. The supplier of image processing components Basler had to give up its place.

In Germany's leading index, the Dax, everything remained the same.

Changes in the indices are particularly important for funds that replicate indices in real terms (physically replicating ETFs). There, the shares have to be shifted accordingly, which can have an influence on the share prices./ck/mis