The sales proceeds amount to EUR 148 million
Solidium has agreed to sell its entire holding in Sponda Plc to a Finnish investor group, Oy PALSK Ab. The owners of Oy PALSK Ab are Föreningen Konstsamfundet, Sigrid Juséliuksen Säätiö, Stiftelsen för Åbo Akademi, Veritas Pension Insurance Company Ltd and Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland. Before the disposal Solidium owned 42,163,745 shares in Sponda Plc corresponding to approximately 14.9 per cent of the outstanding shares. The execution price is EUR 3.50 per share, sales proceeds approximately EUR 148 million and the capital gain before tax approximately EUR 71 million. The execution price is 14 per cent higher than the last 6 months volume weighted average price and 5 per cent higher than yesterday’s closing price. The transaction will be executed on 30 October 2012 at the latest.
”The disposal of all our remaining shares in Sponda is a natural continuation to our executed disposal 2 years ago when we decreased our holding from 34 per cent to 15 per cent. We were now offered an opportunity to sell the shares at a premium to the current share price and through this transaction we execute our company-specific ownership strategy. We are very satisfied that Sponda’s ownership remains strongly in Finland even after these transactions”, says Solidium’s Managing Director Kari Järvinen.
Further information: Managing Director Kari Järvinen, Solidium Oy, tel. +358 (0)10 830 89 05
Solidium is a limited company wholly owned by the State of Finland. Its mission is to strengthen and stabilise Finnish ownership in nationally important companies and increase the value of its holdings in the long term. Investment activities are based on financial analysis. The core of Solidium’s investment strategy is proper, value enhancing asset management of the current holdings. Through its stakes, Solidium is a minority owner in eleven listed companies: Elisa, Kemira, Metso, Outokumpu, Outotec, Rautaruukki, Sampo, Stora Enso, Talvivaara Mining Company, TeliaSonera and Tieto. The market value of Solidium’s equity investments is approximately EUR 7.1 billion at the date of this press release. Further information: www.solidium.fi.
