Agreement regarding the new ownership structure of Metsä-Botnia
signed
(Thomson Reuters ONE) - M-real Corporation Stock Exchange Release on 22 October 2009 at 8:30amM-real Corporation, a part of Metsäliitto Group, announced on 15 July2009 that its associated company, Oy Metsä-Botnia Ab, and its owners,M-real, Metsäliitto Cooperative and UPM-Kymmene Oyj, have signed aletter of intent regarding the new ownership structure ofMetsä-Botnia and the divestment of Metsä-Botnia's Uruguayanoperations to UPM. The master agreement regarding this transactionwas signed on 22 October 2009.Pursuant to the agreement, Metsä-Botnia will sell all its holdings inUruguayan operations to UPM. The agreed total value of the pulp milland forest assets in Uruguay is approximately EUR 1.6 billion. Inaddition, Metsä-Botnia will sell 77 per cent of its holding inPohjolan Voima Oy to UPM for a consideration of EUR 66 million.Concurrently, Metsä-Botnia will distribute dividends and capitalrepayments to its shareholders, of which M-real's share is about EUR300 million.Pursuant to the agreement, Metsä-Botnia will acquire its own sharesfrom UPM and will cancel them. As a result, M-real's ownership inMetsä-Botnia increases by 3.0 percent-units. M-real and MetsäliittoCooperative have agreed that Metsäliitto Cooperative will acquiresuch 3.0 per cent holding of Metsä-Botnia from M-real. The agreedtotal value of Metsä-Botnia without its Uruguayan operations andPohjolan Voima Oy shares is approximately EUR 1.9 billion.Metsäliitto Cooperative will pay its share purchase from M-real witha market priced vendor note of EUR 50 million, having a maturity of 3years.Upon the closing of the transaction, M-real will change theconsolidation method of Metsä-Botnia in its consolidated financialaccounts and process its ownership in Metsä-Botnia as an associatedcompany according to IAS 28. When closed, the transaction will reduceM-real's net debt compared to the end of the second quarter in 2009by approximately EUR 550 million when taking into account the cashconsideration of EUR 300 million, the market priced receivable of EUR50 million from Metsäliitto and the change in the consolidationmethod for the consolidated financial statements of M-real. M-realwill use the funds for paying off its debts. The transaction will nothave a significant impact on M-real's equity. The closing of thetransaction and the change in the consolidation method ofMetsä-Botnia are estimated to decrease M-real's annual sales byapproximately EUR 250 million and to slightly improve the resultbefore taxes compared to the first half of 2009."Concentrating Metsä-Botnia's production to Finland supports M-real'sstrategy in its packaging business. As a result of the divestment ofthe Graphic Papers business eucalyptus pulp is no longer an importantraw material for M-real. In addition, the transaction will decreasenet debt and pulp surplus of M-real," says Mikko Helander, CEO ofM-real.The transaction is still subject to the conclusion of negotiationswith financing parties and approvals by competition authorities. Thetransaction is expected to be completed latest during the firstquarter of 2010. After the closing of the transaction M-real owns 30per cent, Metsäliitto Cooperative 53 per cent and UPM 17 per cent ofMetsä-Botnia.The Board of Directors of M-real has reviewed and approved thetransaction without those of its members who are dependent onMetsäliitto Cooperative. Upon request of the Board of Directors ofM-real, Handelsbanken Capital Markets has issued a Fairness Opinion,according to which the transaction is financially fair from the pointof view of M-real's shareholders. Castrén & Snellman Oy,Attorneys-at-law, has acted as the company's legal advisor.For further information, please contact:Matti Mörsky, CFO, tel. +358 10 465 4913Juha Laine, Vice President, Investor Relations and Communications,tel. +358 10 465 4335This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Datum: 22.10.2009 - 07:30 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 7229
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"Agreement regarding the new ownership structure of Metsä-Botnia
signed"
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