Componenta sells shares in associated co
Componenta Corporation Stock Exchange Release 26.1.2004 at 9.30 am
Componenta sells shares in associated company Thermia Under an agreement signed on 24 January 2004, Componenta has agreed to sell its shares in Thermia AB to Procuritas Capital Investors III, a Swedish private equity investor. Componenta had a 36% holding in Thermia. The shares wil be sold for some EUR 16 million and Componenta will record a profit of EUR 7.5 million on the sale. Thermia's other main shareholder, the Swedish Industrifonden, the other shareholders Arbustum Invest AB, Örjan Gustafsson and a few other investors agreed to sell their Thermia AB shares to Procuritas at the same time. The new owner provides a firm basis for further developing Thermia's business. Thermia Group is one of the largest heating specialists in the Nordic countries, with production in Arvika, Sweden and Saarijärvi, Finland. The company's main products are geo-thermal heat pumps and central heating boilers for producing heat and hot water for private homes and other small properties. The company has a strong market position in the Nordic countries. The company also supplies geo-thermal heat pumps in central Europe, where demand for them is growing strongly. Thermia had net sales in 2003 of SEK 460 million (EUR 50 million) and has altogether some 330 employees in Finland and Sweden. Degerfors Formnings AB, a subsidiary of Thermia, is excluded from the transaction. Thermia's operations have developed very encouragingly in the past few years, above all due to the growth in sales of environmentally friendly geo-thermal heat pumps and bio-energy boilers. The group's profit after financial items in 2003 was SEK 37 million (EUR 4.1 million) and in 2002 SEK 20 million (EUR 2.2 million). Thermia Group was formed in 1998 when Högfors Lämpö Oy, which was formerly part of Componenta Group, was merged with the Swedish company Thermia AB. Componenta is a metal sector company with operations that are based on specialized business units and efficient production chains comprising foundries and machine shops. Componenta supplies competitive, value- adding cast component solutions to customers in various industrial sectors, and aims to be the preferred engineering co-operation partner of its customers in casting solutions. Selling its shares in Thermia is in line with Componenta's strategy of divesting non-core business. The transaction, which is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2004, will strengthen the Group's equity ratio and place it in a stronger position to develop its core business. Procuritas Capital Investors III is a private equite fund focused on mid- sized companies in the Nordic region. The Fund's investors include, among others, Nordea Liv, Sampo and Statoil. The fund is advised by Procuritas Partners KB. Erneholm & Haskel AB has been the financial advisor of Componenta in the transaction. Helsinki, 26 January 2004 COMPONENTA CORPORATION Heikki Lehtonen President and CEO FURTHER INFORMATION Heikki Lehtonen President and CEO Tel. +358 9 225 021 Kimmo Virtanen CFO tel. +358 9 225 021