ELISA DIVESTS ITS GERMANY-BASED BUSINESS
ELISA CORPORATION STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE
31 March 2004 AT 09:00
ELISA DIVESTS ITS GERMANY-BASED BUSINESS
Elisa and the minority shareholders of Tropolys GmbH have signed
a definitive sale and purchase agreement, which states that Elisa
sells its entire ownership in its fully-owned subsidiary Elisa
Kommunikation GmbH to a consortium led by Apax Private Equity
Funds and comprising the minority shareholders of Tropolys.
The sale price is EUR 70 million. EUR 30 million will be paid in
cash and EUR 40 million during 20062008. The loan receivable is
fully guaranteed by the banks and municipal utility companies
participating in the consortium. In addition, Elisa has a EUR 3
million loan receivable from Tropolys due for payment on 31
December 2008.
With the sale, Elisas interest-bearing loans and off-balance
sheet rental liabilities will decrease. Elisa estimates that the
sale will have no effect on Elisas profits in 2004.
The agreement is subject to approval by German authorities. Elisa
expects the sale to be finalised in the next few months.
The divested business has been defined as non-core for Elisa.
Elisas strategy is to concentrate on telecommunication services
in its domestic market in Finland.
Elisa will arrange a conference call with analysts and investors
today at 10:30 Helsinki time (GMT +02:00). The conference call
number is +358 9 8248 4462 with access code 8295.
ELISA CORPORATION
Velipekka Nummikoski
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Additional information:
Hannu Turunen, Executive Vice President tel. +358 50 506 5660
Tuija Soanjärvi, CFO, tel. +358 10 262 2606
Distribution
Helsinki Exchanges
Major media
