Fiskars and Investor complete the legal combination of their Wärtsilä holdings

Fiskars Corporation and Investor AB (publ) have today completed the legal combination of Fiskars Group’s and Investor AB’s interests in Wärtsilä Corporation. Fiskars announced on April 24, 2012 that Fiskars Group and Investor AB (hereinafter the “parties”) had agreed to join interests to create a strong long-term owner for Wärtsilä Corporation through a joint venture and to develop the ownership strategy jointly.

The joint venture company Avlis AB and its wholly-owned subsidiary Avlis Invest AB (former Instoria AB) (hereinafter Avlis AB and Avlis Invest AB jointly the “joint venture”) currently hold a total of 42,948,325 shares in Wärtsilä, representing 21.77 percent of the shares and votes in Wärtsilä, As announced on April 24, 2012, Avlis AB is owned by Fiskars Group and Investor in relation to their respective contribution and acquisition of Wärtsilä shares. Today Fiskars’ ownership represents 59.7 percent and Investor´s 40.30 percent, respectively.

As announced by Investor and Fiskars on April 24, 2012

• The joint venture will be a committed owner with a long-term horizon that will enhance the development of Wärtsilä’s business and shareholder value.
• Over time, the parties may, through the joint venture, consider increasing their holding in Wärtsilä subject to general market conditions and Wärtsilä´s development. However, there is no intention to make a bid on Wärtsilä and the joint ownership will accordingly remain below 30 percent under the current strategy.
• Both Fiskars and Investor expect to be represented on the Wärtsilä board from 2013.
• The parties expect through the joint venture to form a common view on decisions concerning the shareholding and use of voting rights in Wärtsilä.
• The parties have agreed also on other typical provisions customarily included in shareholders’ agreements governing similar joint venture arrangements.

As a part of the joint ownership strategy, Fiskars and Investor have agreed that the shares and votes of Wärtsilä held by Avlis AB and Avlis Invest AB will be primarily represented by the same representative at Wärtsilä’s general meeting, to be elected by the party with a stronger board representation in Wärtsilä.

For further information:

Oscar Stege Unger, Head of Corporate Communications, Phone 46 8 614 2059, 46 70 624 2059
Magnus Dalhammar, Investor Relations Manager, Phone 46 8 614 2130, 46 73 524 2130

Our press releases can be accessed at www.investorab.com

Investor is the leading owner of Nordic-based international companies, founded by the Wallenberg family a hundred years ago. We own significant minority or majority interests in high quality companies. Through our participation on the boards of directors, we work for continuous improvement of the performance of the companies. With our industrial experience, network and financial strength we strive to make our companies best-in-class. Our cash flow allows us to support strategic initiatives in our companies, capture investment opportunities and provide our shareholders with a dividend. Our Core Investments include listed holdings Atlas Copco, ABB, SEB, Ericsson and the operating subsidiary Mölnlycke Health Care.