KONECRANES GROUP EXECUTIVES INVEST IN THE COMPANY'S SHARES AS PART OF THE EXECUTIVES' INCENTIVE ARRANGEMENT
KONECRANES PLC STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE May 7, 2009 at 5.45 p.m.
KONECRANES GROUP EXECUTIVES INVEST IN THE COMPANY'S SHARES AS PART OF THE EXECUTIVES' INCENTIVE ARRANGEMENT Konecranes' executive management increase their ownership in the Company. The arrangement is part of an executive incentive program approved by the Board of Directors of Konecranes Plc. For the purpose of the share ownership, Konecranes Group executive management has established a company named KCR Management Oy, whose entire share capital the management owns. The members of the Board of Directors of Konecranes Plc are not shareholders in the Company. KCR Management Oy's intention is to acquire approximately 500,000 Konecranes Plc shares from the market within the arrangement. The acquisitions will be financed by capital investments by the executives, in the total amount of approximately MEUR 1.3 as well as by a loan provided by Konecranes Plc. The purpose of the arrangement is to commit the executives to the Company by encouraging them to acquire and own the Company's shares. The Board of Directors sees this as a way to increase the management´s commitment to long term shareholder value. As part of the arrangement, the Board of Directors of Konecranes Plc has resolved to grant KCR Management Oy an interest-bearing loan in the maximum amount of approximately MEUR 7.1 to finance the acquisition of the Company's shares. The loan will be repaid in full by 31 December 2012. The loan period may be extended by two years in case the validity of the arrangement will be extended in the manner described below. KCR Management Oy has an obligation to repay the loan prematurely by selling Konecranes Plc shares held by it in case the share price of the Company other than temporarily exceeds a certain level determined in the arrangement. The arrangement will be valid until the fall of 2012, at which time the arrangement is intended to be dissolved in a manner to be determined later. The arrangement may be dissolved e.g. by placing KCR Management Oy into liquidation, by merging it into Konecranes Plc, or by otherwise selling the Konecranes Plc shares held by KCR Management Oy. The arrangement will, however, be continued for further two years in case the share price of Konecranes Plc in the spring of 2012 is below the average price that KCR Management Oy has paid for the Konecranes Plc shares. During the validity of the arrangement, any transfer of Konecranes Plc shares held by KCR Management Oy is subject to restrictions. Also, the executives holding KCR Management Oy shares may not dispose of their holding before the cessation of the program. “Through this incentive program the executives personally invest a substantial amount of their own funds in Company shares. The members of the management will finance their investments on their own. The Company will provide additional funding enhancing the management´s profit potential, but the executives carry a total genuine ownership risk. The arrangement is proof of management´s confidence in their Company”, says Mr Stig Gustavson, the Chairman of the Board of Directors. The arrangement extends and continues the incentive scheme directed to the President and CEO of the Company in December 2006, whereby a total of 100,000 Company's shares were sold to the President and CEO. In connection with the establishment of the new arrangement, the five-year transfer restriction relating to these shares has been amended granting rights for the President and CEO to divest these shares on the market, provided that an agreed amount of the funds so received will be invested as capital investment in KCR Management Oy. After this, the President and CEO will own 180,000 Konecranes Plc shares directly and, in addition, approximately 135,000 shares indirectly through KCR Management Oy. KONECRANES PLC The Board of Directors FURTHER INFORMATION Mr Teo Ottola, Chief Financial Officer, Tel. +358 20 427 2040 DISTRIBUTION NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd. Main Media www.konecranes.com Konecranes is a world-leading group of Lifting Businesses™, serving a broad range of customers, including manufacturing and process industries, shipyards, ports and terminals. Konecranes provides productivity-enhancing lifting solutions as well as services for lifting equipment and machine tools of all makes. In 2008, Group sales totaled EUR 2,103 million. The Group has 9,900 employees, at 485 locations in 43 countries. Konecranes is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd (symbol: KCR1V).