KONECRANES GROUP EXECUTIVES INVEST IN THE COMPANY'S SHARES AS PART OF THE EXECUTIVES' INCENTIVE ARRANGEMENT

Report this content
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).

Subscribe