VALTRA ACQUISITION NO LONGER VALID
PONSSE OYJ STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 10.9.2003 at 11.20 A.M.
VALTRA ACQUISITION NO LONGER VALID KONE Corporation has today, on 10 September 2003, announced that it will sell the entire business of Valtra to the US based company AGCO. On 29 August the consortium comprising Ponsse Oyj, the State of Finland, Finnish Industry Investment Ltd and a large group of other Finnish investors made a bid to acquire Valtra. The basis of the bid was the good profitability, remarkable industrial know-how and the strong market position of Valtra. The price and other conditions of the Consortiums bid were structured to enhance the future potential for the development and competitiveness of the company. The Valtra acquisition becoming invalid does not affect the basic strategy of Ponsse. Ponsse will, according to the previously adopted strategy, continue as a producer of cut-to-length method forest machines. During the first six months of 2003, the net sales of Ponsse increased by 35.4% to 79.3 million euro and the operating profit by 41.5% to 5.7 million euro compared to the same period of 2002. The net sales and profit for the whole year 2003 are expected to exceed the 2002 level. Vieremä, 10. September 2003 PONSSE OYJ Juha Vidgrén Vice Chairman of the Board For additional information, please contact Juha Vidgrén, Vice Chairman of the Board, +358 40 730 0047 To: Helsinki Exchanges Principal media