HELSINKI, Finland, June 7, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Following the conditional clearance received from the EU Commission, and as a part of the US Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) review of Metso Corporation's (NYSE:MX) offer for Svedala Industri AB, Metso has today entered into an agreement with Sandvik AB regarding the divestiture by Metso of the remedy package agreed with the EU Commission.
The sale is a result of the competition review processes undertaken by the EU Commission and the FTC and is conditional upon the EU Commission and the FTC approving Sandvik as a purchaser of the remedy package. Metso expects such approvals to be forthcoming in the near future. In addition, the sale is conditional upon the completion of Metso's offer for Svedala as well as certain regulatory approvals.
The divestiture comprises the crushing and screening activities agreed with the EU Commission and had a pro forma turnover for the year 2000 of approximately EUR 150 million. It is expected that approximately 900 employees will transfer to Sandvik under the terms of the divestiture.
Metso Corporation is a global supplier of process industry machinery and systems. Metso's core businesses are divided between Metso Paper (fiber and paper technology), Metso Minerals (rock and mineral processing) and Metso Automation (automation and control technology). In 2000, the net sales of Metso Corporation were EUR 3.9 billion, and the personnel totaled approximately 22,000. Metso Corporation is listed on the Helsinki and New York Stock Exchanges.