Helsinki, Finland, 2016-02-03 18:45 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Finnlines Plc Stock Exchange Release 3 February 2016 at 19:45
GRIMALDI HAS NOTIFIED FINNLINES TODAY OF REDEMPTION RIGHT REGARDING REMAINING FINNLINES SHARES;
GRIMALDI OFFERS EUR 17.80 PER SHARE IN THE REDEMPTION PROCEEDINGS
According to the announcement, Grimaldi Group S.p.A. ("Grimaldi") together with Grimaldi Deep Sea S.p.A. and Grimaldi Euromed S.p.A., its partly-owned subsidiaries, holds more than nine tenths (9/10) of all the shares and votes in Finnlines Plc ("Finnlines"). As a consequence of exceeding the relevant threshold, Grimaldi has the right, based on Chapter 18, Section 1 of the Finnish Companies Act, to redeem the shares held by other Finnlines shareholders at fair value. Grimaldi’s current holding in Finnlines is 50,486,671 shares corresponding to approximately 98.03 per cent of all the shares and votes in Finnlines.
Grimaldi has decided to exercise its redemption right under the Finnish Companies Act and to redeem all the shares held by any other remaining shareholders in Finnlines (the "Shares" and each of them separately, a "Share"). Grimaldi’s redemption claim based on the redemption right is substantially as follows:
The redemption price for the Shares is EUR 17.80 per Share ("Redemption Price"). Grimaldi submits that the share purchase executed on 9 October 2015 (the "Share Purchase") between Grimaldi Euromed S.p.A. and Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company is the clearest and the most reliable indication of the fair price of a Share. The said Share Purchase concerned approximately a 10.5 per cent’s stake of Finnlines shares and the purchase price therein was EUR 17.80 per share.
Grimaldi will bear possible transfer tax collected in Finland deriving from the redemption of the Shares to the extent that Grimaldi , at the time of the redemption, is aware, either on the basis of Finnlines' shareholder register or other sufficient account, that the Finnlines shareholder whose Shares are being redeemed is generally liable to pay tax in Finland, a Finland-based branch office of a foreign credit institution or a Finland-based branch of an EEA alternative investment fund manager. Grimaldi will also bear the payments and charges arising from the book-entry registrations carried out as a consequence of the redemption.
To implement the redemption of the Shares Grimaldi will initiate arbitration proceedings as provided in the Finnish Companies Act.
Further information: Tapani Voionmaa, Group General Counsel, tel. +358 50 565 5207
Finnlines Plc
Tom Pippingsköld Tapani Voionmaa
CFO Group General Counsel
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About Finnlines
Finnlines is a leading shipping operator of ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. The Company is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd and is a part of the Grimaldi Group, one of the world’s largest operators of ro-ro vessels and the largest operator of the Motorways of the Sea in Europe for both passengers and freight. This affiliation enables Finnlines to offer liner services to and from any destination in the Mediterranean, West Africa as well as the Atlantic coast of both North and South America.