STOCKHOLM, Sweden, June 7, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Board of Directors of OM AB has decided to introduce a new world wide employee stock option scheme that will be available to all of the group with its wholly-owned subsidiaries, approximately 1,600 people in all.
The purpose of the stock options scheme is to increase the attraction of OM as an employer and to increase employee focus on shareholder value in relation to growth and profitability.
The options will be allocated at no cost to the employee. The options will entitle the holder to purchase shares in OM AB at a strike price that corresponds to 110 percent of the average share price during a reference period prior to the allotment day by the end of June. One option corresponds to one share. In total the scheme comprises around 730,000 shares. The options will be made available successively to the holder over a three-year period, at a rate of one third per annum, starting June 2003. The lifetime of the option is seven years.
Since the options carry a right to acquire existing shares, the scheme will therefore have no dilution effect for the shareholders of OM in terms of the number of shares. The program's size is estimated to have a theoretical dilution effect of less than 0.87 percent. This year's stock option program is contained within the boundaries of the hedging provisions made for previous years' programs and for this reason no additional costs will be incurred.
The options will be allocated to all OM employees during the month of June. The allocation of options to the President and CEO Per E. Larsson will be announced in connection with the interim report.
For further information or comments, please contact Olof Stenhammar, Chairman of the Board +46 8 405 66 42 Per E. Larsson, President and CEO +46 8 405 66 19 Jakob Hakanson, VP Investor Relations +46 8 405 60 42 Anna Eriksson, VP, Brand & Communications +46 8 405 66 12
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