METSO'S SALE OF TIMBERJACK TO DEERE APPROVED BY THE U.S. AND CANADIAN ANTITRUST AUTHORITIES

Metso Corporation's sale of its forest machine group, Timberjack to Deere & Company has gained the formal approvals by the U.S. and Canadian antitrust authorities. Of the price, EUR 600 million will be paid as Timberjack's worldwide operations will be transferred to Deere & Company on the closing date which is estimated to be in the end of April. The gain on sale before taxes will be close to EUR 400 million and the taxes approximately EUR 130 million. The final price will be determined by Timberjack's financial statements on the closing date.

The divestment of Timberjack marks a major step forward in Metso's strategic focus on business areas serving process industries. The chosen focus areas are pulp and paper, the construction and civil engineering, and mining. The resources released through the divestment of the forest machine group will be concentrated on securing growth, on balancing the corporate structure, on developing Metso Future Care - Metso’s far-reaching customer service concept - and on new business potential.

Timberjack is the leading manufacturer of forest machines. In 1999, Timberjack had net sales of EUR 471 million and more than 1,900 employees.

Metso Corporation is a global supplier of process industry machinery and systems. Metso's business areas are fiber and paper technology, automation and control technology and machinery. The net sales of Metso Corporation was EUR 3.4 billion in 1999 and personnel totaled approximately 23,000. Metso Corporation is listed on the Helsinki Exchanges and New York Stock Exchange.


The enclosure can be downloaded from the enclosed link.

http://reports.huginonline.com/MetsoDeereENG.pdf