Espoo, Finland - Under an agreement signed on December 31, 2004, with Knill Group of Austria Nokia Corporation will sell all of the approximately 3.2 million Nextrom Holding shares it owns and will transfer the remaining loan agreement to Knill Group. These shares represent approximately 80% of the outstanding share capital. The joint purchase price for all the shares and the remaining loan is approximately eight million Swiss francs.
Nokia is selling its majority share in Nextrom as its activities are not related to Nokia's core mobile communications business. Nextrom, a supplier of manufacturing solutions and services to the fiber optic industry, is a publicly listed company on the Swiss Stock Exchange with 150 employees and operations located in Vantaa, Finland; Shanghai, China; and Atlanta, USA.
After the closing of the transaction, which is expected to take place during the first quarter of 2005, Knill Group will be the majority shareholder in Nextrom.
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