September 5, 2008 – Metso has sold Metso Foundries Karlstad AB’s
shares to a financial investor group which Primaca Group Oy represents.
Metso will continue as a minority owner with a 16.7% share in Heavycast
AB - a new company to which the Primaca Group will transfer the
acquired shares. The value of the transaction is about EUR 15 million
and Metso will book a small tax-free capital gain from the sale.
Over
80% of Metso Foundries Karlstad’s production volume goes to customers
outside Metso. The biggest growth potential for the foundry is in the
wind generator sector, which is not part of Metso’s core businesses.
Wind generator components currently represent more than half of the
foundry’s sales.
Concurrently with the divestment, Metso has
made a long-term partnership and delivery agreement with Heavycast to
secure the long-term supply of castings for yankee cylinders for
Metso’s tissue business.
Metso Foundries Karlstad AB, part of
Metso Paper, is one of the leading manufacturers of large, hand-molded
iron castings in northern Europe. Located in Karlstad, the foundry
supplies castings for wind generator components, diesel engine blocks,
and yankee cylinders for paper machines. In 2007, the net sales were
roughly EUR 20 million and the number of employees 120. The employees
will continue working under their existing employment contracts for
Heavycast.
Primaca Group is a Finnish partnership specializing
in direct private equity placements mainly in Finland and the Nordic
region. Primaca manages its portfolio companies by actively
facilitating the development work between the owners and operative
management. Primaca’s current investment portfolio comprises 16
companies with combined net sales of EUR 700 million and 2,800
employees. Primaca has one foundry company in its portfolio at the
moment, i.e. Uudenkaupungin Rautavalimo Oy (URV).
Metso is a
global engineering and technology corporation with 2007 net sales of
over EUR 6 billion. Its over 27,000 employees in approximately 50
countries serve customers in the pulp and paper industry, rock and
minerals processing, the energy industry and selected other industries.