KONE Corporation’s board of directors signed on November 1, 2004 the demerger plan regarding demerging KONE into two corporations. The demerger plan includes proposals regarding, among other, the following issues:
- the corporate names of the recipient corporations, their Articles of Association, boards, auditors and share capital
- consideration shares for KONE shareholders
- exchange of KONE 2004 option rights for corresponding option rights in the recipient corporations
- the division of the demerging parent company’s assets and liabilities between the parent companies of the new corporations.
A demerger prospectus will be disclosed on December 9, 2004. This prospectus will include descriptions of the new corporations’ operations, their balance sheets, historical pro forma
financial information and other details concerning the demerger. A shareholders’ meeting will on December 17, 2004 decide on the demerger.
In addition to the demerger plan, KONE published on November 1, 2004 an
invitation to a shareholders’ meeting, and a
release concerning the affect of the proposed demerger and extension of the accounting period on the KONE 2004 option rights. See also
Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting section.
Aventum Partners is KONE’s financial advisor and lead manager of the demerger in Finland, and Castrén & Snellman Attorneys Ltd is it’s legal advisor.
KONE Corporation’s demerger plan
1. DemergerThe Board of Directors of KONE Corporation (“KONE”) proposes a demerger of KONE by transfer of all its assets and liabilities without a liquidation procedure to two public limited corporations (Oyj) to be established and by dissolution of KONE. It is proposed that the two new corporations to be established will be named KONE Corporation (“New KONE”) and Cargotec Corporation (“Cargotec”).
The demerger will be carried out in accordance with the regulations of Chapter 14 a of the Finnish Companies Act and Chapter 52 c § of the Business Income Tax Act.
As consideration for their shares in KONE (“Consideration) the shareholders of KONE will receive, in proportion to their existing shareholding, shares in the new corporations. The shares in the new corporations will be divided into class A and class B shares.
Following approval of the demerger plan, the demerging corporation’s Shareholders’ Meeting will establish the new corporations and approve the proposed Articles of Association, respectively, for them, as well as elect a Board of Directors and auditors for the new corporations, and finally decide on remunerations for their Board members and auditors. Furthermore, the Shareholders’ Meeting will decide to offer the option holders of KONE option rights of the receiving corporations on corresponding conditions.
2. Demerging CorporationCorporate name: Kone Corporation
Corporate ID: 0110139-9
Address: PO Box 8, 00331 Helsinki / Kartanontie 1, 00300 Helsinki
Domicile: Helsinki
3. Recipient Corporations to be EstablishedCorporate name: KONE Corporation
Address: PO Box 8, 00331 Helsinki / Kartanontie 1, 00300 Helsinki
Domicile: Helsinki
Corporate name: Cargotec Corporation
Address: PO Box 61, 00501 Helsinki / Sörnäisten rantatie 23, 00500 Helsinki
Domicile: Helsinki
4. Proposal for Articles of Association of the New CorporationsThe proposed new Articles of Association of
New KONE and
Cargotec are attached hereto as Appendices 1 and 2.
5. Board of Directors and Auditors for the New Corporations5.1 Appointment and Remuneration of the Board of Directors and Auditors of the New KONEAccording to the proposed Articles of Association for New KONE, the Board of Directors will consist of a minimum of five (5) and a maximum of eight (8) board members and a maximum of three (3) deputy board members. According to the proposed Articles of Association, the term of the members ends at the next Annual General Shareholders’ Meeting after the election.
The Board of Directors proposes to the Shareholders’ Meeting to elect seven (7) members to New KONE’s Board of Directors.
It is proposed to the Shareholders’ Meeting that the following board members will be elected: Matti Alahuhta, Jean-Pierre Chauvarie, Antti Herlin, Sirkka Hämäläinen-Lindfors, Masayuki Shimono, Iiro Viinanen and Gerhard Wendt.
It is proposed to the Board of Directors of New KONE that it will promote the election of Antti Herlin as Chairman and Sirkka Hämäläinen-Lindfors as Vice Chairman and to appoint Manfred Eiden as Managing Director of New KONE, both nominations effective immediately upon the effective date of the demerger.
It is proposed to the Shareholders’ Meeting that two auditors will be elected for the company. The proposed auditors are the authorized public accountants Jukka Ala-Mello and PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd.
In case a board member resigns or is found legally incompetent before the effective date of the demerger the Shareholders’ Meeting of the demerging corporation will hold a by-election. The demerging corporation’s Shareholders’ Meeting will also elect new auditors if necessary.
Proposed remunerations for the board members and auditors are as follows:
- A monthly remuneration of 4,000 euro for the Chairman, 3000 euro for the Deputy Chairman, and, respectively, 2,000 euro for the other board members, unless a board member is otherwise compensated by the corporation in his or her position as an employee or like.
- There will be no separate compensation for attendance at board meetings. Expenses are compensated against invoice.
- Auditors’ fees are compensated against invoice.
5.2 Appointment and Remuneration of the Board of Directors and Auditors of CargotecAccording to the proposed Articles of Association of Cargotec, the Board of Directors will consist of a minimum of five (5) and a maximum of eight (8) board members and a maximum of three (3) deputy board members. The term of the members ends at the next Annual General Shareholders’ Meeting after the election.
The Board of Directors proposes to the Shareholders’ Meeting to elect seven (7) members to the corporation’s Board of Directors.
It is proposed to the Shareholders’ Meeting that the following board members will be elected: Matti Alahuhta, Jean-Pierre Chauvarie, Antti Herlin, Sirkka Hämäläinen-Lindfors, Masayuki Shimono, Iiro Viinanen and Gerhard Wendt.
It is proposed to the Board of Directors of Cargotec that it will promote the election of Antti Herlin as Chairman and Sirkka Hämäläinen-Lindfors as Vice Chairman and to appoint Carl-Gustaf Bergström as Managing Director of Cargotec, both nominations effective immediately upon the effective date of the demerger.
It is proposed to the Shareholders’ Meeting that two auditors will be elected for the company. The proposed auditors are the authorized public accountants Jukka Ala-Mello and PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd.
In case a board member resigns or is found legally incompetent before the effective date of the demerger the Shareholders’ Meeting of the demerging corporation will hold a by-election. The demerging corporation’s Shareholders’ Meeting will also elect new auditors if necessary.
Proposed remunerations for the board members and auditors are as follows:
- A monthly remuneration of 4,000 euro for the Chairman, 3000 euro for the Deputy Chairman, and, respectively, 2,000 euro for the other board members, unless a board member is otherwise compensated by the corporation in his or her the position as an employee or like.
- There will be no separate compensation for attendance at board meetings. Expenses are compensated against invoice.
- Auditors’ fees are compensated against invoice.
6. Shareholders’ Consideration and Time of Demerger6.1 Determination of the ConsiderationShareholders of the demerging corporation are entitled to receive as Consideration shares in the recipient corporations as follows:
- Each class A share of KONE is entitled to one (1) class A share of New KONE and one (1) class A share of Cargotec.
- Each class B share of KONE is entitled to one (1) class B share of New KONE and one (1) class B share of Cargotec.
The nominal value of KONE Corporation’s share is one (1) euro. The accounting par value of a share of New KONE is one (1) euro and a share of Cargotec one (1) euro.
Shareholders of KONE will receive the Consideration and in proportion to their existing shareholding. The ownership structure and the division of voting rights of New KONE and Cargotec after the demerger will reflect the structure of the demerging corporation on the effective date of the demerger. The class A and class B shares differ from each other on the basis of the voting rights and the right to dividend connected to the shares.
6.2 Time of Demerger and Other TermsThe Consideration is given on the effective date of the demerger.
The Consideration is distributed in the book-entry system so that the shares in KONE entered in its list of shareholders and in the book-entry accounts of its shareholders on the effective date of the demerger are converted into shares in New KONE and Cargotec on terms of trade determined in this demerger plan.
The shares in KONE the share certificates of which have not been entered into the book-entry system in connection with the transfer of the shares of KONE into the book-entry system are deposited in a joint book-entry account opened by the Finnish Central Securities Depositary.
There were 5,715 class B shares deposited in the joint book-entry account as per September 30, 2004. If a shareholder submits his or her share certificates for entry into the relevant book-entry register not later than seven (7) days before the effective date of the demerger
Consideration will be given when the shares have been registered in the book-entry system. The shareholder will receive as Consideration new shares in the proportion set out in this demerger plan and the new shares will be registered in the shareholder’s book-entry account. If this is not possible, the shares will be converted in the joint book-entry account.
7. Holders of Option Rights7.1 Option Program 2004The Annual General Shareholders’ Meeting of KONE held on February 27, 2004 approved the distribution of option rights. The Shareholders’ Meeting granted 350,000 option rights divided into 180,000 class A option rights to be subscribed for by the key personnel and 170,000 class B option rights to be subscribed for by KONE’s subsidiary Kone Capital Oy. In total 145,130 class A option rights were subscribed for. Kone Capital subscribed for all 170,000 class B option rights for further assignment to the key personnel of the corporation.
The option rights have been issued in the book-entry system and the class A option rights are listed on the main list of the Helsinki Stock Exchange as of April 1, 2004. The class B option rights will be listed on the main list of the Helsinki Stock Exchange approximately as of April 1, 2005.
According to the option program, one option right entitles to subscribe for three (3) class B shares in KONE (KONBS) for the price of 24.67 euro per share. A total of 435,390 shares can be subscribed for under the class A option rights and a total of 510,000 shares under the class B option rights. The subscription period of class A option rights is from April 1, 2004 to March 31, 2008 and of class B option rights from April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2009. The annual subscription period is from January 2 to November 30. The shares that have been subscribed for under the option rights are entitled to dividends for the financial period during which they have been subscribed for. Other shareholder rights are effected upon registration of the increase of the share capital in the trade register.
By September 30, 2004 a total of 145,050 B shares in KONE have been subscribed for under the class A option rights. The remaining class A option rights entitle to the subscription of a total of 290,340 class B shares in KONE.
The terms of the option program allow KONE and its Board of Directors to offer, in case of a demerger, an exchange of option rights on the same terms which are applicable to the corporation’s shares in a demerger. If the exchange of option rights of the demerging corporation into new corresponding option rights is offered, the clause on redemption of option rights in the Finnish Companies Act becomes inapplicable.
7.2 Exchange of Option RightsThe Board of Directors of KONE has decided to offer exchange of the existing option rights to the option holders as follows:
- Each class A option right of KONE can be exchanged into one (1) class A option right of New KONE and one (1) class A option right of Cargotec; and
- each class B option right of KONE can be exchanged into one (1) class B option right of New KONE and one (1) class B option right of Cargotec.
After the exchange the holder of a present option right is entitled to subscribe for three (3) class B shares in New KONE and three (3) class B shares in Cargotec. The current share subscription price of 24.67 euro in accordance with the prevailing option program will be divided on the basis of the market values of New KONE and Cargotec at the time of their listing. The market values will be calculated on the basis of the trade volume weighted average price of the first six (6) trading days of the New KONE and Cargotec, however so that the first trading day is excluded. If the shares are listed as planned on June 1, 2005, the average price and number of shares traded between June 2 and 8, 2005 will be used as calculation basis.
The terms of the new option programs are attached to this demerger plan as Appendices 4 and 5.
As stated in the terms of the option program, option holders do not have the right to demand redemption of option rights at a market price in accordance with Chapter 14 a, Section 3 of the Finnish Companies Act because option holders have been offered the exchange of existing options into new, equivalent ones.
7.3 Time of the Consideration and Other TermsThe conversion of option rights is to be carried out in the book-entry system.
8. Subordinated Loans (capital loans)The demerging corporation has not issued any subordinated loans as defined in Chapter 14, 4 § 2 paragraph 4 of the Finnish Companies Act.
9. Repurchase and Use of KONE Corporation’s Own SharesOn February 27, 2004 the Shareholders’ Meeting of KONE authorized the Board of Directors to decide on the acquisition of KONE’s own shares by using funds available for profit sharing so that on the basis of the authorization the Board of Directors can acquire a maximum number of 3,173,180 shares, divided into 476,304 class A shares and 2,696,876 class B shares, however, taking into consideration the provisions of the Finnish Companies Act regarding the maximum number of own shares held by the company. The authorization is in force until February 27, 2005.
KONE’s own shares have been acquired to be used as payment in acquisitions or other arrangements or in restructuring the corporation’s capital, in accordance with the resolution made by the Shareholders’ Meeting. The Board of Directors has been authorized to decide to whom and how these shares are assigned.
The Board of Directors of KONE decided on March 22, 2004 to commence acquisition of its own shares on March 29, 2004. On the signing date of the demerger plan, KONE holds 2,696,876 class B shares, which equals to the maximum amount of class B shares authorized by the Shareholders’ Meeting. Neither KONE nor any of its subsidiaries holds any class A shares. The aggregate nominal value of the corporation’s own class B shares is 2,696,876 euro and their acquisition value as entered into the balance sheet is 116,438,150.21 euro.
The Shareholders’ Meeting authorized the Board of Directors to decide to whom the corporation’s own shares are assigned. The Board of Directors proposes to the Shareholders’ Meeting that the decision concerning the use of the shares will be prolonged until the time of the execution of the demerger.
Any remaining unassigned own shares held by KONE at the time of the execution of the demerger will not entitle to Consideration in the demerger and will consequently become null and void.
10. Special Benefits and Rights upon DemergerNo special benefits or rights are granted to the demerging corporation’s Board members, Managing Director or auditors or to an auditor acting as independent adviser mentioned below.
The independent expert is compensated against an approved invoice.
11. Proposal for the Division of Assets and Liabilities11.1 Division of Assets and LiabilitiesIt is proposed that the assets and liabilities of KONE are divided between the new corporations as follows:
- Shares, assets and liabilities of the lift and escalator business are transferred to New KONE.
- Shares, assets and liabilities of the container and cargohandling business (Kalmar and Hiab) are transferred to Cargotec.
Based on this general rule, Cargotec will receive:
- the shares in the following companies: KONE Holding Sverige AB, Kone Cargotec Oy, Kalmar UK Holding AB and Partek Cargotec Holding Netherlands B.V., and all possible assets accrued from the companies after the signing of the demerger plan,
- credits outstanding and debts to companies belonging to the Cargotec business
- financial assets in accordance with
Appendix 6,- long-term debts as detailed in Appendix 6 or the debts that have replaced these debts before the execution of the demerger,
- interest rate swaps related to the debts that will be transferred to Cargotec,
- pledges, liens and corresponding undertakings/commitments given as guarantee for the liabilities of the demerging corporation’s business operations that will be transferred to Cargotec, and
- intellectual property pertaining to the business that will be transferred to Cargotec.
Other known assets and liabilities are transferred to New KONE. Also the registered auxiliary firm-names of KONE will be transferred to New KONE.
Assets unrelated to the aforementioned businesses are endeavored to be sold before the effective date of the demerger. The seller’s liabilities possibly connected to these assets will be transferred to the recipient corporations in proportion to their market values at the time of the listing in a manner that will be explained below.
Division of assets and liabilities is detailed in Appendix 6. The division is based on KONE’s interim accounts of September 30, 2004, however, so that the incorporation of the Finnish lift and escalator businesses into KONE Elevators Oy and KONE Industrial Oy executed on October 1, 2004 has been taken into account. Before the execution of the demerger the following measures with an effect on the balance sheet items to be transferred have been or will be taken:
(i) Proposal to the Shareholders’ meeting convening at the end of the current financial year to distribute dividends to shareholders of the demerging corporation, thereby decreasing the non-tied equity that will be transferred to New KONE;
(ii) Potential assignment or nullification of the corporation’s own shares;
(iii) The merger of the subsidiary Tracfin Holding Oy into the demerging corporation, after which the shares in Consolis Oy Ab that KONE has received in the merger, will be transferred to Cargotec in the demerger; and
(iv) The capital investments that will be made in the companies belonging to the Cargotec group in accordance with Appendix 6 in order to make the own capital and other structure such that all the assets, debts and liabilities connected to the container and cargo-handling business can be transferred to Cargotec or companies belonging to the same group as Cargotec.
If the dividend for the current financial year according to previous item (i) has not been distributed to the shareholders before the execution of the demerger, all assets reserved for the payment of the dividend and the debt incurred thereby are transferred to New KONE, which will carry out the distribution of the dividend on behalf of the demerging corporation.
The assignment of own shares in accordance with section (ii) affects the equity of New KONE.
If the merger referred to in point (iii) cannot be carried out before the execution of the demerger the shares of Tracfin Holding Oy will be transferred to New KONE and the fact that the shares of Consolis Oy Ab cannot be transferred will be compensated to Cargotec by assigning an amount of financial assets corresponding to the value of the shares.
At the effective date of the demerger, tax receivables and payables on KONE’s balance sheet are transferred to New KONE. Possible tax liabilities that exceed the tax payables on the balance sheet are divided to the recipient corporations in the proportion of their market value upon listing as detailed below.
All possible unidentified debts and liabilities of KONE Corporation that can not clearly and indisputably be deemed to belong to the business operations of either of the recipient corporations will be transferred to the recipient corporations in proportion to their respective market value upon listing.
The market values are calculated based on the trade volume weighted average price of the first six (6) trading days of the shares in New KONE and Cargotec, excluding the first trading day. If the shares are listed as planned on June 1, 2005, the average price and number of shares traded between June 2 – 8, 2005 will be used as calculation basis.
This same principle will apply to the possible unidentified assets.
The recipient corporations share equally all costs of the finalization of the demerger process.
11.2 Issues Affecting Appreciation and Division of AssetsAll assets are appreciated at book value in the demerger. Values of assets and liabilities transferable as such to the respective balance sheet of the new corporations are detailed in Appendix 6. There are no specific appreciation difficulties relating to the division of assets and liabilities.
12. Proposal for Share Capital of the New Recipient CorporationsThe total restricted capital of the demerging corporation on September 30, 2004 was 286,626,714.54 euro, of which 63,608,670 euro is share capital. There are 9,526,089 class A shares and 54,082,581 class B shares.
The share capital on the effective date of the demerger depends on the number of shares subscribed for under the current option rights and on whether the corporation holds any of its own shares that will become null and void in the demerger.
According to Section 6.1 above, the share capital of the two recipient corporations will equal the share capital of the demerging corporation at the time of the demerger.
The rest of the demerging corporation’s restricted capital will be transferred to the respective share premium accounts of the recipient corporations in accordance with Appendix 6.
12.1 New KONEThe minimum share capital of New KONE will be 60,911,794 euro and the maximum 64,409,010 euro. The final share capital and number of shares depend on the number of shares in KONE subscribed for based on the existing option rights and on whether the demerging corporation holds any of its own shares which will become null and void in the demerger.
12.2 CargotecThe minimum share capital of Cargotec will be 60,911,794 euro and the maximum 64,409,010 euro. The final share capital and number of shares depends on the number of shares in KONE Corporation subscribed for based on the existing option rights and on whether the demerging corporation holds any of its own shares which will become null and void in the demerger.
13. Purpose of DemergerThe purpose of the demerger is to divide KONE’s businesses into two new corporations, one consisting of the lift, escalator and automatic doors businesses and the other of the material handling business. The Board of Directors of KONE believes that dividing KONE into two internally synergetic corporations will make them more effective, provide them with growth potential and improve shareholders’ ability to evaluate them as investments.
14. Planned Registration Time of the Execution of DemergerThe demerger is executed on the day of registration thereof in the trade register.
The planned time of registration of the demerger is May 31, 2005.
15. ListingNew KONE and Cargotec are applying for listing of their class B shares on the main list of the Helsinki Stock Exchange approximately as of June 1, 2005.
New KONE and Cargotec are applying for listing of their class A and B options on the Helsinki Stock Exchange approximately as of June 3, 2005.
16. Other Terms and Conditions(a) After the signing of the demerger plan the demerging corporation will not make any new resolutions affecting the corporation’s share capital or any resolutions on emission of either option rights or convertible loans.
(b) Employees of the demerging corporation are transferred to the respective new corporations upon execution of the demerger with the same benefits and compensations as before.
(c) The demerger is contingent on relevant authority approvals and permissions and on there not being any legal impediment to the execution of the demerger.
(d) The Board of Directors of KONE summons the Shareholders’ Meetings of both new corporations to convene on 17.6.2005 to decide on the acquisition of the recipient corporations’ own shares.
17. Approval of Demerger Plan in the Shareholders’ MeetingThis demerger plan is presented for approval to the Extraordinary Shareholders’ meeting of KONE Corporation to be held on December 17, 2004.
This demerger plan is executed in five (5) identical copies, one (1) for KONE, one (1) for New KONE, one (1) for Cargotec and two (2) for the authorities.
Helsinki, November 1, 2004
KONE Corporation
Board of Directors
| Antti Herlin |
|
| Matti Alahuhta |
Jean-Pierre Chauvarie |
| Sirkka Hämäläinen-Lindfors |
Masayuki Shimono |
| Iiro Viinanen |
Gerhard Wendt |
Appendices to the demerger plan
Articles of Association of New KONE (Appendix 1)
Articles of Association of Cargotec (Appendix 2)
Terms of the 2004 option program (Appendix 3)
Terms of the option program of New KONE (Appendix 4)
Terms of the option program of Cargotec (Appendix 5)
Proposal for the division of assets and liabilities (Appendix 6)
After registration of the demerger plan, the following documents will be attached to it:
- Copy of the interim accounts of September 30, 2004 of the demerging corporation
- Copies of the statement of accounts and related documents for the financial year ending
December 31, 2003 and those of the two preceding years of the demerging corporation
- Statement of the Board of Directors on events occurred after the interim accounts
significantly affecting the position of the corporation.
- Statement of the auditors on the interim accounts for January 1 – September 30, 2004 and on
the statement of the Board of Directors
- Statement by the independent expert on the demerger plan