KONE Corporation to repurchase own shares

KONE Corporation's Annual General Meeting held on February 23, 2009 authorized the Board of Directors to repurchase and redistribute the company's own shares. On the basis of this authorization, KONE Corporation's Board of Directors has decided to commence the possible repurchasing of shares at the earliest on March 3, 2009. The repurchasing of shares can continue until otherwise announced.

Altogether no more than 25,570,000 shares may be repurchased, of which no more than 3,810,000 are to be class A shares and 21,760,000 class B shares, taking into consideration the provisions of the Companies Act regarding the maximum amount of own shares that the Company is allowed to possess. The KONE Group currently has 4,905,506 class B shares in its possession.

The minimum and maximum consideration for the shares to be purchased is determined for both class A and class B shares on the basis of the trading price for class B shares determined on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Oy on the time of purchase.

About KONE

KONE’s objective is to offer the best people flow experience by developing and delivering solutions that enable people to move smoothly, safely, comfortably and without waiting in buildings in an increasingly urbanizing environment. KONE provides its customers with industry-leading elevators, escalators and innovative solutions for modernization and maintenance, and is one of the global leaders in its industry. In 2008, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 4.6 billion and over 34,800 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd in Finland.

www.kone.com

For further information, please contact:
Jukka Ala-Mello, Secretary to the Board, tel. +358 (0)204 75 4226

Sender:

KONE Corporation

Jukka Ala-Mello
Secretary to the Board

Anne Korkiakoski
Executive Vice President
Marketing & Communications