YIT CORPORATION STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE MAY 30, 2008 AT 8.00
YIT TO BUY MCE'S BUILDING SYSTEM SERVICE OPERATIONS IN GERMANY, AUSTRIA,
POLAND,
THE CZECH REPUBLIC, HUNGARY AND ROMANIA
YIT Corporation and MCE AG have signed an agreement on the sale of
MCE's
building system service business in Germany, Austria, Poland,
the Czech
Republic, Hungary and Romania to YIT on May 29, 2008. The
value of the
acquisition is EUR 55 million. The amount to be paid in
cash in the transaction
will be specified further when the deal is closed,
once the net debt of the
acquired operations has been deducted from the
value of the acquisition. The
completion of the transaction is subject to
approval by competition authorities.
It is estimated that the acquisition will
be completed by July 31, 2008.
The operations acquired by YIT
provide a broad range of services in the field of
building systems and their
maintenance and operation. The purchased operations
employ about 1,900
people. Revenue for 2007 amounted to EUR 355 million. Of the
revenue,
slightly over 40% was generated in Germany, slightly over 40% in
Austria, and the remaining approximately 15% in Poland, the Czech Republic,
Hungary and Romania. The acquired operations complement YIT's services, and
the
transaction is not expected to result in personnel reductions.
The purchase of the operations is part of YIT's strategy to expand
its offering
of building system services geographically. As a result of the
transaction, YIT
will expand its operations to six new countries.
Geographical expansion aims at
gaining a position in new markets, creating
opportunities for profitable growth
and maintaining a balanced business
structure by increasing low capital
intensive services.
- The transaction gives a
foothold in new markets and provides opportunities for
growth. We continue to
steer the acquired operations towards long-term service
agreements and
upkeep and maintenance works. The aim is to improve the
profitability. We have a good track record of similar business and
profitability
development from acquisition of ABB's building system operations
in 2003,
comments Hannu Leinonen, President and CEO of YIT Corporation.
The purchased business will form a new division within
YIT's Building Systems
business segment. Karl-Walter Schuster (58),
currently head of MCE's Building
Technology Division, will be appointed as
head of the new division. Following
the transaction, the Building Systems
business segment will account for about
half of YIT Group's revenue.
Geographically, the purchased operations account
for approximately 9% of
the Group's revenue.
The transaction
will not change YIT Group's outlook for 2008. In its Interim
Report on 25
April 2008, YIT estimated that the revenue and profit before taxes
for 2008
will increase compared to the previous year.
Information sessions, webcast and conference call
YIT will hold an information session today on May 30, 2008 at 10.00
(CEST) in
English at hotel Radisson SAS Royal, address Runeberginkatu 2,
00100 Helsinki.
It is also possible to participate in the event through a
conference call.
Participants are asked to call the designated number
+44 20 7162 0025 a minimum
of 5 minutes before the conference call begins.
A webcast of the event can be viewed live at
www.yitgroup.com/webcast. The
webcast replay will be available at the
same address starting at approximately
12.00 (CEST).
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Time zone | The information session, | Recording of the webcast
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EEST (Helsinki) | 11:00 a.m. | 13:00 a.m.
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CEST (Paris, | 10:00 a.m. | 12:00 a.m.
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BST (London) | 9:00 a.m. | 11:00 a.m.
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US EDT (New | 4:00 a.m. | 6:00 a.m.
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YIT
CORPORATION
Juha Kostiainen
Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications and Business Development
For further information, please contact:
Petra Thorén, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, YIT
Corporation, +358
40 764 5462, petra.thoren@yit.fi
Juhani Pitkäkoski, President, YIT Building Systems Ltd,
+358 400 451 644,
juhani.pitkakoski@yit.fi
YIT is a successful European service company
in building systems, construction
services and services for industry. We
build, develop and maintain quality
living environments in Finland,
Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania and Russia. In
2007, YIT's revenue amounted to EUR 3.7 billion, and
the Group employed
more than 23,000 people. YIT's share is listed on OMX Nordic
Exchange
Helsinki. www.yitgroup.com
MCE
AG and its 8,300 employees plan, manufacture, erect and service plants and
components for the process industry in Europe. In 2007, sales of the MCE
group
amounted to EUR 1.1 billion.
Majority owner of MCE AG are Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG) and one
of the
buyout funds managed by it, holding 75 % of the company shares;
Andlinger &
Company Group holds an interest of 25 %. The MCE AG
headquarters are in Linz,
Austria. The strategic core area is Europe where
the MCE group has a close
network of locations in Germany, Austria,
Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic,
Hungary and the Ukraine.
www.mce-ag.com
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