Metso has sold Metso <link _top>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 <link _top>Foundries Karlstad's production volume goes to customers outside Metso. The biggest growth potential for the <link _top>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 <link _top>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 <link _top>castings for yankee cylinders for Metso's tissue business.
Metso <link _top>Foundries Karlstad AB, part of Metso Paper, is one of the leading manufacturers of large, <link _top>hand-molded <link _top>iron castings in northern Europe. Located in Karlstad, the <link _top>foundry supplies <link _top>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's current investment portfolio comprises 16 companies with combined net sales of EUR 700 million and 2,800 employees.
Primaca has one <link _top>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.
