HKScan Oyj - Company Announcement

HKScan to sell its 50% stake in Saturn Nordic Holding AB (Sokolów)

HKScan Corporation               Stock Exchange Release         28/2/2014      
          9:30 a.m. 



HKScan to sell its 50% stake in Saturn Nordic Holding AB (Sokolów)

HKScan, a leading Nordic meat company, has signed an agreement to sell all its
shares (50%) in Saturn Nordic Holding AB to Danish Crown A/S, the other owner
of the company. Saturn Nordic Holding AB holds 100% of the shares in Sokolów S.
A. As a result of the agreement, HKScan will no longer hold an indirect stake
in Sokolów, which has been HKScan's joint venture in Poland. HKScan will keep
its wholly-owned subsidiary, HKScan Poland Sp.z o.o. located in Świnoujście,
Poland. 

Under the agreement, HKScan sells its shares for a price of EUR 180 million.
HKScan will receive a payment in cash. Additionally, HKScan will get a dividend
corresponding to PLN 35 million for the year 2013 and will record an estimated
capital gain of EUR 67 million for the sale.  It is estimated that the
divestment decreases the Group's net gearing by about 50 % points. The
completion of the divestment is subject to the approval of competition
authorities. 

In 2004, HKScan formed a joint venture with Danish Crown and together took over
the Sokolów operations. The Sokolów Polish business has been profitable and
growing, benefiting both parties during the cooperation. In 2013, HKScan's 50%
share of Sokolów's net sales was EUR 375 million. The good financial
performance and strong growth of Sokolów has impacted positively the value of
the business. 

“The deal is positive for all parties. For HKScan, the divestment enables the
Group to accelerate setting an even stronger focus on our other home markets,”
says Hannu Kottonen, President and CEO of HKScan. 

“We continue building HKScan as one strong Nordic Group focusing on branded
meat business. The deal resulting in strong balance sheet and lower net
financial costs will improve our prerequisites for speeding-up the strategic
work to invest in our strong brand offering as well as on related production
facilities and technologies,” Kottonen adds. 



HKScan Corporation
Hannu Kottonen
President and CEO

For further information, please contact:
Hannu Kottonen, President and CEO, HKScan Corporation.
Kindly submit a call-back request to Marja-Leena Dahlskog, SVP Communications,
firstname.surname@hkscan.com tel. +358 50 50 200 60.



HKScan is the leading Nordic meat expert. We produce, market and sell
high-quality, responsibly-produced pork, beef, poultry and lamb products,
processed meats and convenience foods under strong brand names. Our customers
are the retail, food service, industrial and export sectors, and our home
markets comprise Finland, Sweden, Denmark, the Baltics and Poland. We export to
close to 50 countries. In 2013, HKScan had net sales of EUR 2.5 billion and
some 11 000 employees, making us one of the Europe's leading meat companies. 



DISTRIBUTION:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki,
Main media,
www.hkscan.com