Finnlines - Company Announcement

Grimaldi has notified Finnlines today of redemption right regarding remaining Finnlines shares

Helsinki, Finland, 2016-02-03 18:45 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Finnlines Plc      
                                   Stock Exchange Release  3 February 2016 at
19:45 



GRIMALDI HAS NOTIFIED FINNLINES TODAY OF REDEMPTION RIGHT REGARDING REMAINING
FINNLINES SHARES; 
GRIMALDI OFFERS EUR 17.80 PER SHARE IN THE REDEMPTION PROCEEDINGS

According to the announcement, Grimaldi Group S.p.A. ("Grimaldi") together with
Grimaldi Deep Sea S.p.A. and Grimaldi Euromed S.p.A., its partly-owned
subsidiaries, holds more than nine tenths (9/10) of all the shares and votes in
Finnlines Plc ("Finnlines"). As a consequence of exceeding the relevant
threshold, Grimaldi has the right, based on Chapter 18, Section 1 of the
Finnish Companies Act, to redeem the shares held by other Finnlines
shareholders at fair value. Grimaldi’s current holding in Finnlines is
50,486,671 shares corresponding to approximately 98.03 per cent of all the
shares and votes in Finnlines. 

Grimaldi has decided to exercise its redemption right under the Finnish
Companies Act and to redeem all the shares held by any other remaining
shareholders in Finnlines (the "Shares" and each of them separately, a
"Share"). Grimaldi’s redemption claim based on the redemption right is
substantially as follows: 

The redemption price for the Shares is EUR 17.80 per Share ("Redemption
Price"). Grimaldi submits that the share purchase executed on 9 October 2015
(the "Share Purchase") between Grimaldi Euromed S.p.A. and Ilmarinen Mutual
Pension Insurance Company is the clearest and the most reliable indication of
the fair price of a Share. The said Share Purchase concerned approximately a
10.5 per cent’s stake of Finnlines shares and the purchase price therein was
EUR 17.80 per share. 

Grimaldi will bear possible transfer tax collected in Finland deriving from the
redemption of the Shares to the extent that Grimaldi , at the time of the
redemption, is aware, either on the basis of Finnlines' shareholder register or
other sufficient account, that the Finnlines shareholder whose Shares are being
redeemed is generally liable to pay tax in Finland, a Finland-based branch
office of a foreign credit institution or a Finland-based branch of an EEA
alternative investment fund manager. Grimaldi will also bear the payments and
charges arising from the book-entry registrations carried out as a consequence
of the redemption. 

To implement the redemption of the Shares Grimaldi will initiate arbitration
proceedings as provided in the Finnish Companies Act. 



Further information: Tapani Voionmaa, Group General Counsel, tel. +358 50 565
5207 



Finnlines Plc



Tom Pippingsköld                   Tapani Voionmaa
CFO                                       Group General Counsel



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About Finnlines
Finnlines is a leading shipping operator of ro-ro and passenger services in the
Baltic Sea and the North Sea. The Company is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd
and is a part of the Grimaldi Group, one of the world’s largest operators of
ro-ro vessels and the largest operator of the Motorways of the Sea in Europe
for both passengers and freight. This affiliation enables Finnlines to offer
liner services to and from any destination in the Mediterranean, West Africa as
well as the Atlantic coast of both North and South America. 

www.finnlines.com