SIEVI CAPITAL PLC AND BOREO PLC HAVE SIGNED A COMBINATION AGREEMENT

SIEVI CAPITAL PLC AND BOREO PLC HAVE SIGNED A COMBINATION AGREEMENT

SIEVI CAPITAL PLC
INSIDE INFORMATION
29 September 2021 at 9:00 am EEST

NOT FOR DISCLOSURE OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, OR IN ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE DISCLOSURE OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW.

The Boards of Directors of Sievi Capital Plc (“Sievi Capital”) and Boreo Plc (“Boreo”) have today signed a combination agreement (the “Combination Agreement”) and a merger plan to combine the companies through a merger (the Future Company”). The name of the Future Company will be Boreo Plc.

The Future Company will be one of the leading growth platforms of Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd (“Nasdaq Helsinki”) Stock Exchange for small and medium-sized companies that, with its strong financial position and strong independent business operations, will have good preconditions for growth in Northern Europe in the long term. In 2020, the Future Company's preliminary illustrative combined net sales were approximately EUR 474 million and adjusted EBITDA approximately EUR 59 million, of which the illustrative minority share is EUR 21 million. The Future Company will employ approximately 1,700 people.

Transaction Highlights

  • The proposed combination will be implemented as a statutory absorption merger pursuant to the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act whereby Sievi Capital will merge into Boreo. The Board of Directors of Boreo proposes to the Extraordinary General Meeting of Boreo to be held prior to the completion of the combination that the Extraordinary General Meeting authorises the Board of Directors of Boreo to decide on a share issue without payment in which Boreo's shareholders are issued new shares without payment in proportion to their holdings so that fourteen (14) new Boreo shares are issued for each share (share split). Similarly, new shares will be issued without payment to Boreo on the basis of its treasury shares. The new shares will be issued immediately before the registration of the completion of the combination.

  • Upon completion, Sievi Capital's shareholders will receive 0.4492 new shares in Boreo for each share they held in Sievi Capital on the record date as merger consideration. This implies that the shareholders of Sievi Capital would then hold approximately 40 per cent and the shareholders of Boreo approximately 60 per cent of the shares and votes in the Future Company. The merger consideration shares will be listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Stock Exchange in connection with the merger.

  • This conversion rate included a 42.1 per cent premium for Sievi Capital’s shareholders compared to the closing price of Sievi Capital’s share on 17 August 2021 before the disclosure of the letter of intent. Using the one (1) month volume-weighted average prices of the companies up to 17 August 2021, the premium was 24.0 per cent and with three (3) month volume-weighted average prices up to 17 August, it was 16.8 per cent.

  • Before the Effective Date, Boreo has the right to distribute to its shareholders the second instalment of the dividend decided by its Annual General Meeting on 15 April 2021, which is EUR 0.20 per share.

  • The Future Company’s strategy will be based on the basis of Boreo's current strategy, acknowledging the business and strengths of the new combined entity. The details of the strategy and the strategic financial objectives of the Future Company will be disclosed after the completion of the combination.

  • As a result of the combination, Sievi Capital's target companies will become part of the operations of the Future Company. The Future Company will develop its businesses in the long term and without an intention of divesting them.

  • Sievi Capital and Boreo have obtained necessary commitments for the financing of the completion of the merger.

  • The combination requires, among other things, approval by a majority of two-thirds of votes casts and shares represented at the Extraordinary General Meetings of Boreo and Sievi Capital and the obtaining of merger control approvals. Completion is expected to take place in the first half of 2022, provided that all the conditions for completion are met.

  • Preato Capital AB, the majority shareholder of Sievi Capital and Boreo, representing approximately 23.23 per cent of the shares of Sievi Capital and approximately 72.91 per cent of the shares of Boreo, has undertaken, under certain normal terms and conditions, to vote irrevocably in favour of the combination. The representatives of Preato Capital AB have not participated in the decision-making on the combination of the Boards of Directors of Sievi Capital and Boreo.

  • The combination is unanimously recommended by the Board of Directors of Sievi Capital and Boreo to their respective shareholders.

  • It is proposed that the Board of Directors of the Future Company is composed of four (4) Sievi Capital's current Board members (Juha Karttunen, Kati Kivimäki, Taru Narvanmaa, Lennart Simonsen), four (4) Boreo’s current Board members (Camilla Grönholm, Jouni Grönroos, Ralf Holmlund, Michaela von Wendt) and Simon Hallqvist who is acting in the board of directors of both companies. It is proposed that the Future Company’s Chairman will be Simon Hallqvist. The Boards of Directors of Boreo and Sievi Capital have agreed that Kari Nerg, Boreo's current CEO, will be the CEO of the Future Company.