The head of the office says about the Fingrid deal worth more than 400 million euros: “At times like this, it might be better for the state to buy these shares”

The Ministry of Finance announced on Thursday afternoon about the deal in which the state buys a pension company From the air all of it Fingrid’s stocks.

After the arrangement is implemented, the state’s ownership of the grid company Fingrid will increase from 53.1 percent to 59.5 percent, and the voting power will increase from 70.9 percent to 81.5 percent.

“When Ilmarinen announced that it wanted to sell all of its share ownership in Fingrid, we immediately announced that we wanted to start negotiating the purchase of all A shares”, head of the Ministry of Finance’s office Juha says.

“It is true that even before this transaction, from the point of view of the Limited Liability Companies Act, the shareholding was quite high, but we thought that in times like this it might be better for the state to buy these shares.”

Finance minister Riikka Purra (ps) emphasizes the importance of Fingrid in terms of overall national security.

“Fingrid is a company of strategic interest to the state, which ensures the transmission of electricity and the functioning and uninterrupted operation of the electricity system in all conditions. The importance of the company to the reliability of energy supply and national security is an essential part of overall national security. Through the transaction, the state increases its ownership and voting power, which supports long-term preparedness,” Purra told Kauppaleh on Thursday evening.

According to Majanen, the negotiations lasted “some time”.

“It was clear to the government that if we could come to an agreement on the price, we would do the deal.”

The purchase price of the shares is approximately EUR 401.3 million. The final sale requires that the parliament allocates the funds necessary for the purchase.

“Big investment program”

According to Majanen, the goal of the state owner is not to take Fingrid “in a very different direction” with the sale.

“Fingrid is still the Finnish grid company, it has a big investment program. It makes the investments that the electricity market needs. There will be no change in this,” he emphasizes.

The overall solution also includes another share arrangement.

“Once this transaction is completed, the plan is to convert 50 of the A-series shares to be purchased into B-shares, which we would then sell with the exception of one OP Pohjola Kantaverkko Holding Ky. With this arrangement, we would get a little income from OP and reduce the costs that accrue to us,” says Majanen.

“With one B share, we could, if necessary, use the right of first refusal belonging to a B shareholder in the future, if a situation arises in the future that a B shareholder would like to give up his ownership.”

The ownership arrangement will have no effect on electricity transmission pricing.

“It is based on the regulation model confirmed by the Energy Agency. There is no prospect that there will be any changes to it with this deal,” says Majanen.