MARIMEKKO TO ARRANGE A DIRECTED SHARE ISSUE TO ITS PERSONNEL IN FINLAND IN SPRING 2019

Marimekko Corporation, Stock Exchange Release, 1 November 2018 at 8.15 a.m.



MARIMEKKO TO ARRANGE A DIRECTED SHARE ISSUE TO ITS PERSONNEL IN FINLAND IN SPRING 2019

A small number of shares will be offered at a considerable discount

Marimekko Corporation’s Board of Directors has, pursuant to the authorisation granted by the Annual General Meeting held on 12 April 2018, decided to arrange a directed share issue in Finland, in which new shares in the company are offered for subscription to the personnel and to designers employed by the company on a freelance basis. The Board of Directors will decide on the detailed terms and conditions as well as schedule of the personnel share issue in early 2019.

 

“Marimekko’s organisation culture is characterised by a strong spirit of internal entrepreneurship and doing things together. The fact that our personnel hold shares in the company provides a natural reinforcement of the owner’s viewpoint as we build Marimekko’s future together. We also arranged a personnel share issue in 2012, in which as many as 60 per cent of the company’s employees and freelance designers participated. Marimekko then became the first public company in Finland with the majority of employees being shareholders in the company. During our recently-started strategy period extending to 2022, we are seeking stronger growth than before and we think that now is a logical time for another personnel share issue. The intention is to offer shares on advantageous terms to encourage as many people as possible to increase their shareholding or to become owners of Marimekko,” says Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko, President and CEO.

A maximum total of 150,000 new shares in the company will, in deviation from the shareholders’ pre-emptive right, be offered for subscription to Marimekko’s employees and designers in Finland. The purpose of the share issue is to encourage the personnel and designers to own the company’s shares. The maximum total number of new shares will represent approximately 1.9 per cent of the current total number of the company’s shares.

As in 2012, the personnel will be offered the right to subscribe for new shares at two differed subscription prices. The subscription price for the first 50 shares will be determined by the Board of Directors in early 2019 based on the then prevailing price of the company’s share on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd, less a discount of about 50 per cent. The subscription price for shares to be subscribed for after the first lot of shares is planned to be consistent with the principle applied in the 2012 share issue, i.e. determined by the Board of Directors based on the then prevailing price of the company’s share on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd, less a discount of 10 per cent. In case of oversubscription, preference would again be given primarily to small subscriptions instead of large individual subscriptions.



The Board of Directors will decide in early 2019 on the final subscription price of the shares to be offered in the personnel share issue, on the share subscription period, on the payment of subscriptions, on at least one-year transfer restriction on shares subscribed for at the lowest price, and on other detailed terms and conditions of the share issue.



Further information:

Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko, President and CEO, tel.



MARIMEKKO CORPORATION

Corporate Communications



Piia Kumpulainen

Tel.

DISTRIBUTION:

Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd

Key media

Marimekko is a Finnish design company renowned for its original prints and colours. The company’s product portfolio includes high-quality clothing, bags and accessories as well as home décor items ranging from textiles to tableware. When Marimekko was founded in 1951, its unparalleled printed fabrics gave it a strong and unique identity. Marimekko products are sold in about 40 countries. In 2017, brand sales of the products worldwide amounted to EUR 193 million and the company's net sales were EUR 102 million. Roughly 150 Marimekko stores serve customers around the globe. The key markets are Northern Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region. The Group employs about 450 people. The company’s share is quoted on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd.