The AST Board has decided to acquire the Oy Ja-Ro Ab shares, which will be transferred on 1 March. The further transaction to split the JARO operations into two companies, is scheduled to be finalised in April. JARO Fittings will subsequently be transferred from AST to the AvestaPolarit ABE Group, on 2 May.

The above transactions are a natural step in the AvestaPolarit merger process, as both AST and JARO are active in stainless steel welded pipes.

The new AST Group will focus exclusively on the stainless steel welded tube business. It will have a turnover of around EUR 180 million and employ about 680 people.

The different companies within the AST Group will continue their business as before and AST, JARO and Finnpipe will keep their respective trademarks.

AST is currently owned 75% by AvestaPolarit and 25% by Sandvik.

AST will finance the purchase of Oy Ja-Ro Ab by a share issue, in which Sandvik has declared that they will not subscribe for new shares. As a result of this, AvestaPolarit‘s ownership of AST will increase to about 83%.

For further information, please contact:

Antti Närhi, President, Special Products,
tel. +358 9 5764 5511, e-mail: antti.narhi@avestapolarit.com

Christer Bäck, VP-Tubes,
tel. +46 (0)586 472 65, e-mail: christer.back@avestapolarit.com

Christer Asp, President, JARO tel. +358 9 5764 5200

Linnoitustie 4 A, PO Box 270, FIN-02601 Espoo, Finland. Tel: +358 9 5764 5511, fax +358 9 5764 5555

Vasagatan 8-10, PO Box 16377, SE-10327 Stockholm, Sweden. Tel: +46 8 613 3600, fax +46 8 613 3669

Registered office: Espoo, Business ID: 0823312-4