HELSINKI, Finland, April 24, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- With reference to Section 2, paragraph 9 of the Finnish Securities Market Act and the relevant decision of the Finnish Ministry of Finance, Metso Corporation (NYSE:MX) has been informed that the holding of the funds managed by The Capital Group Companies, Inc. (taxpayer I.D. 86-0206507) has decreased below 5 percent of the voting rights of Metso Corporation on April 17, 2002. These voting rights were as follows:
Capital International Limited 0.02 % Capital Guardian Trust Company 0.02 % Capital International, S.A. 0.00 % Capital Research and Management Company 4.93 %
The funds managed by The Capital Group Companies, Inc. owned Metso's shares on April 17, 2002 as follows:
Capital International Limited 0.02 % Capital Guardian Trust Company 0.03 % Capital International, S.A. 0.00 % Capital Research and Management Company 6.24 %
The holding amounts to 6.29 percent of the paid up share capital and to 4.97 percent of the total votes of Metso Corporation.
Metso Corporation is a global supplier of process industry machinery and systems. Metso's core businesses are divided between Metso Paper (fiber and paper technology), Metso Minerals (rock and mineral processing) and Metso Automation (automation and control technology). In 2000, the net sales of Metso Corporation were EUR 3.9 billion, and the personnel totaled approximately 22,000. Metso Corporation is listed on the Helsinki and New York Stock Exchanges.