FINLAND, Feb. 8, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Metso Corporation's (NYSE:MX) Board of Directors has decided to divide Metso into four business areas. Two new business areas, Metso Minerals and Metso Ventures, will be established alongside Metso Paper and Metso Automation as of February 8, 2001.
Metso's Executive Board
Tor Bergman, President and CEO, will be the Chairman of Metso's Executive Board and Sakari Tamminen the Vice Chairman. The other members of the Executive Board will be Arto Aaltonen, President of Metso Automation; Juhani Pakkala, President of Metso Paper; Olli Vaartimo, President of Metso Minerals and Markku Karlsson, Senior Vice President, Corporate Technology and Harri Luoto, Senior Vice President, General Counsel.
Extended Executive Board
In addition, the following persons participate in the work of the Extended Executive Board:
-- Heikki Asujamaa, Senior Vice President, Corporate Planning -- Vesa Kainu, President, Metso Paper Service -- Bertel Karlsted, President, Paper Making Lines, Metso Paper -- Matti Kaehkoenen, President, Metso Automation, Field Systems -- Eero Leivo, Senior Vice President, HR and Administration, Metso -- Tapani Vainio-Mattila, President, Metso Engineering
Metso Paper
Metso Paper's organization will be divided into seven business lines, which include service functions:
-- Paper Machines -- Board Machines -- Panelboard Technology -- Tissue Machines -- Converting Equipment -- Mechanical Pulping Technology and -- Chemical Pulping Technology
Metso Paper's Board will consist of Tor Bergman, Chairman and Sakari Tamminen, Vice Chairman. Other members of the Board are Arto Aaltonen, Juhani Pakkala, President of the business area, and Vesa Kainu. Harri Luoto will be the Secretary of the Board.
Metso Minerals
Metso Minerals will consist of two business divisions and independent sales area organizations.
The business divisions will be Crushers and Grinding Mills, and Mobile Equipment and Screens.
The sales organizations will be geographically distributed between the European, American, Asian and Southern Hemisphere regions.
Serving on Metso Minerals' Board will be Tor Bergman, Chairman; Sakari Tamminen, Vice Chairman; Olli Vaartimo, President of the business area, and Arto Aaltonen as members. Harri Luoto will be the Secretary of the Board.
Metso Automation
Metso Automation's organization has been renewed. Metso Automation will now consist of three divisions instead of the earlier five. They will be
-- Field Systems, -- Paper Automation and -- Energy & Process Automation.
Serving on Metso Automation's Board will be Tor Bergman, Chairman, Sakari Tamminen, Vice Chairman, and Arto Aaltonen, President of the business area; Juhani Pakkala and Markku Karlsson as the other members. Harri Luoto will be the Secretary of the Board.
Metso Ventures
A new business area, Metso Ventures will include businesses with synergies with the tree core business areas, new businesses and businesses under strategic development. Metso Ventures will comprise Metso Engineering, a manufacturer of gears and components and Valmet Automotive, a contract manufacturer of specialty cars.
Serving on Metso Ventures' Board will be Tor Bergman, Chairman, Sakari Tamminen, Heikki Asujamaa and Tapani Vainio-Mattila as the other members. Harri Luoto will be the Secretary of the Board.
Metso Ventures will be headed by Sakari Tamminen in addition to his other duties as Executive Vice President and CFO 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 1999, the net sales of Metso Corporation were EUR 3.4 billion, and the personnel totaled approximately 23,000. Metso Corporation is listed on the Helsinki and New York Stock Exchanges.