HELSINKI, Finland, Sept. 7, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Metso Corporation (NYSE:MX) has today obtained approval from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for its acquisition of Svedala Industri AB. As earlier communicated the last day of the acceptance period is today Sept. 7, 2001, and Metso will communicate the level of acceptances obtained in the offer as soon as practicable.
In addition, the European Commission has formally approved Sandvik AB as the purchaser of the divestment required as a condition of the European Commission's clearance of Metso's acquisition of Svedala given in January 2001.
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.