Espoo, Finland - September 28, 2000
Risto Siilasmaa, the President and Chief Executive Officer of F-Secure, Ari Hyppönen, the Chief Technology Officer of F-Secure, and Ismo Bergroth, a Senior Research Manager of New Technologies, have through Enskilda Securities sold a total of 8.5 million shares in F-Secure, corresponding to 6.1 % of its share capital, at a price of EUR 7.4 per share.
The transaction was oversubscribed and well received by the market with more than 80% of the shares placed with international institutional investors. After the sale, Risto Siilasmaa will continue to own 69.5 million shares representing 49.7% of the outstanding share capital and Ari Hyppönen and Ismo Bergroth will continue to own 9.1 million shares and 8.1 million shares representing 6.5 % and 5.8 % of the outstanding share capital respectively. The shares have been placed with Finnish and international institutional investors. As a result of these transactions, the proportionate share of F-Secure shares held by the public will increase from approximately 31% to approximately 37 %.
The initial public offering of F-Secure shares at the time of the Helsinki Stock Exchange listing in November 1999 was predominantly a new issue (90.3 %) and a 12-month lock up on further sales of shares was imposed on the founders of the company at that time. Since the time of the IPO, the market price for F-Secure shares has risen significantly and F-Secure's dispute with SSH Communications Security Oy has been resolved.
The sale of shares in F-Secure was initiated by Enskilda Securities in response to investor interest in F-Secure shares and the limited liquidity available on the market
The sale of shares has been conducted at the earliest opportunity following the
publication of the second quarter results of F-Secure and significant announcements from the company on September 4, 2000 relating to the resolution of the dispute with SSH Communications Security Oy and on September 25 relating to the new subsidiary F-Secure Online Solutions.
In order to increase liquidity in the F-Secure share and to limit uncertainty relating to the forthcoming expiry of the 12-month lock up in early November 2000, the Lead Managers of the IPO have released the lock up to allow for the sales now announced. In connection with the sales, Risto Siilasmaa, Ari Hyppönen and Ismo Bergroth have committed to an extension of the lock-up on their remaining shares pursuant to which said persons agree not to sell any additional shares, without the consent of Enskilda Securities, until after the publication of results for the year 2000 in March 2001.
Further Information:
Enskilda Securities
Dan Karlsson, Director +358 9 616 28139
David Glasspool, Director +44 171 248 06718