A competing offer to Etteplan Oyj’s public offer for Semcon AB has been published

Etteplan Oyj, Stock Exchange Release, Inside information, 26. September, 2022 at 8:30 p.m. EEST

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT AN OFFER, WHETHER DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN AUSTRALIA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, CANADA, NEW ZEALAND, SOUTH AFRICA OR THE UNITED STATES OR IN ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE SUCH OFFER PURSUANT TO LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS IN SUCH RELEVANT JURISDICTION WOULD BE PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW. SHAREHOLDERS NOT RESIDENT IN SWEDEN WHO WISH TO ACCEPT THE OFFER (AS DEFINED BELOW) MUST MAKE INQUIRIES CONCERNING APPLICABLE LEGISLATION AND POSSIBLE TAX CONSEQUENCES. SHAREHOLDERS SHOULD REFER TO THE OFFER RESTRICTIONS INCLUDED IN THE SECTION TITLED "IMPORTANT INFORMATION" AT THE END OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND IN THE OFFER DOCUMENT.

On 23 August 2022, Etteplan Oyj published a recommended public offer for the shares of Semcon AB, according to which Etteplan offered 149 SEK for each Semcon share. On 26 September, 2022, Ratos AB published a competing offer for the Semcon shares, offering Semcon shareholders 157 SEK for each Semcon share. Due to the competing offer, Semcon's Board of Directors announced on 26 September, 2022 that it recommends Semcon's shareholders to accept the competing offer and that the previous recommendation to accept Etteplan's offer is withdrawn.

As set out in its offer on 23 August, 2022, Etteplan will not raise its offer. Semcon's largest shareholder, JCE Group (ownership 25.9%), has announced that it will accept Ratos' offer. In view this, Etteplan expects that it will not reach at least 90% ownership of Semcon's shares, a condition for its offer, in which case the conditions of Etteplan's offer will not be fulfilled by the end of the offer period on 6 October, 2022.

Etteplan records the one-time costs related to the preparation of the transaction in the third quarter of the current year. However, the financial guidance for 2022 remains unchanged.

In addition, the currency hedging risk related to the preparation of the transaction will have a significant negative impact on financing items and thus on earnings per share in the third quarter. The final effect of the currency hedge is recorded in the company's fourth quarter result.

Etteplan Oyj

Board of Directors

For enquiries, please contact:
Juha Näkki, President and CEO, Etteplan  tel. +358 10 307 2077
Outi Torniainen, SVP, Marketing and Communications, Etteplan  tel. +358 10 307 3302

Important information

This announcement is not an offer, whether directly or indirectly, in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa or the United States or in any other jurisdictions where such offer pursuant to legislation and regulations in such relevant jurisdictions would be prohibited by applicable law (the "Restricted Jurisdictions").

The release, publication or distribution of this release in or into jurisdictions other than Sweden may be restricted by law and therefore any persons who are subject to the laws of any jurisdiction other than Sweden should inform themselves about, and observe any applicable requirements. In particular, the ability of persons who are not resident in Sweden to accept the Offer may be affected by the laws of the relevant jurisdictions in which they are located. Any failure to comply with the applicable restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the companies and persons involved in the Offer disclaim any responsibility or liability for the violation of such restrictions by any person.

This announcement has been prepared for the purpose of complying with Swedish law, the Takeover Rules and the Swedish Securities Council's rulings regarding interpretation and application of the Takeover Rules and the information disclosed may not be the same as that which would have been disclosed if this release had been prepared in accordance with the laws of jurisdictions other than Sweden.

Unless otherwise determined by Etteplan or required by Swedish law, the Takeover Rules and the Swedish Securities Council's rulings regarding interpretation and application of the Takeover Rules, and permitted by applicable law and regulation, the Offer will not be made available, directly or indirectly, in, into or from a Restricted Jurisdiction or any other jurisdiction where to do so would violate the laws in that jurisdiction and no person may accept the Offer by any use, means or instrumentality (including, but not limited to, facsimile, e-mail or other electronic transmission, telex or telephone) of interstate or foreign commerce of, or of any facility of a national, state or other securities exchange of any Restricted Jurisdiction or any other jurisdiction where to do so would constitute a violation of the laws of that jurisdiction and the Offer may not be capable of acceptance by any such use, means, instrumentality or facilities. Accordingly, copies of this release and any formal documentation relating to the Offer are not being, and must not be, directly or indirectly, mailed or otherwise forwarded, distributed or sent in or into or from any Restricted Jurisdiction or any other jurisdiction where to do so would constitute a violation of the laws of that jurisdiction and persons receiving such documents (including custodians, nominees and trustees) must not mail or otherwise forward, distribute or send them in or into or from any Restricted Jurisdiction or any other jurisdiction where to do so would constitute a violation of the laws of that jurisdiction.

The availability of the Offer to shareholders of Semcon who are not resident in and citizens of Sweden may be affected by the laws of the relevant jurisdictions in which they are located or of which they are citizens. Persons who are not resident in or citizens of Sweden should inform themselves of, and observe, any applicable legal or regulatory requirements of their jurisdictions.

The Offer, the information and documents contained in this release are not being made and have not been approved by an authorized person for the purposes of section 21 of the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the "FSMA"). Accordingly, the information and documents contained in this release are not being distributed to, and must not be passed on to, the general public in the United Kingdom, unless an exemption applies. The communication of the information and documents contained in this release is exempt from the restriction on financial promotions under section 21 of the FSMA on the basis that it is a communication by or on behalf of a body corporate which relates to a transaction to acquire day to day control of the affairs of a body corporate; or to acquire 50 percent or more of the voting shares in a body corporate, within article 62 of the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005.

This release has been published as a press release in Sweden in Swedish and English and in Finland as a stock exchange release in Finnish and English. In the event of any discrepancy in content between the versions, the Swedish press release shall prevail.

Forward-looking statements

Statements in this release relating to future status or circumstances, including statements regarding future performance, growth and other trend projections and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives, intentions and expectations with respect to future financial results, events, operations, services, product development and potential and other effects of the Offer, are forward-looking statements. These statements may generally, but not always, be identified by the use of words such as "anticipates", "intends", "expects", "believes", "estimates", "plans", "will be" or similar expressions. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by these forward-looking statements due to many factors, many of which are outside the control of Etteplan. Any forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date on which they are announced. Except as required by the Takeover Rules or applicable law or regulations, Etteplan expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to publicly announce updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in the offer document to reflect any change in expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. The reader should, however, consult any additional disclosures that Etteplan or Semcon have made or may make.