Market Court in Finland dismisses allegations of Eltel's competition law violation as time barred

On 31 October 2014, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) proposed a fine of EUR 35 million on Eltel in the Finnish Market Court. The violation of competition law alleged by the FCCA is related to Eltel's power transmission line construction and planning business in Finland during the period 2004-2011. The main hearing in the case was held in the Finnish Market Court in September 2015.

In relation to the listing of Eltel at the Nasdaq Stockholm in February 2015, the selling shareholders entered into an agreement whereby they contributed EUR 35 million to an escrow account held by Eltel to cover any fines (excluding costs and damages from third-party claims) payable by Eltel in relation to the FCCA's fine proposal. In the event of a final decision where Eltel will pay a fine, the equivalent amount will be converted into equity from the escrow.

For further information regarding this case and the guarantee (escrow), please refer to Eltel’s Annual Report 2014 and Eltel’s IPO prospectus.

Eltel maintains that the company did not violate competition law, and the matter has now been dismissed as time barred by the Market Court.

The information above has been published pursuant to the Swedish Securities Markets Act (Sw: Lag om värdepappersmarknaden) and the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act (Sw: Lagen om handel med finansiella instrument).

For further information:
Ingela Ulfves
VP - IR and Group Communications 
Tel: +358 40 311 3009, ingela.ulfves@eltelnetworks.com

Päivi Hautamäki
General Counsel and Group Secretary
Tel: +358 40 311 3211, paivi.hautamaki@eltelnetworks.com

About Eltel
Eltel is a leading European provider of technical services for critical infrastructure networks – Infranets – in the segments of Power, Communication and Transport & Security, with operations throughout the Nordic and Baltic regions, Poland, Germany, the United Kingdom and Africa. Eltel provides a broad and integrated range of services, spanning from maintenance and upgrade services to project deliveries. Eltel has a diverse contract portfolio and a loyal and growing customer base of large network owners. In 2015 Eltel net sales amounted to EUR 1,255 million. The current number of employees is approximately 9,600. Since February 2015, Eltel AB is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.