Pension insurance companies Ilmarinen and Varma to challenge Novator on its plans to divide Elisa

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Novator Finland Oy, the Finnish subsidiary of the Icelandic investment company Novator, and the Finnish pension insurance companies Ilmarinen and Varma are now pondering how to fish for the votes of the smaller shareholders at the extraordinary meeting of shareholders set for January 21st.
      The meeting has been called to discuss the division of Elisa into a holding company and a telecommunications arm, as suggested by Novator. In the meeting even the votes of the smaller shareholders are of significance. The ownership base of Elisa consists of more than 200,000 individuals, and regular households account for a quarter of the capital stock.
     
Such a large owner-base is usually reached out to by newspaper ads, through which credentials are requested to be used in a shareholders' meeting.
      Novator announced on Thursday that it would begin its programme "to communicate its intentions to the shareholders". When asked on Thursday, Orri Hauksson of Novator was reluctant to specify what such a programme would mean in practice.
      "We have not decided yet when and how this communicating is going to happen", he said. "We want both the large and small shareholders to have a broad knowledge base for their decision making."
      In its announcement Novator implies that the programme to advise the shareholders is some kind of countermove against the Elisa Board’s decision to postpone the extraordinary meeting of shareholders from its original date of December 18th to late January.
      On Thursday morning, Novator expressed its surprise at the Board’s decision. In Novator’s opinion it would have served the shareholders’ interest to see the matter to a conclusion without delay.
     
Of the ten largest Elisa shareholders, none have so far confessed to sharing Novator’s sentiments with regard to dividing the company.
      The third largest owner, investor Ari Salmivuori’s Ajanta, says it does not comment on Novator’s suggestions. Salmivuori is known as Novator owner Thor Björgólfsson’s business associate.
      The large pension insurance companies Varma and Ilmarinen have both declared that they are opposed to Novator’s proposal.
      "We will establish a dialogue with the shareholders", says Varma chief investment officer Risto Murto.
      This dialogue will be extended to "all owners", he adds. "The small shareholders are technically the most interesting challenge."
      Murto, too, refrains from specifying what the means of trying to influence the owners might include. Such details will be discussed in the coming days. At least Varma and Ilmarinen have shared thoughts on this, Murto confirms.
      Defence Minister Jyri Häkämies (Nat. Coalition), whose portfolio also includes charge of the State’s 0.65 per cent holding in Elisa, is slightly perplexed by Novator’s haste and "needlessly aggressive" mode of action. The government’s attitude towards Elisa’s future is still being formulated.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Decision on Elisa split postponed until late January (29.11.2007)
  Icelandic shareholders hope to restructure management of telecom company Elisa (26.11.2007)

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