Finland Sells Stake in Patria to Kongsberg
The Finnish government said on Thursday it would sell 49.9 percent of the shares in defence group Patria to Norway's state-controlled Kongsberg Gruppen for 272 million euros ($308 million).
Finland, which will retain the remaining stake, had struggled to find a suitable industrial investor for Patria after it had been forced to buy Airbus Group out of the company in 2014.
Patria is seen as a nationally important company as its products include tanks and mortar systems and it handles maintenance tasks for Finland's military forces.
Last year, Patria had sales of 428 million euros with an operating profit of 47 million euros.
The partnership with Kongsberg will help Patria grow in a consolidating industry, the government said.
Defence minister Jussi Niinisto said that while the transaction was carried out for business reasons, it would also strengthen defence cooperation in the Nordic region.
Nordic countries have stepped up their defence ties following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Norway is a NATO member, while Finland is militarily non-allied.
The deal, expected to be closed during the second quarter, is also part of the Finnish government's asset sale plan that could raise 1.6 billion euros in total to fund its economic stimulus measures.
(Reporting by Jussi Rosendahl)
