Quoting of Helsinki Telephone's E shares commenced on the main list of
the Helsinki Exchanges on 25 November 1997. In June 1998, Helsinki
Telephone Association changed its legal form to that of a cooperative.
Upon the transformation, the Cooperative sold 4,000,000 Helsinki
Telephone E shares previously held by it to international institutional
investors. At the same time, Helsinki Telephone issued 4,000,000 new
Helsinki Telephone E shares.
By the end of February 1998, the
Cooperative had converted all 27,295,400 Helsinki Telephone K shares in
its possession into E shares. After the conversions, and the private
placings to Oulun Puhelin Oy and OKO Bank, the Cooperative's votes as a
shareholder of Helsinki Telephone fell from 91.1 per cent to 68.4 per
cent.
As at 31 March 1999, the Cooperative had approximately
348,000 registered members. In 1995, the number of Membership
Certificates was capped at 575,000, and the issuing of new Membership
Certificates ceased in January 1998. From 19 October 1998 throughout 4 May 1999, Membership Certificates were listed for trading on the
pre-list of the Helsinki Exchanges. On 11 May 1999, the Cooperative
transformed into HPY Holding, and the members registered in the
Cooperative's register of members became the shareholders of HPY
Holding. One Membership Certificate entitled the holder to 150 HPY Holding A
shares, the trading of which commenced on the main list of the Helsinki
Exchanges on 1 July 1999.
HPY Holding Corporation and Helsinki
Telephone Corporation merged on 1 July 2000. The merger of HPY Holding
Corporation and Helsinki Telephone Corporation was the final stage in
the transformation process which had started in 1994. The purpose of the
restructuring was to build a leading edge and customer-oriented company
that creates shareholder value. In the merger, Helsinki Telephone’s
business operations were transferred to HPY Holding Corporation. Upon
the merger, HPY Holding Corporation adopted a new corporate name: Elisa
Communications Corporation. Pursuant to the merger plan, shareholders of
Helsinki Telephone received as merger consideration 2.16204 HPY Holding
A shares for each Helsinki Telephone E share. In the same connection,
the shares of Helsinki Telephone were declared null and void, and HPY
Holding A shares were converted into A shares of Elisa Communications. Trading
of Elisa Communications A shares commenced on the Helsinki Exchanges on 3 July 2000.
The purchase prices of Helsinki Telephone Association's Membership Certificate since 1996