Ahlstrom Corporation, a global high performance materials company, has today signed an agreement to divest its wipes fabrics business area, Home and Personal, to Suominen Corporation, a Finnish publicly listed company. The total value of the transaction is approximately EUR 170 million.

Under the agreement, Ahlstrom sells the operations of its Home and Personal business area to Suominen and receives a total of EUR 170 million in cash, of which Ahlstrom has committed to use a total of EUR 30 million to subscribe for shares in Suominen. Suominen will finance the transaction through debt and proceeds received in a planned directed share issue. The company's largest current shareholders representing a minimum of 64 % of the shares and votes have committed to vote in favour of the directed issue. Finnish institutional investors Varma, Ilmarinen, Tapiola, Sampo and Suomen Teollisuussijoitus have committed to subscribe for shares in the directed issue.