KONE Corporation to repurchase own shares

KONE Corporation’s Annual General Meeting held on February 21, 2003 authorized the Board of Directors to repurchase and redistribute the company’s own shares.

On the basis of this authorization KONE Corporation’s Board of Directors has today decided to commence repurchasing shares at the earliest on April 30, 2003. The repurchasing of shares will continue until otherwise announced.

The repurchased shares are to be used as compensation in possible acquisitions and in other arrangements as well as to develop the company’s capital structure.

Altogether no more than 5 percent of the company’s total number of shares may be repurchased, consisting of no more than 476,304 class A shares and no more than 2,696,876 class B shares, respecting the provisions of the Companies Act regarding the maximum number of own shares held by the company. At the present time, KONE has 833,479 of its class B shares in its possession.

Class B shares shall be purchased at the market price in public trading on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Class A shares shall be purchased outside the Stock Exchange at a price equivalent to the average paid for class B shares on the Stock Exchange at the time of purchase.

Sender:

KONE Corporation
Tapio Hakakari
Secretary to the Board of Directors

Outi-Maria Liedes
Senior Vice President,
Corporate Communications & IR

For further information, please contact:
Tapio Hakakari, Secretary to the Board, tel. +358 (0)204 75 4226

KONE is a global service and engineering company that specializes in moving people and goods. Annual net sales total EUR 5,500 million, and we employ nearly 35,000 people. KONE's B shares are listed on the Helsinki Exchanges.

www.kone.com