Meriaura Group Plc
Company Announcement 5 March 2025 at 2.00 p.m. (CET)
Change of date for Meriaura Group Plc’s Annual General Meeting 2025 – new members nominated for the Board of Directors following the merger of Meriaura Group Plc and Summa Defence Oy
The date of Meriaura Group Plc’s Annual General Meeting 2025 has been changed. The Board of Directors of Meriaura Group Plc has decided to reschedule the AGM to 16 April 2025 from the previously announced date. The notice for the AGM will be published through a company announcement three weeks prior to the meeting, and registration instructions will be available on the company’s website www.meriauragroup.com thereafter.
In addition to the usual matters within the decision-making authority of the AGM, the AGM will discuss and decide on the merger of Meriaura Group Plc and Summa Defence Oy by share exchange, as announced on 29 January 2025.
The AGM will also propose the appointment of a new Board of Directors for the merging Meriaura Group Plc and Summa Defence Oy. The proposed board members are Samuli Koskela, Arto Räty, Erja Sankari, Sirpa-Helena Sormunen and Antti Vehviläinen. According to the proposal, Samuli Koskela will assume the role of Chairman of the Board. All proposed members are independent of the company and major shareholders.
Samuli Koskela
Chairperson of the Board – Born in 1974, Board Member, Entrepreneur
Samuli Koskela is a seasoned Legal Counsel and Business Transactions Professional with a specialisation in mergers and acquisitions, growth strategies, and strategy implementation, backed by over twenty years of experience. His extensive career encompasses significant roles as both a legal practitioner and an executive, previously serving as a partner and CEO at Lexia Attorneys Ltd. With a proven record of managing MA processes and spearheading strategic growth initiatives across diverse sectors, Samuli has demonstrated proficiency in providing advisory services to a wide range of companies, from private enterprises to publicly listed corporations.
Arto Räty
Board member – Born in 1955, Senior Advisor, Board Professional, LTG (res).
Experienced leader on a mission to help companies understand the unprecedented changes in their operating environment. For close to six years was a member of Fortum’s Executive Management Team; leading the publicly listed company’s Public Affairs, Communications, Brand, Sustainability and Security. Today a Board professional and Advisor. Arto Räty is the Chairperson of the Board of East Railways Oy (Itärata Oy), Board Member of Auris Energy, Etelä-Savon Energia, Outokummun Energia and member of Infrastructure Senior Advisory Panel abrdn Private Equity Fund (Europe). He is also a Senior Advisor at Miltton.
He has built career in the military (LTG) with also nine years of service in the Ministry of Defence. The last five years he has served in the Defence sector as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence and the Chairperson of the National Security Committee.
Antti Vehviläinen
Board member – Born in 1955, MBA
Antti Vehviläinen works as a Senior Advisor on logistics in JEITO. He acted as Director General of Finnish Transport Agency from 2013 until his retirement in 2018 being responsible for all transport infrastructure (road/rail/maritime) in Finland. Before that, in 1987-2012 he was responsible for the global supply chain of StoraEnso Plc, multinational forest products company. Vehviläinen held administrative and marketing management positions both in Finnish and international shipping companies in 1978-1986, e.g. in Brazil and Germany. He has been a board member in several Finnish and international companies, as well as in international logistics organisations. He is member of the Board in Meriaura Oy.
Sirpa-Helena Sormunen
Board member – Born in 1959, Master of Law
Sirpa-Helena Sormunen is a seasoned legal professional with extensive experience in compliance and corporate governance. She has held prominent positions such as the General Counsel at Fortum and General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Uniper SE. Currently, she serves as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors at Gasum Oyj and the Board member at Enersense. Between 2012-2024 she has acted as a board member of Nammo AS.
Erja Sankari
Board member – Born in 1973, Master of Science (econ.)
Erja Sankari is an accomplished executive with a strong background in global supply chain management and operations. She currently holds the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at iLOQ. Before joining iLOQ, she served as the Vice President of Global Supply Chain at Nokia. Additionally, Sankari is actively involved in various leadership roles. Currently she acts as the Board member at Nurminen Logistics Oyj, Partnera Oyj, Proventia Oy, Eltel Group AB and Strategic Advisory Board of University of Oulu. Previously she has acted as the board member of the Leden Group Oy.
Meriaura Group Plc and Summa Defence Oy to merge with a share exchange
On 29 January 2025, Meriaura Group Plc signed a conditional share exchange agreement to acquire the entire share capital of Summa Defence Oy, which brings together defence and security companies. The transaction will create a strong group of companies focusing on safety and security of supply in Finland, in which dual-use technology will play a significant role. In connection with the arrangement, the Marine Logistics business (Meriaura Oy and its wholly owned subsidiary VG-EcoFuel Oy) will be sold to Meriaura Invest Oy. The name of the new listed company will be Summa Defence Plc. The holding of Meriaura Group’s current shareholders in the new group of companies will be 11.9%, and that of Summa Defence’s shareholders will be 88.1%.
Meriaura Group’s company release about the conditional share exchange agreement can be found at:
MERIAURA GROUP PLC
More information:
Meriaura Group Plc
Jussi Mälkiä, CEO
Tel. +358 400 785 489
Email: jussi.malkia@meriaura.com
Summa Defence Oy
Jussi Holopainen, CEO
Tel. +358 44 517 4543
Email: jussi.holopainen@summadefence.com
Meriaura Group Plc in brief
Meriaura Group Plc has two business areas: Marine Logistics and Renewable Energy.
Meriaura Oy, which engages in the Marine Logistics business, is a major provider of transport for bulk cargo and demanding project deliveries in Northern Europe, especially in the Baltic Sea and North Sea regions. The company provides its customers with competitive low-emission marine transport services, which are based on long-term affreightment agreements, a modern fleet and the active development of operational sustainability. In addition, Meriaura has a strong market position as a marine transport provider in renewable energy construction projects.
The Marine Logistics business also includes VG-EcoFuel Oy, which produces biofuels from bio-oils and recycled oils generated as industrial by-products.
The Renewable Energy business focuses on comprehensive clean energy solutions. Meriaura Energy Oy designs and delivers clean energy production systems as comprehensive deliveries for industry and district heat production. Energy production is built around large-scale solar thermal systems implemented using high-performance solar thermal collectors manufactured by the company. The Renewable Energy business also includes Rasol Oy, which provides high-quality solar power systems for buildings, businesses and solar parks.
Meriaura Group’s shares are listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market Sweden under the symbol MERIS and on Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland under the symbol MERIH.
www.meriauragroup.com
The company’s Certified Adviser is Augment Partners AB, info@augment.se, tel. +46 8-604 22 55.
