At the end of 2010, the Board of Directors had no valid authorizations for increasing the share capital, granting special rights, or issuing stock option rights.
Vaisala has two series of shares: Series K and Series A. Series A shares are traded on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. A shares carry one (1) vote at shareholders' meetings and K shares twenty (20) votes each. A shares represent 17.9% of the total votes and K shares 82.1% of the total votes. The K shares represent 18.6% of the total number of shares and 82.1% of the total votes. Both series entitle their holders to equal dividends. K shares can be converted into an A shares in the manner specified in the Articles of Association.
The A shares have beeen listed on the Helsinki exchange since 1994.
The A and K shares were split 1:4 in March 2000.
Share capital
On December 31, 2009, the price of Vaisala’s A share in the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Oy was EUR 25.10, and on December 31, 2010, the share price was EUR 20.50. The highest quotation during the review period in 2010 was EUR 25.77 and the lowest EUR 18.52. The number of shares traded in the stock exchange during the review period was 2,415,565.
On December 31, 2010, Vaisala had 18,218,364 shares, of which 3,389,684 are series K shares and 14,828,680 are series A shares. The shares have no counter book value.
The market value of Vaisala’s A shares on December 31, 2010 was EUR 303.8 million, excluding the Company’s own shares. Valuing the K shares - which are not traded on the stock market - at the rate of the A share’s closing price on the final day of the financial year, the total year-end market value of all the A and K shares together was EUR 373.3 million, excluding the Company’s own shares.
According to the company's Articles of Association, the maximum number of shares is 68,490,017 and Vaisala’s maximum share capital is EUR 28.8 million. All issued shares have been fully paid for. The shares have no consent or redemption clauses attached to them.
According to the Articles of Association, a K share can be converted into an A share in the manner specified in the Articles.
The number of shares held and controlled by Vaisala Corporation's Board of Directors on December 31, 2010 was 1,312,249; accounting for 14.6% of the total votes (2009: 1,353,425 shares and 15.6% of the total votes). The company's President and CEO owned 2720 shares.
Vaisala’s main shareholders are listed on the Group website and in the Notes to the Financial Statements.
Company holdings
At the end of 2010, the company held a total of 9,150 Vaisala A shares, which represented 0.05 percent of the share capital and 0.01 percent of the votes. The consideration paid for these shares was EUR 251,898.31.