Konecranes has signed an agreement to exercise its option to raise its holding in the joint venture company Meiden Hoist System Company, Ltd. (MHS) of Japan from 49 to 65 percent. The transaction will be finalized on March 31, 2008.

Konecranes and Meidensha Corporation (Meiden), a Japanese company, entered into a joint venture agreement concerning the hoist business in Japan on November 6, 2002. Under the agreement, Konecranes was granted a call option to increase its holding in MHS by 16 percent. The call option was exercisable before March 31, 2008.

Meiden earlier held 51 % and Konecranes 49 % of the shares in the joint venture company MHS. Konecranes has signed an agreement to exercise the call option to acquire an additional 16 percent interest in MHS.

MHS has been marketing the MXT branded hoist in Japan since April 2003 in parallel with conventional MHS hoists, and holds approximately ten percent of the electric wire rope hoist market in Japan. The MXT hoist is based on Konecranes' successful CXT hoist technology. By increasing its shareholding in MHS up to 65%, Konecranes targets to increase its presence in the large Japanese hoist market as well as in Japanese export markets.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

Meidensha Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan is a heavy electric machinery manufacturer. The company has three Business Groups - Social Infrastructure Systems, Industrial Systems and Engineering Systems. Meidensha has annual sales of JYE 200 billion and 7,000 employees. The company is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Konecranes is a world-leading group of Lifting Businesses, serving a broad range of customers, including manufacturing and process industries, shipyards, ports and terminals. Konecranes provides productivity-enhancing lifting solutions as well as services for lifting equipment and machine tools of all makes. In 2007, Group sales totaled EUR 1,750 million. The Group has 8,400 employees, at more than 470 locations in 43 countries. Konecranes is listed on the OMX Helsinki Stock Exchange (symbol: KCR1V).