First State Investments and Borealis Infrastructure, which invests on behalf of Canadian pension funds, will each own 40 percent of the new company, Suomi Power Networks. Finnish pension fund Keva will take a 12.5 percent stake, while LähiTapiola will own the final 7.5 percent.
Some 320 employees and 600,000 customers will transfer to the new firm after the deal completes in early 2014. The value of the move is put at a total of 2.55 billion euros, made up of debt and cash. Fortum's power grid delivers about one fifth of Finland's electricity.
The Finnish government is the majority owner of Fortum, which has been seeking a buyer for its distribution business for some time. Speculation had focused on possible foreign buyers, and the Centre party had recently proposed that a state-owned infrastructure company be established to buy Fortum's network and use the proceeds to invest in Finland.
