Vacon Oyj (HEL:VAC1V) Vacon Group, PRESS RELEASE, 21 August 2008:



The Finland-based AC drives manufacturer Vacon is the official main sponsor of the Finnish Alpine Ski Team during the seasons of 2008-2009 and 2009-2010. The parties started their cooperation already in 2006, and this new main sponsor agreement will increase Vacon's visibility in its most significant market areas in Finland, Central Europe and North America.

"Alpine skiing is an exciting sport full of action, and it has become very popular in the recent years. The same applies to the AC drives business and Vacon. We started our cooperation with the Finnish Alpine Ski Team already a couple of years ago, and now we want to deepen cooperation because being a sponsor of this spectacular winter sports increases our visibility in important market areas," says Heikki Hiltunen, Executive Vice President, Vacon.

"We think that it is significant that our cooperation with Vacon has reached a new level and Vacon is now our official main sponsor. We have FIS Alpine World Ski Championships ahead of us in 2009, and thereafter, our target is set to the Olympic Games in Vancouver in 2010. This two-year agreement will give stability to our teams while they prepare for these important goals. Vacon is a suitable partner for us in every way: both parties have made steady and strong progress in their pursuit to be world-class in their own fields," says Janne Leskinen, Director of alpine and freestyle skiing.

Vacon is the main sponsor of Finnish men's, women's and junior alpine ski teams as well as young ladies' (Tehotytöt) team. The Finnish Alpine Ski Team will participate in Vacon's customer and personnel events as per agreement. "Both alpine skiing and the AC drives business require long-term work and the ability to react quickly. Therefore, it is natural for us to cooperate with the alpine ski team and to offer inspiring experiences to our customers and personnel in Finland, Central Europe and North America," Hiltunen concludes.

Vacon's logo will be visible in the official clothing that the Alpine Ski Team wears during races, training and PR events. Additionally, the logo will be used in the official training and racing clothes of the Finnish Junior Alpine Ski Team and young ladies' (Tehotytöt) team.

The alpine skiing season will start with a world cup race in giant slalom at Sölden, Austria, on 25-26 October 2008.

Vacon in brief: Vacon was established in 1993 from a passion to develop and produce AC drives globally. It is a matter of honour for Vacon to offer customers efficient, reliable and easy to use means for improving process control and saving energy and costs. Vacon's solutions represent clean technology. They can be used to control the speed of electric motors used by industry and municipal engineering, and in power generation using renewable energy. Vacon provides AC drives in the power range 0.25 kW - 5 MW. Revenues in 2007 totalled EUR 232.2 million.

Vacon Group

Further information: * Heikki Hiltunen, Executive Vice President, Products and Markets, Vacon Group, mobile +358 (0)40 8371 609 Press contact: * Catarina Fant, Director, Brand Management and Communications, Vacon Group, mobile +1 717 491 9797

www.vacon.com

Vacon Oyj

http://www.vacon.com

ISIN: FI0009009567

Stock Identifier: XHEL.VAC

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