Proventus’ largest new investment in 1989 was made during the fall, when its partly owned holding company in Finland, Fidelity Oy, acquired stock in the industrial conglomerate Wärtsilä.

The reasoning behind the Wärtsilä investment was based on the following points of analysis:

• The company was in need of restructuring and was significantly undervalued after having sold its Wärtsilä Marine subsidiary and thereby reducing the risk involving its ship building business.

• The stock market had undervalued the profitability potential of the company‘s remaining operations as well as the market value of its real estate holdings. Freed resources improved Wärtsilä‘s development potential.

• The financial risks of the commitments which arose when Wärtsilä’s shipping business went into bankruptcy were, from an investor’s standpoint, compensated for by the substantial drop in the stock price.

Then, in December 1989, Wärtsilä floated a special share issue to the construction company Lohja. This considerably complicated Fidelity’s chances of achieving its ownership goals. At the beginning of 1990, Fidelity therefore sold all of its Wärtsilä shares, corresponding to 12 percent of the company’s capital stock and 11 percent of its voting rights, for SEK 835 million.

Proventus reported a profit of SEK 96 million on its interest in Fidelity. Stock prices for many Finnish companies dropped substantially in 1989. After the Wärtsilä deal, Proventus’ wholly owned Finnish subsidiary, Oy Finventus Ah, analyzed new business opportunities.