Consequences of the merger
Elite Alfred Berg Europe Focus unit holders
Under the Finnish Act on Common Funds, a unit holder of the merging fund will become a unit holder of the receiving fund on the merger date, unless the unit holder redeems his/her fund units or switches them to units of another fund managed by Evli Fund Management Company Ltd before execution of the merger.
The holdings of unit holders who accept the merger will be converted by the Management Company to holdings in the receiving fund of corresponding cash value on the basis of the values of the fund units calculated on the merger date. Holders of growth units will receive B series (growth unit) units of Evli Europe as merger consideration. Holders of yield units will receive A series (yield unit) units of Evli Europe as merger consideration.
The unit holders’ rights in the receiving fund will enter into force when the units received as merger consideration have been entered in the unitholder register maintained by the Management Company. Technical registration of the fund units received as merger consideration will be carried out by January 2, 2023, using the fund unit values confirmed for the merger date.
The Management Company can convert the assets of the merging fund into cash immediately before the merger date to ensure an uninterrupted merger. Changes to investment weightings and investment instruments can also be made to the fund before the merger. Any accrued income of the fund, such as sale price receivables for sold securities or accrued interest, will be taken into consideration as assets of the merging fund and will be transferred to the receiving fund in the merger.
The Management Company will not charge redemption or switch fees from those unit holders who wish to redeem or switch their fund units before the execution of the merger. The deadline for placing redemption or switch orders is December 27, 2022, at 14.00 noon (Finnish time). Any orders received after this time will be executed after the completion of the merger. For redemption requests submitted by the deadline, redemption proceeds will be paid in cash to the unit holder’s client funds account at Evli Plc known to the Management Company by January 4, 2023.
Evli Europe unit holders
The merger is not expected to have a significant impact on the unit holders of the receiving fund and it does not affect their rights. There will be no changes to the rules of the receiving fund and the composition of the investment portfolio will not change significantly but its assets will grow by the amount of the capital transferred in the merger. The assets of the merging fund will be transferred either as cash or as securities or a combination thereof and the receiving fund will continue to manage them in accordance with its investment strategy.
Taxation
Unit holders are encouraged to seek advice from professional advisers, if necessary, on the statutory implications of the merger on law, finances and taxation in the unit holder’s country of domicile, residence or location of the unit holder. If a unit holder resident in Finland for purposes of taxation accepts the merger consideration offered in the form of fund units, there will be no tax consequences since this constitutes universal succession as referred to in Finnish tax legislation. However, redemption of fund units or switches to another mutual fund executed before the merger are subject to taxation in the same way as any other sale (or exchange) of property, i.e. normal tax treatment will be accorded to any such transfer of fund units. Correspondingly, any sale of the new units received as merger consideration will be taxed normally after the merger. However, the acquisition cost of the new units will be considered to be equal to the acquisition cost of the old units held in the merging fund.
Additional information
The key investor information document, fund prospectus and fund rules of the receiving fund and the semi-annual and annual reviews are available at www.evli.com/funds. Unit holders of the merging fund are recommended to consult the documentation of the receiving fund. Unit holders of the merging and receiving funds are entitled to receive a copy of the report concerning the merger issued by the auditor appointed by the Management Company. The report is available from Evli Fund Management Company Ltd.
Our Investor Service will gladly provide additional information on the merger or other matters relating to fund investment by telephone, +358 (0)9 4766 9701, Monday to Friday from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm (Finnish time).
Yours faithfully,
EVLI FUND MANAGEMENT COMPANY LTD
Kim Pessala
Managing Director