SanomaWSOY Corp. Stock Exchange Release 29 July 2008 at 11:00
Master of Laws Merja Karhapää, 46, has been appointed Chief Legal Officer of the SanomaWSOY Group and Secretary to the Board of Directors as of 1 August 2008. She will also be a member of the Corporate Centre Management Group. Karhapää reports directly to SanomaWSOY's President and CEO Hannu Syrjänen.
Merja Karhapää has worked as Vice President, Group Legal Affairs of SanomaWSOY since 2000. Previously Karhapää was Vice President, Intellectual Capital, Trademark Counsel and Assistant General Counsel of Cultor (currently Danisco) in 1996-2000 and Corporate Counsel of Sanoma and that of Valmet. Karhapää will be responsible for Group legal affairs, particularly the co-ordination of Group-level IPRs, competition matters as well as M&A and digital media law.
In April, SanomaWSOY announced appointments of three new directors to Corporate Centre. CFO Kim Ignatius will begin on 1 August and CSO Sven Heistermann on 4 August. CHRO Ben Tiesnitsch began on 1 June.
Senior Vice President, Group Legal Affairs and M&A Kerstin Rinne will retire on 1 September 2008.
Additional information:
Hannu Syrjänen, President and CEO, SanomaWSOY tel. +358 105 19 5020
Merja Karhapää, Chief Legal Officer, SanomaWSOY, tel. +358 40 582 1538
SANOMAWSOY CORPORATION
Matti Salmi
Senior Vice President
Finance and Administration
Additional information: SanomaWSOY's Group Communications, tel +358 105 19 5062 or ir@sanomawsoy.fi
www.sanomawsoy.com
www.sanomawsoy.fi/Investors
SanomaWSOY provides information, experiences, education and entertainment to millions of people. Quality content, products and services that are creative and customer centric, and efficient distribution ensure satisfaction for our customers in the more than 20 European countries we operate in. In 2007, SanomaWSOY's net sales totalled EUR 2.9 billion and our EBIT was EUR 344 million. The media group employs nearly 20,000 people.