STOCKHOLM, Sweden (News release) -- The Board of Directors of Ahlstrom-Munksjö Oyj has decided to utilize the authorization given by the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on May 16, 2017 and continues to repurchase own shares.

The authorization, to acquire a maximum of 8,000,000 of the company's own shares, is valid until the end of the next AGM to be held in 2018. The repurchases will start at the earliest on May 17, 2017.

On May 2, 2017, the Board of Directors decided to utilize the authorization given by the AGM 2016 held on April 6, 2016 to repurchase own shares. The repurchases started on May 3, 2017 and ended on May 15, 2017. During this period, Ahlstrom-Munksjö repurchased 90,000 shares, corresponding to about 0.1 per cent of the total number of shares and votes. On May 16, 2017, Ahlstrom-Munksjö held 156,729 of its own shares.

The amount of shares to be acquired through the two authorizations shall not exceed 300,000 shares, corresponding to about 0.3 per cent of the total number of shares and votes. The repurchased shares will be used primarily for implementing future share-based incentive programs of the company.