Adera acquires leading British e-business consulting firm

Adera acquires leading British e-business consulting firm Adera will become stronger on the British market through the acquisition of the shares in the leading e-business consulting firm Nucleus Ltd for SEK 102 M, with a supplementary payment of SEK 25 M, given that certain performance goals are reached. Adera is paying 60% with its own Series B shares and 40% in cash, whilst supplementary payment will be paid with 100 % Adera B-shares. As a result of the acquisition of Nucleus, Adera becomes one of the leading strategic e-business consultants in the "golden e-business triangle," Scandinavia-Great Britain-Benelux. "We have been approached by a large number of e-consultancies over the past year, but none have had a business vision or a culture that was as good a fit with ours as Adera. In Adera we have found the right partner with the right vision at the right time. It will be extremely exciting to be part of a large Group with a solid base in Europe. This makes it possible for us to develop our international British customers in other European markets," says Peter Matthews, Managing Director and owner of Nucleus. Nucleus has some 50 employees with high expertise in e-business strategy and a very strong customer base, with such well-known customers as Cable & Wireless, Hewlett Packard, Unilever, UPC and Thomson Travel Group. Projected revenues for full-year 2000 amount to SEK 43 M, with forecast profit of SEK 8 M. "Nucleus provides us access to the very important British e-business market. Nucleus also strengthens Adera with additional leading-edge expertise within important areas as digital-TV, broadband and e-business services," says Jörgen Ericsson, President of Adera AB, In this new corporate structure, Adera can offer existing customers establishment and services in the British market and offer Nucleus's customers qualitative openings in the rest of Europe. The acquisition strengthens Adera's position as a pan-European company with a strong base in countries that have a high penetration within mobile telephony and the Internet and high e-business maturity. This is particularly the case in the golden e-business triangle of Scandinavia-Great Britain-Benelux. "We conducted a highly detailed survey of the British market and analyzed some 20 conceivable companies. Nucleus was the company that had the most advanced strategic thinking regarding e-business. We are highly pleased to have found a partner that so closely correlates with Adera's corporate culture and values, focused on strategy, quality and efficiency. The transaction meets our demanding criteria for acquisitions: common vision, strong management, a well-developed customer base, good growth possibilities and favorable profitability," concludes CEO Jörgen Ericsson of Adera. Nucleus will form the base for Adera's continued expansion on the British market. Nucleus's current Managing Director and principal owner Peter Matthews will be responsible in future for Adera's new British companies. Adera AB (publ) generates business value for customers by combining areas of expertise critical for success based on the new business logic: strategy/business development, marketing/communications and IT/Internet. Adera currently consists of around 650 employees and has offices in Stockholm, Gothenburg, London, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Munich, Copenhagen , Malmoe, Oslo, Ljungby and Värnamo. Adera shares are listed on the O-List of the OM Stockholm Exchange, Attract 40. For more information, visit our new website: www.aderagroup.com For further information, please contact: Jörgen Ericsson, President, Adera, +46 8 545 033 01, +46 703 99 28 66 Janerik Dimming, CIO Adera AB, telephone: +46 31 701 67 66, mobile: +46 706 20 60 08, email: janerik.dimming@aderagroup.com Peter Matthews, Managing Director, Nucleus Limited, +44 20 8389 9133, +44 7775 521819 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/09/15/20000915BIT00340/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/09/15/20000915BIT00340/bit0002.pdf