Alfa Laval acquires market leader - expands in advanced tank cleaning.

Alfa Laval acquires market leader - expands in advanced tank cleaning. Alfa Laval - a world leader in centrifugal separation, heat transfer and fluid handling - has today signed a contract with Homarus Holding A/S to acquire the Danish Toftejorg Group. The Toftejorg Group is a specialist and a market leader in advanced tank cleaning equipment targeting the Marine and the Food industry. The Toftejorg Group has an annual sales of about 210 MSEK and approximately 100 employees in R&D, manufacturing and sales. Mr. Sigge Haraldsson, President and CEO of the Alfa Laval Group, comments on the acquisition: "The acquisition of the Toftejorg Group should be perceived as a complementary acquisition, in line with our growth strategy. We have since many years a strong presence and a global leading position within the Marine and the Food industry. With the acquisition of the Toftejorg Group we will be able to expand our offering and solve a crucial need for both existing and potential customers on the global market." Toftejorg A/S, located outside Copenhagen, is the parent company of the Group consisting of sales companies in Sweden, Norway, Germany, UK, France, USA and Singapore. The Group is focused on offering the market advanced equipment for automatic inside cleaning of tanks. With this focus the Toftejorg Group has built a good reputation, achieved a leading market position on the markets where they are active and have by far the world largest scope of tank cleaning equipment. Jan S. Hummer, main shareholder of Homarus Holding A/S, comments on the divestment: "We are very pleased it is Alfa Laval that is the buyer of the Toftejorg Group since there is an excellent match between Toftejorg's specialist competence and Alfa Laval's strong global position in the relevant industries. It creates a solid platform for a further positive development." Editor's notes: Alfa Laval is a leading global provider of specialized products and engineering solutions based on its key technologies heat transfer, separation and fluid handling. The company's equipment, systems and services are dedicated to assisting customers in optimizing the performance of their processes. It helps them heat, cool, separate and transport products in industries producing food and beverages, chemicals and petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, starch, sugar and ethanol. It is also used in power plants, onboard ships, in the mechanical engineering industry, in the mining industry and for wastewater treatment, comfort heating and cooling and refrigeration. Alfa Laval's worldwide organization works closely with customers in almost 100 countries to help them stay ahead. Alfa Laval is listed on the Stockholm Exchange and had 2001 an annual sales of approximately SEK 16 billion with about 9,200 employees Further information can be found at www.alfalaval.com and www.toftejorg.com For further information please contact: Peter Torstensson Jan S. Hummer Vice President, Communications Homarus Holding A/S Alfa Laval Group Phone: +45 43 55 86 00 Phone: +46 46 36 72 31 Mobile: +45 22 23 86 11 Mobile: +46 709 33 72 31 peter.torstensson@alfalaval.com Svante Karlsson Per S. Jespersen Executive Vice President CEO Alfa Laval Group Toftejorg Group Phone: +46 46 36 70 00 Phone: +45 43 55 86 00 Mobile: +46 709 36 65 22 Mobile: +45 22 23 86 10 svante.karlsson@alfalaval.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/01/31/20030131BIT00410/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/01/31/20030131BIT00410/wkr0002.pdf