Agreement reached with FTC staff

Astra / Zeneca merger: AGREEMENT REACHED WITH FTC STAFF AND INITIAL OFFER PERIOD EXTENDED Astra AB and Zeneca Group PLC announce that very significant progress has been made with regard to the U.S. competition approval process, which is the only remaining regulatory consent required to effect the proposed Merger between the two companies. In particular, agreement has now been reached with the Staff of the Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on the terms of a Consent Decree which relates to a narrow product area. The Consent Decree and related agreements are subject to the approval of the FTC Commissioners who are reviewing the matter. Commenting on the agreement with the FTC Bureau, Dr. Håkan Mogren, President and Chief Executive of Astra and Sir David Barnes, Chief Executive of Zeneca said "We are encouraged to have reached agreement as regards the terms of the Consent Decree with the FTC staff. With the earlier approval of the European Union regulatory authorities we are optimistic that we are now close to obtaining the required regulatory approvals to effect the Merger." Consistent with market practice and the need to keep the offers open until the FTC review is complete, the offers by Zeneca Group PLC for all the issued share capital of Astra AB have been extended from 3 p.m. (Stockholm time) th (9.00 a.m. New York time) on 18 March 1999 until 3 p.m. (Stockholm time) th (9.00 a.m. New York time) on Tuesday 30 March 1999. Astra and Zeneca are optimistic that approval will be obtained from the FTC Commissioners within the extended offer period. Due to the mechanics of the closing of the Merger in Sweden and the intervening holiday period, Astra and Zeneca anticipate that a further announcement regarding the level of acceptances of the Merger Offers will be th made on or shortly after Tuesday 6 April 1999. Dealings in the new AstraZeneca shares are expected to commence as soon as is practical following the declaration that the merger is wholly unconditional. Subject to confirmation from the FTSE Index Committee, it is anticipated that AstraZeneca will replace Zeneca in the FTSE100 and All-Share indices within 24 hours of the start of dealings in AstraZeneca shares. It is expected that AstraZeneca shares will be included in the Affärsvärldens General Index and the OMX-index the day after the first day of dealings in AstraZeneca shares. Contact persons: Mikael Widell, Press Officer, PR & Information, Astra AB, +46 8 553 264 28 Michael Olsson, Manager, Investor Relations, Astra AB, +46 8 553 259 52 Jörgen Winroth, Investor Relations U.S., Astra AB, +1 609 896 4148 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/03/16/19990316BIT00040/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/03/16/19990316BIT00040/bit0002.pdf