Astra Zeneca merger - competition authorities

ASTRA ZENECA MERGER - COMPETITION AUTHORITY APPROVAL PROGRESS Astra AB announce that Astra and Zeneca confirm that the period for the European Commission's Phase I review of the proposed merger has been extended st to 1 March 1999. This is to enable the parties and the Commission to discuss certain minor aspects of the merger further. The parties expect to make an announcement regarding progress with the U.S. competition authorities shortly. The parties continue to expect the merger to be implemented in Q2 1999 as previously indicated. Contact persons: Staffan Ternby, Vice President, PR & Information, Astra AB, +46 8 553 261 07 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/1999/02/12/19990212BIT00690/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/02/12/19990212BIT00690/bit0002.pdf