Atle acquires 34 per cent in the trading house, Ekman & Co

Atle acquires 34 per cent in the trading house, Ekman & Co Atle has signed a preliminary agreement to acquire 34 per cent of the shares in the trading house, Ekman & Co AB, from the investment consortium, MVI. The acquisition will have a positive effect on Atle's earnings. Ekman & Co represents a large number of paper manufacturers and pulp mills, especially in North America, Europe and Asia. Via some 20 offices located all over the world, Ekman & Co markets paper and paper pulp from these companies. Operations are co-ordinated from two regional head offices, one in Gothenburg and one in Miami. During 1998, the Ekman Group distributed 1.8 million tonnes of paper and paper pulp. Total business volume amounted to SEK 6.3 billion with earnings after financial net of SEK 24M. The other principal owners in Ekman & Co are Skandia, the Ekman family with foundations, staff foundations and employees of Ekman. Lars Gårdö, President of Atle AB: "We have previously acquired the Japanese trading house, Gadelius, which shows very satisfactory growth. It will now be interesting to actively develop yet another trading house with a significant potential - Ekman & Co - the oldest and maybe most international trading house in Sweden. In addition to myself, Lennart Lundqvist, founder and previous owner of Gothia Paper AB and Larsson Paper AB, two highly-reputable trading companies within the forest industry, will be included on the Board of Directors of Ekman & Co." Jan Svensson, President of Ekman & Co AB: "We welcome Atle as the new principal owner in Ekman & Co. Within Atle there is sound knowledge and long experience of the type of operations that we carry out. Our new owner Group, with its financial strength and long-term planning guarantees continued positive development of our company." ATLE AB (Publ) P.O. BOX 7308 S-103 90 STOCKHOLM SWEDEN VISITORS: REGERINGSGATAN 48 TELEPHONE +46-8-506 101 00 TELEFAX +46-8-506 101 10 REGISTERED OFFICE: 556454-8799 Lars Lind, MVI International: "Our business concept is to invest in phases of change. The new management, which is headed by Jan Svensson and which was appointed during our stakeholding, has done a splendid job. The phase of Ekman's restructuring, in which we intended to take part, is now over. We are pleased to hand over our ownership to Atle which will continue to develop the company." Stockholm, 22 October 1999 Atle AB (publ) For further information, please contact: Jan Svensson, President of Ekman & Co AB, tel +46 31-750 55 00 Lars Gårdö, President of Atle AB, tel +46 8-506 101 00 Stig Karlsson, President of Atle Tjänste & Handel AB, tel +46 8-506 101 40 Facts about Atle Atle is involved with private equity investments. This means that the Company invests in unlisted companies and works actively with their development. After a few years' work, Atle, via a stockmarket listing or merger, will find new suitable domiciles for the companies and thus realise the growth in value. Since its start in 1992, Atle has invested in nearly 200 companies and exited more than 100. The yield on these exits has exceeded 50 per cent per annum. The business pace is high; some 20 companies are acquired per annum. Since 1993, the Group's profit has risen steadily from SEK 373M to SEK 953M in 1998. Atle, which is quoted on the A list of the OM Stockholm Exchange, has approximately 15,000 shareholders. ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/10/22/19991022BIT00110/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/10/22/19991022BIT00110/bit0002.pdf