Atle-owned Haendig AB to acquire Duri Svenska AB

Atle-owned Haendig AB to acquire Duri Svenska AB In April, Atle-owned building supplies distributor HDF-BOLAGEN merged with Markt & Co. of Norway, through the incorporation of Haendig AB. Thus Haendig AB became the Nordic region's leading DIY products player, with a prominent position in the trade products segment. Atle's ownership holding in the new group amounts to 69%. Duri Svenska will be acquired as a further step in the established expansion plans for Haendig AB. Subsequent to the take-over, Haending AB, active in Scandinavia and Poland, will have sales of some SEK 1.0 bn, earnings of SEK 40 m, and an employee headcount of 375. The take-over can be viewed as an additional step ahead of a potential stock market flotation. Duri Svenska AB is a flooring accessories and interior products trading corporation, whose products are marketed to flooring professionals and resellers in the construction, paint, flooring and building supplies segments. This corporation, headquartered in Mölndal, Sweden, is the sector market leader, generating earnings of SEK 6.5 m from sales of SEK 85 m. Duri Svenska AB has an employee headcount of 35. HDF-BOLAGEN, headquartered in Halmstad, is a building supplies distributor with a broad-based product range encompassing construction, building supplies, plumbing and heating supplies and hypermarkets. Markt & Co. is a well-established Norwegian building supplies distributor, with its focus mainly on the trade side through resellers. This corporation is active in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Poland and Lithuania. Staffan Jehander, Chief Executive of Duri Svenska AB responded that "placing Duri in a genuine trading structure where we comprise a solid complement with our extensive flooring accessories skills, feels gratifying. We're also looking forward to forming a new interior products business unit alongside HDF." ATLE AB (Publ) P.O. BOX 7308 S-103 90 STOCKHOLM SWEDEN VISITING ADDRESS: REGERINGSGATAN 48 TELEPHONE +46 (0)8 506 10100 TELEFAX +46 (0)8 506 10110 CORPORATE IDENTITY NO.: 556454-8799 1 (2) Thomas Holmgren, Group President of Haendig AB, added: "Duri is a very well managed, successful corporation with attractive products. We also consider that with its base in building supplies trading, HDF can achieve substantial revenue gains alongside Duri." Stockholm, 19 September 2000 Atle AB (publ) For more information, please contact: Stig Karlsson, Chief Executive, Atle Tjänste & Handel, tel. +46 (0)70 641 1345 Thomas Holmgren, Group President, Haendig AB, tel. +46 (0)35 154 400 Staffan Jehander, Chief Executive, Duri Svenska AB, tel. +46 (0)31 706 1900 Atle- key facts Atle is a growth company that intends to be 2-3 times its current size in 5 years' time. Atle is a private equity player, investing in unlisted companies, participating actively in their development, and after a few years, finding them a suitable new home- through an exit- thereby realising value growth. Since 1993, the Atle group's earnings have risen progressively, from SEK 373 m to SEK 1,025 m in 1999. Atle maintains a high transaction tempo, acquiring over 20 enterprises across all sectors each year. Since inception in 1992, Atle has invested in approximately 200 businesses and exited from over 100. Its annual return from these exits has exceeded 50%. 43 of its holdings, 28% of invested capital, are in IT and other technology enterprises. Atle is quoted on the Stockholm Stock Exchange's A List and has approximately 17,000 shareholders. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/09/19/20000919BIT00170/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/09/19/20000919BIT00170/bit0002.pdf