New President to Atle Mergers & Acquisitions

New President of Atle Mergers & Acquisitions Gustav Bard has been appointed new President of Atle Mergers & Acquisitions. He succeeds Arne Karlsson, who has become President of Ratos, and will join Atle on 1 April 1998. Gustav Bard, 35, is currently a Partner in the consulting firm, McKinsey & Company where he has been employed since 1989 after graduating in Business Administration at the Stockholm School of Economics. Lars Gårdö, President of Atle: In Gustav Bard we have a person who has acquired sound experience of work with strategic issues, business development and restructuring work in different companies which is something that Atle Mergers & Acquisitions will benefit from significantly." In a comment, Gustav Bard says that what is attractive about Atle is its concentration on business development and to be able to work in an active owner role with a large number of companies. Stockholm, 21 January 1999 Atle AB (publ) For further information, please contact: Lars Gårdö, tel +46 8-501 101 11 Gustav Bard, tel +46 8-700 64 27 Atle AB Atle is an industrial and trading group which invests in and develops small and medium-size companies which are generally unlisted. Atle's core expertise is business development which includes the ability to find interesting companies, create acquisition situations and through active and responsible ownership to develop and after a period of time to find new suitable habitats for owned companies. Atle, which was introduced on the stockmarket in 1993, has a sales rate of approximately SEK 9 billion and a total of 8,000 employees. Since the stockmarket introduction, the number of shareholders has increased to more than 13,000. Operations are carried out in the six business sectors: Atle Karolin Verkstadsindustri, Atle Tjänste & Handel, Atle Miljöteknik, Atle Informationsteknogi, Atle Mergers & Acquisitions and Atle Företagskapital. Atle Mergers & Acquisitions AB Atle Mergers & Acquisitions invests mainly in mature companies with well- identified opportunities for building value-added through development and restructuring work. The focus in the business sector is on financial expertise, structural issues and strategy development. The companies in which Atle M & A invests should have an able and experienced management, a strong competitive position and a positive cash flow. At the time of acquisition it should already be in a position to identify realistic opportunities for divesting the holding in the future. Atle M & A could be a majority or minority owner but the ownership should normally be in excess of 20 per cent. ATLE AB (Publ) P.O. BOX 7308 S-103 90 STOCKHOLM SWEDEN VISITORS: REGERINGSGATAN 48 TELEPHONE +46-8-506 101 10 TELEFAX +46-8-506 101 10 REGISTERED OFFICE: 556454-8799 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/01/21/19990121BIT00160/bit0001.pdf http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/01/21/19990121BIT00160/bit0002.doc