Studsvik Acquires SINA in Germany

1 (3) @ Studsvik AB has concluded an agreement to acquire SINA Industrieservice GmbH, a leading German service company with customers within the nuclear industry. SINA´s projected sales for 1998 are SEK 200 million. @ Through the acquisition, Studsvik´s exports are expected to increase from 30 per cent to almost 50 per cent. @ The acquisition is expected to have a positive impact on Studsvik´s, and thereby Atle´s, earnings already in 1998. SINA, with its main office located in Pforzheim outside Stuttgart and its 300 employees, is a market leader providing health physics, chemical cleaning and decontamination services to the nuclear industry. SINA has several German nuclear power plants as its customers. The company is a little over 20 years old. It was developed, and is now being sold to Studsvik by the original founder. SINA will become a part of business unit Industrial Services, with sales of SEK 150 million, and will also work with business unit Waste and Decommissioning, with sales of SEK 60 million. The Stensand group, within business unit Industrial Services, operates within the same area as SINA and is a market leader within the Swedish nuclear industry. Germany is one of the marketplaces with the greatest growth potential for the business unit. In Germany, there are currently around 20 nuclear power reactors. Besides Sweden, Waste and Decommissioning´s primary market is Germany with respect to the treatment of low-level organic waste and low-level scrap metal. Carsten Olsson, Chief Executive Officer, Studsvik; "Through the acquisition of SINA, Studsvik can create a platform in the middle of Europe. This platform can also be used by other Studsvik companies. For us, this acquisition is another step in Studsvik´s expansion within the high-potential European market." ATLE AB (Publ) BOX 7308 S-103 90 STOCKHOLM SWEDEN VISITING ADDRESS: REGERINGSGATAN 48 PHONE +46 8 24 62 10 FAX +46 8 21 10 21 CORP ID 556454-8799 2 (3) Roland Bengtsson, President, Atle Miljöteknik: "Studsvik is currently entering a period of expansion. Consequently, the acquisition of SINA is of strategic importance in the task of making Studsvik even more international in its focus. Maintenance and safety in the operation of nuclear power plants will require considerable resources as the nuclear power plants become older." Stockholm July 20, 1998 Atle AB (publ) For further information, contact: Carsten Olsson, Chief Executive Officer, Studsvik AB. Phone +46 155 22 10 00 Rainer Bartels, President SINA. Phone +49 7231 380801 Bertil Johansson, President, Stensand AB and Head of business unit Industrial Services. Phone +46 340 66 12 80 3 (3) APPENDIX Atle AB Atle is an investment company that invests in and develops small and medium- sized companies which usually do not have a stock exchange listing. Atle's core expertise is business development, which includes the ability to find interesting companies, create acquisition situations, develop the companies it owns by means of active and responsible ownership and after a time to find suitable new homes for them. Normally acquisitions take place in some form of vital development phase for example when a company wishes to expand, or when a structural deal would be most advantageous for its continued development. Because the companies acquired are not usually listed and the group always plays an active part in their development, Atle differs from traditional investment companies. As soon as Atle steps in as owner, plans are made for the time when Atle's work is complete and the group is to sell its holding in the company. This normally takes place within a period of three to seven years. Atle was introduced on the stock exchange in 1993 and today has a turnover of around SEK 8 billion and over 7000 employees. Since introduction, the number of shareholders has risen to over 11.000. The operation is run within seven business areas Atle Karolin Engineering Industry, Atle Service & Trade, Atle Environmental Engineering, Atle Information Technology, Atle Foods, Atle Mergers & Acquisitions and Atle Development. Atle Miljöteknik Atle Miljöteknik, which owns 63 per cent of Studsvik, invests in companies with unique technology for the handling, disposing and recovery of waste as well as the aftermarket for nuclear products. The Business Sector strives for majority ownership. Studsvik AB Studsvik is the parent company of a group of companies specializing in nuclear, materials and environmental technology. Studsvik´s customers include power utilities, industry, regulatory authorities and hospitals. The 1997 sales figure for the Group, with its 720 employees, were SEK 500 million, of which exports comprised SEK 150 million. Most of the business activities are conducted at Studsvik, outside the city of Nyköping. Studsvik has subsidiaries in Sweden, Norway, Germany, USA and Japan. Studsvik is currently constructing a facility in Erwin, Tennessee in the USA, for the volume reduction of low-level waste from the US nuclear power industry. The facility is expected to be taken into operation at the end of 1998 and to reach full capacity during 1999.