Mats Jansson new CEO and President of the

The Boards of Directors of Hemköp and the "New Food Company" have chosen Mats Jansson as CEO and President of the "New Food Company", established through the combination of Hemköp and D&D Dagligvaror. Mr. Jansson will assume office as of 15 March 2000.

Mats Jansson is 48 years old and was previously CEO and President of Oy Karl Fazer AB. Prior to the office at Fazer, Mr. Jansson was CEO for the listed company Bilia for four and a half years. Prior to that he worked within the ICA Group for approximately 20 years, most recently as CEO for ICA Retail and Deputy President.

The combination of Hemköp and D&D Dagligvaror is carried out by an offer to D&D’s shareholders to exchange their shares in D&D for shares in Hemköp. Hemköp will change name. The new group will also include Spar Sverige and Spar Inn Snabbgross as well as the majority of the listed company Spar Finland.

The "New Food Company" will be a large, listed food wholesale and retail group in the Nordic region with a market share of approximately 20 percent in Sweden and approximately 10 percent in Finland. Net sales amount to approximately 30 bn SEK and the number of employees amount to approximately 7,000.

The present CEO of Hemköp, Håkan Matz, will continue as CEO of the operating subsidiary Hemköp, which will operate with head offices in Falun, Sweden. The present CEO of D&D, Lars Otterbeck, will continue as CEO of the operating subsidiary D&D, which will operate with head offices in Solna, Sweden.

- Mats Jansson will contribute to the "New Food Company" as an experienced CEO with proven leadership capabilities, which will be a valuable asset for the new group in a time of structural changes, says Göran Ennerfelt, Chairman of the "New Food Company". Mr. Jansson has a solid track record as a manager, both in private and listed companies and he has sound knowledge of the food wholesale and retail industry.

- It will be a stimulating challenge to manage the "New Food Company". The new structure will be a stable platform for an aggressive expansion in the Nordic and the Baltic regions, says Mr. Jansson