BPA and Birka Energi in unique partnership

BPA and Birka Energi in unique partnership A partnership agreement has been signed by Birka Energi and BPA, Scandinavia's leading company in technical installations, in order to offer customers complete solutions in the areas of energy and installations. By combining BPA's strength in installations and Birka Energi's experience in energy technology, the two companies form a unique constellation on the Scandinavian market. - Through our co-operation with BPA, we create a range of new business opportunities in the rapidly evolving market of energy- and service solutions for construction and real estate, says Tomas Bruce, C.E.O. of Birka Energi. This is especially true in the areas of home automation, environment and service. -The exchange of knowledge and experience that this partnership gives us, especially in the areas of operation and maintenance, will be beneficial for both our companies and open up new business opportunities, says Johan Karlström, C.E.O. of BPA. The agreement involves co-operation in industry maintenance and operation, where Birka Energi and BPA are able to offer an integrated concept to the customer, optimising their resources for each task. BPA's competence in maintenance and operation will be strengthened by the partnership with Birka Energi, whose subsidiary Birka Service, builds, operates and maintains all types of energy facilities. The two companies will also co-operate in the development of other products and services for customers in the real estate and industry markets. An example of this is the newly formed company for home automation solutions BBI, Birka BPA Informationssystem AB. BBI focuses on developing and marketing complete system solutions for home automation. Birka Energi and BPA will continue development of the Hantverkarhjälp service currently marketed by Birka Energi's consumer brand HemEl. The 800 000 HemEl customers all over Sweden have quick access to fast and professional repair services for their heating, electricity and domestic appliances, through HemEls 24-hour-toll-free number: 020- 46 00 00. Birka Energi is one of Scandinavia's largest energy companies with approx. 840,000 customers, electricity sales of 27 TWh, heating sales of 8 TWh and a turnover of approx. SEK 13 billion. The city of Stockholm and Fortum abp each own 50% of Birka Energi. BPA is the leading installation company in Scandinavia, with operations in electrical, heating and plumbing, ventilation ant property-technical service in eight regional companies in 120 communities in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. BPA endeavours to satisfy customer needs through service which contribute to improved functions, sound health and environment in buildings and installations. This happens to a greater extent through BPA´s combined installation expertise, which provides customers with cost- effective, co-ordinated installations solutions. Customers include private industry and clients in the public sector as well as real estate and construction companies. The main market is Sweden where BPA is the largest player in HP and ventilation installations, and second largest in electrical installations and, overall, the largest installation company. Net sales in 1998 amounted to SEK 6,382 M. The Group has 6,300 employees. For more information, please contact: Lennart Olsson, Birka Marknad AB, phone: +46 8 671 70 79, cell phone: +46 70 771 70 79 Tomas Bruce, C.E.O. Birka Energi AB, phone: +46 8 671 79 60, cell phone: +46 70 771 79 60 Malte Niclasson, BPA AB, phone +46 8 799 85 18, +46 705 94 84 14 Johan Karlstrom, C.E.O. BPA AB, phone +46 8 799 85 10, +46 705 48 48 27 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/12/20/19991220BIT00390/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/12/20/19991220BIT00390/bit0002.pdf