Bure carries out spread of ownership in Sifo Group
Bure carries out spread of ownership in Sifo Group * Makes capital gain of SEK 386M * Total capital gains this year in excess of SEK 1,500M Investment AB Bure, which focuses on investments within the IT and infomedia sectors, has sold 5,500,000 B shares in Sifo Group AB. The capital gain amounts to SEK 386M. Following the sale, Bure's holding amounts to 21,398,708 A shares and 637,914 B shares, which is equivalent to 61.7 per cent of votes and 39.7 per cent of capital. "We have been involved with building Sifo Group from a small division in the Scribona Group into a leading European contemporary social and environmental monitoring company. This is the first realisation of the values we have been involved in creating in Sifo," says Ulf Ivarsson, Executive Vice President of Investment AB Bure. "The sale was made to institutional investors in Sweden and abroad, and interest was very considerable. Through an extended ownership increased liquidity is created and a possibility for increased trading in Sifo. Our involvement in the company will remain very active and we see significant expansion opportunities for Sifo Group both in Europe and the rest of the world." Following the sale, Bure's holding in Sifo Group amounted to SEK 2,316M on 14 March. "During the current year we will make visible and realise substantial values in Bure. Including today's transaction we have made capital gains in excess of SEK 1,500M so far this year. Continued divestments and planned floatations could generate further large capital gains during the year," says Roger Holtback, President and CEO of Investment AB Bure. In addition to the transaction that has now been carried out, Bure has issued an option to D. Carnegie AB for 600,000 B shares in Sifo Group to be exercised within the next 14 days. Gothenburg, 15 March 2000 Investment AB Bure (publ) For further information, please contact: Knut Leman, Head of Corporate Communication +46 31-335 76 75 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/03/15/20000315BIT00440/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/03/15/20000315BIT00440/bit0002.pdf