Bure has acquired the leading Finnish and Baltic knowledge companies, Mercuri International and Mercuri Business Develop

Bure has acquired the leading Finnish and Baltic knowledge companies, Mercuri International and Mercuri Business Development Investment AB Bure, via its wholly-owned holding company, Mercuri International Group AB, has acquired 100 per cent of the shares in Mercuri International OY and Mercuri Business Development OY. Mercuri International OY is the leading skill development and consulting company within sales, customer service and management in Finland. Mercuri Business Development OY is the leading skill development and consulting company within sales, customer service and management in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, the Ukraine, Moldavia and Belorussia. Total sales of the operations amount to approximately SEK 140M. "The acquisition of Mercuri International OY and Mercuri Business Development OY is an important step in our build-up of the Mercuri Group. We are now able to offer Mercuri's customers co-ordinated skill development virtually throughout Europe including the Baltic States, which is a significant competitive advantage in the increasingly global economy," says Wolfgang Bussmann, President of Mercuri International Group. "The acquisition is an important step on the way, ahead of the plans for a stockmarket listing within 2 years," says Sven-Åke Lewin, Head of Business Area Bure Training and Education. "The deal means that we increase our competitiveness vis-à-vis both customers and skilled personnel. To be included in the international Mercuri Group and Bure Training and Education means that we are able to benefit from the structural capital, common development projects and financial resources of a large company for continued rapid expansion. There are interesting opportunities to establish a considerable IT training operation on the rapidly growing Finnish market in co-operation with the Bure-owned Informator Training Group," says Clas-Håkan Wigell, President of Mercuri International OY. Mercuri International OY and Mercuri Business Development OY are included in the Bure-owned Mercuri Group which is a world-leading company within sales and customer service. Following the acquisitions, the Mercuri Group has a presence in more than 25 countries in Europe and sales of approximately SEK 800M. Bure Training and Education also includes Informator Training Group AB, which is the leading company in Sweden within IT training with sales of approximately SEK 240M. Via Vittra Förskolor och Skolor AB, Bure Training and Education also operates pre- schools and compulsory schools. Following the acquisition, the annual sales rate of Bure Training and Education amounts to approximately SEK 1,100M. Gothenburg, 13 January 2000 Investment AB Bure (publ) For further information, please contact: Sven-Åke Lewin, Head of Business +46 31-335 76 78 Area Bure Training and Education svenake.lewin@bure.se +46 706-45 47 00 Clas-Håkan Wigell, VD Mercuri International OY +358 9 681 681 clas-hakan.wigell@mercuri.fi +358 400 412 496 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/01/13/20000113BIT00290/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/01/13/20000113BIT00290/bit0002.pdf