Bure Health Care acquires 50 per cent of the shares in Norway€s largest private hospital

Bure Health Care acquires 50 per cent of the shares in Norway's largest private hospital -Continued internationalisation of health care services Bure Health Care has acquired 50 per cent of the shares in the private hospital, Volvat Medisinske Senter in Oslo. Vendor is the private investment company, Foinco Invest AS, which from now on will own the remaining 50 per cent. Volvat, which is Norway's largest private hospital, is expected to have a turnover of approximately SEK 225M in 1997 with sound profitability. Through the acquisition, which is the beginning of Bure's expansion in Norway, Bure Health Care will get a most able and highly-reputable partner in Norway with very considerable experience in, above all, privately-financed care. Bure Health Care's earnings will be positively affected by the acquisition. Volvat Medisinske Senter was established in 1985 in Oslo as a large specialist medical centre with facilities for X-ray, laboratory and minor operations. Today, Volvat is a fully-equipped hospital with services within most care specialities and with particular expertise in eye surgery and orthopaedics. Since May 1997, Volvat has also included Wille Laboris which, with its own surgeries in the Oslo region, offers occupational health care, primary care and laboratory services. "With Volvat we will get a very able partner in Norwegian health care," says Per Båtelson, Managing Director of Bure Health Care. "Volvat has a long experience of privately-financed specialist health care which is an important complement to our own public-financed health care." Volvat serves as a complement to the public health care in the densely- populated Oslo region. Only about 20 per cent of the Group's income emanates from the public sector. Instead, the majority of its income comes from annual fees, individual patient fees and operations. Volvat has specially-adapted service packages in health care which are offered to families, pensioners, sportsmen and companies. The proportion of affiliated companies is expected to increase following the acquisition of Wille Laboris. "Bure Health Care has, not least, considerable experience of public-financed care," says Arnstein Endresen, Chairman of Volvat. "We will now gain access to the wealth of knowledge that exists in the Bure Health Care network which in the long term may even involve exchange of staff and specialist expertise." The health care market in Norway amounts to approximately SEK 100 billion. The structure corresponds at a large extent with the Swedish health care system with the exception that the private share is smaller. Private players account for approximately SEK 500M of the Norwegian market. "The investment in Volvat is an important step in our internationalisation of Bure Health Care and is the first step into the Norwegian health care market," says Roger Holtback, Managing Director and CEO of Investment AB Bure. "The acquisition will be followed by further activities within the areas which Bure has prioritised, both in Norway and Northern Europe." At the same time as Bure makes its first acquisition in Norway, Hans Olov Almaas, 52, Municipal Director for Health Care in Oslo Municipality, has been employed as Head of Bure Health Care in Norway. Hans Olov Almaas will be responsible for continued business development in Norway and report to the management of Bure Health Care in Gothenburg. In addition to Norway, Bure Health Care now has operations in Sweden, Poland and Denmark. In Great Britain, the Company has at the same time been appointed preferred provider for the redevelopment of the Whittington Hospital in London. In Sweden, Bure Health Care is the leading company in non-public health care. Its operations consist of Health Care Services in which Occupational Health Care and Specialist Care are included together with Geriatric Care, and of Medical Service which consists of Laboratory Services and Distribution of Medical Products. Through the acquisition of Volvat, Bure Health Care will achieve an annual sales rate of SEK 1,700M which means that the growth target for 1997, an annual sales rate of SEK 1,500M, has already been attained. Bure Health Care's earnings will be positively affected. Gothenburg, 26 June 1997 Investment AB Bure (publ) For further information please contact: Per Båtelson, Managing Director of Bure Health Care +46 31-335 76 35 Arnstein Endresen, Chairman of Volvat Medisinske Senter +47 22 11 33 80 Cato Lodding, Managing Director of Volvat Medisinske Senter +47 22 95 75 90 Mats Brodin, Managing Director of Bure Specialist Care +46 19-32 33 70 Hans Eric Melin, Investor Relations, Bure +46 31-335 76 51 Sorry that this news release has taken so long to reach you. It appears that there was some sort of shortcoming in our distribution system and for this we apologise most sincerely. The matter has now been sorted out and such a mistake should not happen again.