Bure market leader within radiology in Norway

Bure market leader within radiology in Norway - acquires Fredrikstad Röntgeninstitutt AS Bure Hälsa och Sjukvård AB is strengthening its position in privately-produced radiology in Norway by acquiring Fredrikstad Röntgeninstitutt AS. As a result, Bure's operations in the radiology segment in Norway amount to approximately SEK 100M. Fredrikstad Röntgeninstitutt, which has operations in Fredrikstad and Moss, reports sales of approximately SEK 30M and carries out 85,000 X-ray examinations annually at the request of the primary care segment, doctors in private practice and public hospitals. Earlier this year, Bure Health Care acquired Tönsberg Röntgeninstitutt with its subsidiary, Norsk Röntgeninstitutt, and Majorstuen Röntgeninstitutt. As a result, the merged operations within radiology in Norway amount to approximately SEK 100 M. With the acquisition, Bure Health Care's Business Sector Diagnostics will have an annual sales rate of SEK 580M. Bure´s investment in radiology has a positive effect on the earnings of Diagnostics which also carries out laboratory operations in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Poland. "We have now established operations in several segments within the Norwegian health care sector and anticipate continued growth in step with the increase in private care production," says Per Båtelson, President of Bure Hälsa och Sjukvård AB. "Fredrikstad Röntgeninstitutt ideally complements our previous acquisitions with regard to opportunities for exchanging experience and administrative co- ordination," says Orwar Gustafsson, Head of X-ray Operations in Bure Hälsa och Sjukvård AB. Bure Health Care forms part of Investment AB Bure and carries out operations in the sectors: specialist health care, geriatric care, occupational health care, diagnostics and materials supply. Bure Health Care has an annual sales rate of approximately SEK 2.4 billion and a staff of approximately 3,000. Gothenburg, 21 December 1998 Investment AB Bure (publ) For further information, please contact: Orwar Gustafsson, Head of X-ray Operations, Bure Health Care, +46 8-21 92 15, 70-590 94 50 Hans Olav Almaas, Country Manager, Bure Health Care, Norway, +47 23 10 04 40 Saila Horttanainen, Head of Information, Bure Health Care, +46 31-335 76 72 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1998/12/21/19981221BIT00310/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1998/12/21/19981221BIT00310/bit0002.pdf