Cresco Ti Systems secures first tranche in funding from new investors Innoventure Capital, SEB and BCV

Cresco Ti Systems secures first tranche in funding from new investors Innoventure Capital, SEB and BCV Zurich/Stockholm/Lausanne, June 21, 2001 Swiss-Swedish-Norwegian Cresco Ti Systems, a leading provider of dental implantology systems, today announced the completion of a directed rights issue, which will contribute E4 Million in a first tranche of new funds to the company and allow it to further expand its market presence. The investors are Innoventure Capital AG (a subsidiary of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse), SEB Företagsinvest (the venture capital unit within the Swedish bank SEB) and Banque Cantonale Vaudoise (based in Lausanne, Switzerland) The new investors recognise Cresco Ti Systems' value as an emerging, market driving leader in the under-penetrated and rapidly growing field of implant-based restorative dentistry. 240 million people in industrialised countries suffer from missing teeth. Although only a fraction of these are currently treated with implant-based procedures, the market for implants alone has a value of approximately USD 600 million and is forecast to grow at more than 10% pa (in value) over the next ten years. The overall implant based restorative dentistry market, including dentist and laboratory services, has a current value of approx. USD 4.5 Billion at patient retail level. Cresco Ti Systems is positioned to have a major impact on this market, focusing on unique technology and products for making precise dental bridges at a reasonable cost. At the core of the company's offering is the patented Precision Method Technology allowing dental laboratories to reproduce passively fitting dental bridges for use with all major implant brands. Cresco Ti Systems' technology was originally developed in Sweden by co- founders Dr Anders Lindberg and Stig Johansson, and the country remains the company's largest market at present. Cresco Ti Systems' headquarter is located in Lausanne, Switzerland. The company has sales in several European countries and is expanding rapidly. ,,Over the past couple of years we have worked hard to complete the development of our technology and product offering, and to prove its viability first in the Swedish market. With these hurdles passed, we are now very pleased to have attracted three such professional and prestigious investors as Credit Suisse, SEB and BCV to Cresco. Their decision to invest in Cresco is very much viewed as an endorsement of our vision, products and team, and is a great motivator," said Per H. Dybwad, Lausanne-based President & CEO of Cresco Ti Systems. ,,We chose to invest in Cresco Ti Systems because of the company's strong management and the already impressive market share in its Swedish home market" says Ola Romney, Investment Manager with SEB Företagsinvest. He added: ,,There is a strong need to industrialise the process regarding how bridges are constructed and fitted to the implant, thereby increasing efficiency. Cresco's technique clearly solves this in a very unique way". ,,We are pleased to invest in a dynamic company which chose Lausanne to set up its headquarters and brings innovative solutions to the dental industry with significant benefit for the patients, dentists and laboratories," said Laurent Michel from BCV Private Equity team. About the Investors Innoventure Capital Innoventure Capital AG in Zurich, Switzerland, is a subsidiary of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse and provides risk capital to finance expansion at companies that are fast-growing, forward-looking and innovative. The geographic focus is generally on Switzerland and Europe. Our equity financing is aimed for companies operating in markets with significant future potential, offering highly promising products and services and requiring equity financing of at least three million Swiss francs. Our minority holdings of share capital, e.g. through the takeover of an existing equity package and/or as part of a capital increase, are commitments over a limited time period of two to four years. For more information visit www.innoventure.ch. SEB Företagsinvest SEB Företagsinvest is the venture capital unit within SEB, one of the leading Swedish banks. We have a total capital to invest amounting to SEK 800 million. Our business idea is to provide risk capital as well as competence and our network to high growth companies primarily within the sectors of TIME and Life Science. Our focus is mainly the Nordic countries. When investing outside our home-market we, however, always want to work together with a strong local venture capital firm. Since we started in 1995 we have made 42 investments of which we have exited 10, among them Bluetail and Pyrosequencing. For more information visit: www.foretagsinvest.seb.se Banque Cantonale Vaudoise BCV is a major financial institution in the western part of Switzerland and the second largest Swiss Cantonal Bank. It invests equity in start- up companies as well as in corporations looking for development capital. The private equity activity of BCV targets mainly companies located in Switzerland and active in selected markets with high growth potential, such as IT, electronic components, biotech and medical technologies. For further information, please contact: Per H. Dybwad President & CEO Cresco Ti Systems Avenue de Sévelin 18 CH-1004 Lausanne Tel: +41 21 620 02 30, Fax: +41 21 620 0231, E-mail: per.dybwad@crescoti.com Info e-mail: info@crescoti.com Or visit Cresco Ti Systems on the web on: www.crescoti.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/06/21/20010621BIT00480/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/06/21/20010621BIT00480/bit0001.pdf