Christer Gardell, CEO of AB Custos, announces formation of a Euro 500 million pri

Christer Gardell, CEO of AB Custos, announces formation of a Euro 500 million private fund, following his resignation from Custos Press statement Christer Gardell, Chief Executive Officer of AB Custos, and Lars Förberg, Chief Investment Officer of Custos, announced today their plans to form an investment fund following their resignations from Custos, which take effect as of October 1st. Mr. Gardell and Mr. Förberg are leaving Custos in order to pursue plans for the formation of a new private fund, which will follow a similar investment strategy to that of Custos, i.e. making significant investments in undervalued public companies in the Nordic region. Once an investment has been made, the strategy is to exercise active ownership through participation on the Board and by working alongside management in order to create the greatest possible value enhancement. "We had explored approaches to form a fund under the Custos structure, but it ultimately proved too complicated", commented Mr. Gardell. "As I have now achieved many of my goals at Custos, I determined, in consultation with the Custos Board, that it was an appropriate time for me to resign." As evidenced by Custos' performance since Mr. Gardell took over as CEO in 1996, the investment strategy has proved effective and has yielded attractive returns to investors. Custos' shares have returned close to 300 % as compared to the Stockholm Stock Exchange Return Index of approximately 100 %. In the 16 major portfolio companies, Custos has worked actively to create long-term value and has returned an annualised average return of 36 %. In 12 of these companies, Custos has held board positions. The new fund will be structured as a private vehicle and will aim to raise E500 million. The fund is sponsored by Capital Z Investments who have committed E100 million to the fund. Capital Z Investments specializes in the sponsorship of private equity and hedge funds and is managed by Capital Z Partners, a New York and London based alternative investment firm. Capital Z Partners has approximately US$ 5 billion under management. Stockholm, September 17, 2001 For press inquiries, please call: Mr Christer Gardell +46 8 440 57 70 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/09/17/20010917BIT00490/bit0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/09/17/20010917BIT00490/bit0001.pdf