Nielsen & Bainbridge divestment finalized

Nielsen & Bainbridge divestment finalized The previously announced sale of Nielsen & Bainbridge to The Jordan Company (United States) has now been finalized and completed essentially in accordance with the agreement reported earlier. As previously agreed, the total consideration is USD 160 million. According to the terms of the final agreement, Esselte has agreed to participate in the purchaser's financing on commercial terms and conditions with in total USD 35 million whereof 15 MUSD as a convertibel debenture. Esselte will record a pretax capital gain of approximately SEK 460 million on the sale. Tax expense is estimated to 14 percent of the total consideration. As in the original agreement, the divestment does not include Letraset and ITC, which account for approximately 7 percent of Nielsen & Bainbridge's total sales. Esselte owns 10 percent of the new company that has been formed by the purchaser and will through the convertible debenture have the possibility to increase the shareholding with an additional 15 percent. "The divestment has now been completed in agreement with our goal and in accordance with the plan we announced a little more than a year ago for streamlining the Group," commented Esselte CEO Jan Kvarnström in a statement. The Esselte Group consists of two independent business units - Esselte Office Products and Meto - which are global market leaders in office products and labeling systems, respectively. The Parent Company, Esselte AB, focuses on creating added value by being an active owner and implementing structural measures to streamline operations. After the divestment of Nielsen & Bainbridge, Group sales amount to approximately SEK 15 billion and the number of employees totals more than 10,000 (figures are pro forma and include the recently acquired Leitz Group). For further information contact Bengt Wikander, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Esselte AB. Phone +46 8 545 21 900 (switchboard), +46 8 545 21 904 (direct line) or +46 70 892 24 31 (mobile phone). ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/01/18/19990118BIT00120/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/01/18/19990118BIT00120/bit0002.pdf