Industrivärden and Inter IKEA acquire Custos shares in Skanska

PRESS RELEASE Industrivärden and Inter Ikea Acquire Custos Shares in Skanska Industrivärden and Inter IKEA have entered into an agreement regarding the purchase of all of Custos' shares in Skanska for SEK 1,986 M, or SEK 285 per share. Of the total purchase price, SEK 1,186 M pertains to Industrivärden and SEK 800 M to Inter IKEA. Industrivärden has acquired 2,796,929 Class A shares and 1,362,888 Class B shares. Together with its current holding of 2,774,385 A shares and 1,525,000 B shares, this increases Industrivärden's holding to 29.9 percent of the votes and 7.4 percent of the capital stock. Industrivärden thereby becomes the lar- gest owner in Skanska in terms of votes. Inter IKEA's acquisition amounts to 1,887,349 A shares and 919,668 B shares, corresponding to 10.1 percent of the votes and 2.5 percent of the capital stock. The strategy for Industrivärden's equity investments is to invest in a limited number of companies that are judged to have a high return potential. The hol- dings must be large enough to give Industrivärden substantial ownership in the respective companies and thus the opportunity to use active ownership exercise influence in the companies and thereby ensure that the companies achieve their full value potential. This completed transaction is entirely in line with this strategy. Skanska's stock is judged to have good potential for future growth in value due to the current level of interest rates, a favorable trend in the construc- tion sector in Skanska's main markets, and limited exposure to markets with major financial unease. The transaction also enhances Skanska's ability to create value through continued expansion of its international construction and development business and the ongoing restructuring of the company. Through this investment Industrivärden increases its involvement in Skanska by a net amount of slightly more than SEK 800 M, after taking into account the recently completed sale of shares in Drott. Skanska will thereby make up 8 percent of Industrivärden's portfolio of listed stocks. Industrivärden's net asset value at September 25, 1998, was SEK 146 per share and CPN (the composition of net asset value and the listed portfolio after the acquisition of Skanska shares is provided in an appendix on page 4). Clas Reuterskiöld, CEO of Industrivärden "Our investment in Skanska represents a unique opportunity to increase our in- volvement in one of the leading and most successful construction and civil engineering companies in Europe and the U.S. We have strong confidence in Skanska's management and its ability to create value by refining the company's business and through the continued internatio- nal expansion of its core business. As part of Skanska's ongoing restructuring we intend to continue working at a fast pace to find solutions for the parts not judged to belong to the core bu- siness. In addition, we expect that Skanska's management will continue its shareholder value-oriented approach and that assets not judged necessary for the core business will be distributed to the shareholders. We are very pleased to have carried out this transaction in partnership with Inter IKEA. Industrivärden and Inter IKEA have a common vision for Skanska and we firmly believe that this will be a fruitful partnership to the benefit of Skanska as well as its shareholders." Per Ludvigsson, CEO of Inter IKEA "The investment in Skanska will be an important component in our long-term stock portfolio. We already cooperate with Skanska in international projects and are highly aware of the competence and know-how within the company. To- gether with Industrivärden we have created an ownership situation that gives Skanska's management the opportunity to continue its work on making Skanska a leading international construction and civil engineering company. At the same time it creates opportunities to release value and give us and other sharehol- ders favorable value appreciation." Claes Björk, CEO of Skanska "We welcome Industrivärden and Inter IKEA as main owners. Industrivärden and Inter IKEA represent a strong ownership base, which is important for Skanska. Industrivärden and Inter IKEA have much to contribute to Skanska by virtue of their experience and expertise. I believe that we have their full support for the implementation of our strategy to enhance shareholder value by focusing on our core businesses: construction, and project and real estate development." Media and investor/analyst information Industrivärden will today host a press conference regarding the acquisition of shares in Skanska at 12.00 at head-quarters, Storgatan 10, Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm, September 28, 1998 AB INDUSTRIVÄRDEN (publ.) For further information, please contact: Clas Reuterskiöld, President and CEO of Industrivärden, tel. +46-8-666 64 00 Per Ludvigsson, President and CEO of Inter IKEA, tel. +32-2-357 41 11 Claes Björk, President and Group Chief Executive of Skanska, tel. +46-8-753 88 50 Appendix: Portfolio of listed stocks at September 25, 1998 Market value SEK per Share (%) Number SEK M share andof port- CPN folio va- lue Ericsson 44,660,0007,557 40 26 Handelsbanken 14,650,0004,410 23 15 Sandvik 23,000,0003,830 20 13 AGA 28,615,0003,033 16 11 SCA 18,382,0002,960 15 10 Skanska * 8,459,202 2,368 12 8 Skandia 17,200,0001,686 9 6 PLM 10,000,000950 5 3 SSAB 11,290,000909 5 3 Volvo 1,400,000 260 1 1 Others 755 4 2 Total 28,718 150 100 Composition of net asset value at September 25, 1998 SEK bil- SEK per lion share and CPN Listed stocks 28.7 150 * Industrial and trading 3.3 17 operations 32.0 167 Other assets and liabili--4.1 -21 ties 27.9 146 Total number of shares and CPNs 191,206,984 * The newly acquired Skanska shares are included in the port- folio of listed stocks and net asset value at a value corres- ponding to the purchase price.