Ledstiernan is building up Europe's leading Seed and Venture Capital company within the TIME sector, concentrating on Mo

Ledstiernan is building up Europe's leading Seed and Venture Capital company within the TIME sector, concentrating on Mobile Communications. The company has nominated a new board for Ledstiernan. Ledstiernan is further developing its strategic focus on investments in mobile communication solutions, including wireless communication and mobile Internet. These are areas that are characterised by unique Nordic competence that possess potential for global growth. Half of the Seed and Venture Capital company Ledstiernan's investments have been made and will continue to be made in these fast-growing sectors. Ledstiernan's Internet investments will continue as before. Ledstiernan's well-documented track record and know-how provide the foundation for an investment model that involves large shareholdings in each portfolio company, close and active support for the entrepreneurs, resilience and financial creativity. At the Annual General Meeting of The Empire (whose name will be changed to Ledstiernan) on April 11th it will be proposed that a new board of eight members be elected, five of whom will be external members. Together they will be capable of further consolidating the network of international contacts and competence within Ledstiernan's investment fields, primarily mobile communications and Internet. This proposal has the support of shareholders controlling 75 per cent of the votes and 50 per cent of the shares in The Empire AB. The proposal also has the support of the Skandia insurance company and the Swedish Metalworkers' Union. The following have been nominated as members of the Board: Lars Berg, Mannesmann, Frankfurt, Germany. Executive Vice President with responsibility for Telecommunications. Tomas Isaksson, Airtouch, San Francisco, USA. Head of Global Platform and Internet Services. Birgitta Klasén, Pharmacia & Upjohn, New York, USA. Senior Vice President, Corporate Officer and Chief Information Officer. Responsible for Pharmacia & Upjohn's IT operations with 2,500 employees worldwide. Kaj-Erik Relander, Sonera, Helsinki, Finland. Executive Vice President with responsibility for the Mobile & Media Business Area. It is also proposed that Marcus Bäcklund, President of Cell Network be elected as a deputy member of the Board. All of the above are individuals with active experience of international business operations at a high level within the TIME sector, i.e. telecommunications, information technology, media and entertainment. The following have been nominated as members of the Board from Ledstiernan: Jan Carlzon, Chairman and Senior Partner, Ledstiernan. Per Lundberg, Senior Partner, Ledstiernan. Olof Stenhammar, Senior Partner, Ledstiernan, Chairman of OM Stockholm Stock Exchange and Ratos. Johan Wachtmeister, Senior Partner, will be appointed President of Ledstiernan AB. Johan Wachtmeister will resign from the existing board of The Empire AB at his own request. The other six Senior Partners in Ledstiernan, together with the President, will make up Ledstiernan's investment committee and play an active role on the boards of the affiliated companies. "I am proud and pleased that these experienced individuals in our areas of interest will participate in and make an active contribution to the development of Ledstiernan," says Jan Carlzon, chairman of Ledstiernan. "They will contribute industrial competence and an exciting international network." "Our profile as the leading Seed and Venture Capital company within Mobile Communications and the Internet will be strengthened, putting the company in a better position to go on attracting a steady flow of investment proposals and valuable partners," says Johan Wachtmeister. "We will not only take full advantage of the unique Nordic competence within IT, telecoms, and Internet, but also the industrial and financial expertise that Ledstiernan possesses. By integrating this competence and expertise Ledstiernan can continue to develop as the leading international Seed and Venture Capital company within Mobile Communications and the Internet," adds Jan Carlzon. For further information please contact: Jan Carlzon telephone: +46-8-545 035 05 Johan Wachtmeister telephone: +46-8-545 035 00 Ian Wachtmeister telephone: +46-8-660 79 70 Presentation of the nominees to the new board Lars Berg, born 1947, graduated from the Göteborg School of Economics in 1970. Responsible for Mannesmann AG's Telecommunications business area and member of the Group's Executive Board since 1999. Held leading positions at Ericsson between 1970 and 1994, and at the time of his departure from Ericsson in 1994 he had responsibility for the Cable and Business Networks division, was President of Ericsson Cables AB and Ericsson Business Networks AB, and a member of the Group management. Lars Berg was head of Telia, Scandinavia's largest telecom operator, between 1994 and 1999. Marcus Bäcklund, born 1962. Graduate engineer from Chalmers University. President of Cell Network since 1997. Marcus Bäcklund was formerly president of Scandinavia Online. He has also been head of IT at the Swedish Employers' Confederation (SAF), and before that he was a management consultant with Andersen Consulting. Tomas Isaksson, born 1954. Graduate engineer from the Royal Institute of Technology and former president of Europolitan, Sweden. In 1999, Tomas Isaksson became responsible for Global Platform and Internet Services at Airtouch, working out of San Francisco. Birgitta Klasén, born 1949. Graduated from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, in 1972. She has had responsibility for all of Pharmacia & Upjohn's IT operations since 1999, where she is Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer, and a member of the Group management committee appointed by P&U's board. The American title is Corporate Officer. Between 1977 and 1992 Birgitta Klasén held a number of managerial positions at IBM. At the time of her departure from IBM she was had responsibility for IBM's Information System Department. From 1995 to 1996 she was Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Telia, Scandinavia's largest telecom operator. Kaj-Erik Relander, born 1962. Graduate economist from the Helsinki School of Economics. He has MBAs from the aforementioned school and from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He joined Sonera, the Finnish telecom company, in 1994, since when has held a number of managerial positions with the company. He is currently Executive Vice President with responsibility for the Mobile & Media business area. Kay-Erik Relander also has experience from venture capital activities. ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/03/30/20000330BIT00880/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/03/30/20000330BIT00880/bit0002.pdf