Mandator and Journalistgruppen strengthen Sweden€s position as leading IT nation

Mandator and Journalistgruppen strengthen Sweden's position as leading IT nation Mandator today signed an agreement on the purchase of all shares in Journalistgruppen. This mean that two Swedish companies merge to fully take advantage of the synergies in combining technical infrastructure, applications and content. "This drive the developement of Sweden as a leading IT nation," says Niklas Flyborg, CEO of Mandator. Now shall our unique offer turn out on our market the Nordic and Baltic area as well as in Europe. Our "new market" Mandator and Journalistgruppen have clearly identified the stronger and stronger merging of the traditional IT market and Internet services on the one hand, with the communication services market on the other. These markets have two main factors in common. One is the use of the Internet and its technology as a carrier of information. The other is that services are coming closer to companies' business critical and information processes, which entails that buyers are found at the highest decision levels within customers' organisations. We have now a complete offer. Together, Mandator and Journalistgruppen establish a unique supplier of services within IT and communication. Journalistgruppen is one of the leading companies in the communication market. The company has a good reputation, fast and controlled growth as well as an impressive list of references. The company presently employs some 70 people. The company's competence consists of equal proportions of writers, consultants and project managers and designers. Journalistgruppen's customers include several of the companies within Ericsson, SEB, ASSA ABLOY, Telia ProSoft, The Bank of Sweden, Pharmacia & Upjohn, Partena, Sema Group, The Swedish Post and RKS Data. A reference - Ericsson Wireline Systems To one of Ericsson's business units, Wireline Systems, Journalistgruppen delivers a total solution within internal communications. A global news service reaching some 20,000 employees all over the world has been implemented by Journalistgruppen, who also run a fully functional internal news desk. Information is disseminated via a unique concept built around the latest in intranet technology. The solution can be compared to the news desk at an ordinary newspaper and is presented via home-pages on the Internet. Integrated with this solution, communication also takes place via internal TV and other, printed and digital, channels. Parallell to this, Journalistgruppen also assists with strategic work and training for both top- and middle-level management. Journalistgruppen meets different players in the market. Specialised players, among others, are CGI Rinfo, Kreab, JKL and within web and digital publishing, Framfab, Spray and Prime. In printed media, the Appelberg Group is the main player and in education, RMI/Berghs and Heijbel&Co. Mandator is one of the Nordic leading supplier of Internet- and IT services. Business area´s are, among others, Kazoo, Telecom, Systems Integration and Interactive Training and Simulation (ITS). To deliver content services are an important part of our offer. "I am convinced that both our and Mandator's customers will benefit greatly from the fact that we now can deliver total solutions in terms of technical infrastructure, applications and content." says the CEO of Journalist-gruppen, Anders Lugn "Sweden is already a leading IT nation," says the CEO and President of Mandator, Niklas Flyborg. "We have a solid technical infrastructure and a technologically mature population. We don't just have the Internet, we use it too. Now the time has come to focus on the content." Mandator AB For more information contact: Niklas Flyborg, CEO/President Mandator, tel 08-402 31 00 Mobile 070-5944 96 78, Anders Lugn, CEO Journalistgruppen, tel 08-610 20 00, Mobile 070-608 87 80 Jerker Käll, Business Controller Mandator, tel 08-402 31 00, Mobile 070-580 84 00, or Ellinor Bollman, Marketing Manager Journalistgruppen, tel 08-610 20 00, Mobile 070-347 37 14 Home pages: www.mandator.se and www.journalistgruppen.se respectively ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/12/07/19991207BIT00240/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/12/07/19991207BIT00240/bit0002.pdf