MoDo€s President and CEO, Bengt Pettersson, has informed the Board of his wish to retire

MoDo's President and CEO, Bengt Pettersson, has informed the Board of his wish to retire MoDo's President and CEO, Bengt Pettersson, has informed the Board that he wishes to retire by no later than at the AGM in 2000. Bengt Pettersson has been MoDo's President and CEO since August 1, 1994. The intention is that Bengt Pettersson, after stepping down from his position, will remain on the Board of MoDo. The Board will begin the process of recruiting a successor during the summer. "My main task was to turn MoDo into a financially strong company with a concentrated and efficient operational business. MoDo has now made considerable progress in both these respects. The coming merger of MoDo's fine paper and merchanting units with those of SCA is another important step," says Bengt Pettersson. "The platform has now been laid down for a new, more aggressively growth- oriented group, primarily focused on newsprint and magazine paper (Holmen Paper) and paperboard (Iggesund Paperboard). I am 61 years old, and regard it as quite natural for a new, younger person to carry on the work," continues Bengt Pettersson. MoDo's Chairman, Fredrik Lundberg, comments: "During his time as President and CEO, Bengt Pettersson has done a magnificent job, and turned MoDo into one of the most profitable companies in the forest products industry. MoDo is also one of the strongest in financial terms. Much work remains to be done throughout the remainder of 1999 to bring the merger of MoDo Paper with SCA's corresponding business areas to full fruition. Bengt Pettersson will continue to devote all his energy to this, and will continue in his present position until his successor takes over. MoDo will also benefit from Bengt Pettersson's agreement to continue to serve the company as a member of its Board in the future. Bengt Pettersson may be reached on +46 8 666 21 00 Fredrik Lundberg may be reached on +46 8 463 06 00 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/06/21/19990621BIT00240/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/06/21/19990621BIT00240/bit0002.pdf