Netcom AB announces the sale of its 24.8 per cent shareholding in Netcom asa in exchange for 17.8 per cent in Société eu

NETCOM AB ANNOUNCES THE SALE OF ITS 24.8 PER CENT SHAREHOLDING IN NETCOM ASA IN EXCHANGE FOR 17.8 PER CENT IN SOCIÉTÉ EUROPÉENNE DE COMMUNICATION SA New York, Stockholm - November 25, 1999 - NetCom AB the leading, alternative Scandinavian telecommunications provider, today announced that it has sold its 24.8 per cent shareholding in NetCom ASA to Société Européenne de Communication SA, ("SEC") in exchange of newly issued shares in SEC. After the transaction, NetCom AB will hold 17.8 per cent of the shares of SEC. NetCom ASA, a Norwegian mobile operator, is the sole competitor to the state- owned operator Telenor. NetCom ASA has about one-third of the GSM market, a market characterized by a 50 per cent mobile penetration. SEC, a leading, alternative European telecommunications provider, has operations in seven countries. The companies which comprise SEC include: Tele2 Europe, providing national and international long distance telephony services the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy and Luxembourg; Transcom Europe providing customer care services and call centers; Tango, the GSM 900/DCS 1800 cellular operator in Luxembourg; 3C Communications, operating public pay telephones and public Internet services; and Transac, providing billing and transaction processing services. SEC has recently launched a 3 number of new operations including Everyday.com, an internet portal, C , pre- paid calling cards for fixed-line telephony, and Intellinet, a low price guarantee fixed telephony service. SEC's market capitalisation, pre- acquisition, amounted to DEM 4 billion. SEC serves approximately 2.5 million customers, an increase of over 300 per cent over the last year. The sale was executed through a contribution in kind, with compensation comprising newly issued shares in SEC. The shares issued by SEC, 92,533,625 of Class A and 9,318,316 of Class B, were proportional to the amount of shares outstanding of the respective classes. After the acquisition, 519,868,414 shares of Class A and 52,351,758 shares of Class B, together 572,220,172 shares, are outstanding in SEC. The transaction has an approximate market value of DEM 800 million. Post acquisition, Industriförvaltnings AB Kinnevik holds 41.0 per cent of the capital and 44.8 per cent of the votes, Millicom International Cellular SA 29.6 per cent and 32.6 per cent, respectively, NetCom AB 17.8 per cent and 17.8 per cent, respectively, and the remaining 11.6% is held by the public who received the shares in a distribution to the Knnevik shareholders in 1998. Mr Anders Björkman, President and CEO of SEC SA, resigned as Member of the Board of NetCom AB prior to the transaction decision in order to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest. In his capacity at SEC, Mr Björkman fully supports the transaction. Lars-Johan Jarnheimer, President and CEO, comments, "One of the reasons for the transaction is that NetCom ASA has entered the fixed telephony market in Norway, and competes directly with us in Norway. On our side, we have studied the attractiveness of entering the mobile business in Norway, either as a reseller for one or two of the existing networks, or through our own operating licence, leveraging on our strong Tele2 brandname. The exchange of a 24.8 per cent shareholding in NetCom ASA for an 17.8 per cent participation in SEC will substantially enhance the growth potential of NetCom AB. The European market covered by SEC comprises 230 million inhabitants, whereas the Norwegian market, covered by Netcom ASA, comprises only 4 million inhabitants. Furthermore, SEC supplies a much wider range of products, covering among others, fixed-line telephony, mobile, internet and pre-paid fixed telephony cards." NetCom AB, formed in 1993, is a leading telecommunications company in the Nordic countries, the Baltic region and Poland. It has GSM cellular operations in Sweden (Comviq and Tele2Mobil), in Norway through NetCom ASA and in Estonia through Ritabell (Q GSM). In the areas of public telecommunications, data communication services and Internet, NetCom operates Tele2 in Sweden, Tele2 A/S in Denmark and Tele2 Norge AS in Norway. NetCom also operates NätTeknik and Datametrix, specializing in systems integration, 4T Solutions and Optimal Telecom in addition to Kabelvision, a Swedish cable TV services company. NetCom is listed both on the Stockholm Stock Exchange under the symbols NCOMA and NCOMB and on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol NECS. Contacts: Lars-Johan Jarnheimer Telephone: + 46 8 562 640 00 President and CEO, NetCom AB, Sweden Visit us at our homepage: http://www.netcom.se ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/11/25/19991125BIT00170/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/11/25/19991125BIT00170/bit0002.pdf