Ratos's associated company Haendig acquires Finnish Penope

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HAENDIG ACQUIRES FINNISH PENOPE Ratos's associated company Haendig is to acquire the Finnish company Penope - a leading player in wood processing machines and electric hand tools. Penope has annual sales of approximately FIM 100m and 50 employees. Following this acquisition, Haendig will have operations in all the Nordic countries. "Haendig sees Finland as a strategically attractive market. Penope suits our strategy extremely well. A profitable company with products in common such as Hitachi electric hand tools," comments Thomas Holmgren President of Haendig AB as well as the new chairman of Penope. "Penope will continue to be operated as before but we see clear synergies in the Hitachi product area for which the Group has the agency in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. We also see opportunities to provide Penope with attractive products from Haendig's strong program such as fastenings," Holmgren continues. Penope with its president Jarmo Kivistö will be placed within the Markt Group in Norway. The former principal owner, Arto Jokinen, will remain on Penope's board. For additional information, please contact Thomas Holmgren, President of Haendig AB +46 705 736 700 Jarmo Kivistö, President of Markt +358 3 87 870 Haendig is a comprehensive distributor to end-users in the DIY market and industry. Sales are conducted via retailers in the building and hardware sectors, hypermarkets, heating, ventilation and sanitation suppliers, as well as agricultural suppliers in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Poland. The company has seen strong growth in recent years as a result of acquisitions. The head office is in Halmstad, Sweden, and there are subsidiaries in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Poland. Haendig has approximately 450 employees and forecasts sales of SEK 1.35 billion and a profit of SEK 34m in 2001. Haendig is owned 49% by Ratos, 31% by the Norwegian company Navimar and 20% by British 3i. Ratos is a listed private equity company. The business concept is to maximise shareholder value over time by investing in, developing and divesting primarily unlisted companies. Ratos thus offers stock market players a unique investment opportunity. The net asset value of Ratos's investments is approximately SEK 9 billion. Ratos's holdings include Camfil, Capona, Dahl, DataVis, Esselte, Exceed, Industri Kapital, Q- Labs, Superfos, Telelogic and Telia Overseas, as well as the recently acquired former Atle holdings: Arcorus, DIAB, Gadelius KK, Haendig, Haglöfs, Hilding Anders, HL Display, Intervect, Kronans Droghandel, Martinsson Gruppen, Programmera, Sweden On Line and a jointly owned portfolio of small holdings. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/06/07/20010607BIT00700/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/06/07/20010607BIT00700/bit0002.pdf