Investor and Ericsson join SEB's project for Volvo Ocean Race 2001-2002 KSSS and GKSS yacht clubs also co-operating wit

Investor and Ericsson join SEB's project for Volvo Ocean Race 2001-2002 KSSS and GKSS yacht clubs also co-operating with Team SEB The major Swedish company Investor is joining Team SEB as a co-partner for the Volvo Ocean Race 2001-2002. Investor gains the possibility to participate in events at the ports of calls during the race and also has the right to profile its name and trademark on the boat and crew clothing. Ericsson is joining the project to develop an ongoing cooperation with SEB pertaining to mobile financial services. The KSSS (Stockholm) and GKSS (Gothenburg) royal yacht clubs are also participating in Team SEB and they can represent the project and use it for their own promotional purposes. In addition to the attention and commercial value in connection with the project, the participating companies and clubs also strengthen interest for boating and sailing. "We are pleased that the major Swedish companies Investor and Ericsson chose to become our partners in the project for the Volvo Ocean Race. Investor and Ericsson have interests and customers in other parts of the world than we do. This means that the port calls can be utilised more effectively for contact potential," says Ingrid Jansson, Head of Marketing at SEB. "The undertaking creates many benefits for our partners. Experience shows that it stimulates willingness to cooperate and contributes to increase knowledge. In addition, it increases the possibility of business contacts with the other companies participating in the race," says Pelle Norberg, President of Global Team AB. "To sail is to be seen. This has been proven in earlier projects. We are moving ahead as co-partner in this major international project because we know what can be achieved through our earlier experiences," says Nils- Ingvar Lundin, Head of Communications at Investor. "The involvement in Team SEB provides an opportunity to demonstrate the practical benefits of technology combined with financial services and other services in connection with the race," says Bo Albertson, Marketing Director Communications at Ericsson Consumer Products. "The tough conditions at sea and the unique prospects in the various ports provide a good opportunity to test these services in trying conditions." SEB is a European financial group especially for corporations and financially active private individuals. SEB has 630 branch offices in Sweden, Germany and the Baltic States, with 4 million customers in total. Of these, 850,000 are Internet customers. SEB also has operations in the rest of the Nordic countries, Great Britain, Luxembourg and Switzerland. The balance sheet total is SEK 1,123 billion and assets under management amount to SEK 910 billion. The number of employees amount to 21,500. Read more about SEB: www.seb.net For further information, please contact: Jan Torstenson, Project Leader, Team SEB, +46 8 763 93 24, +46 70 668 55 73 Bo Albertson, Marketing Director Communications, Ericsson Consumer Products, +46 8 764 13 88, + 46 70-510 09 92 Nils-Ingvar Lundin, Head of Communications, Investor, +46 8 614 20 49, +46 70 514 20 49 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/03/02/20010302BIT00540/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/03/02/20010302BIT00540/bit0001.pdf