Scandic continues to reduce its ownership interests in the property company, Hotellus

Scandic continues to reduce its ownership interests in the property company, Hotellus, which has acquired two new properties. Hotellus International AB has acquired another two properties, Scandic Hotel Crown in Gothenburg and an hotel in central Brussels. The Scandic ownership interest in Hotellus has thereby been reduced from 61% to 53%. At the turn of the financial year1997/98 Scandic Hotels AB formed the property company, Hotellus International AB, to which were transferred the five hotel properties owned by the Scandic Group. The objective from Scandic's side was both to focus on its core business as hotel operator and also to increase its flexibility for future growth. Hotellus International's portfolio has increased from the original five properties to today's 14 hotel properties inclusive of the two new acquisitions. This means a book-value of SEK 1.7 billion. Scandic is the hotel operator of all Hotellus International's properties. The two new acquisitions are: Scandic Hotel Crown in Gothenburg, centrally situated next to the Central Railwaystation. The hotel has 320 rooms and extensive conference facilities. The seller is Wasa Livförsäkring. The property, which Wasa let build in 1988, has a total area of 23,000 sq.metres. The hotel in Brussels has 100 rooms and is centrally situated next to Galerie St-Hubert. The property, which has a total area of about 4,500 sq. metres, was originally built at the turn of the century and completely renovated and modernized in 1991. Scandic operates this hotel as well. The properties will be acquired as on December 31, 1998. The sellers will in connection with the transactions become owners in Hotellus International, whose share capital will thereby increase by SEK 88 million to SEK 748 million. Scandic's aim is to reduce its ownership in Hotellus International as soon as possible to under 50%, with a long-term objective of 20% ownership. For further information, please contact: Fredrik Sandelin, Exec. Vice President & CFO. @ +46 (0)8 517 352 00 Gunnar Brandberg, Vice President, Marketing & Investor Relations, @ +46 (0)8 517 352 12, +46 (0)70 728 84 50. Raoul Waldenor, President & CEO, Hotellus International AB , @ +46 (0)8 545 41 701, +46 (0)70 771 33 57 Scandic Hotels AB is the largest hotel company in the Nordic Region, with 124 hotels in 9 countries. Scandic's strategy is to be a dedicated hotel operator. Its business mission is "to offer many people the highest value for money when staying in its hotels, during work and leisure." Scandic Hotels AB (publ) Box 6197, SE-102 33 Stockholm Tel: +46 (0)8 517 350 00, Fax: +46 (0)8 517 352 80 E-mail:info@scandic-hotels.com, Internet: www.scandic-hotels.com Org. no.: 556299-1009 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1998/12/23/19981223BIT00250/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1998/12/23/19981223BIT00250/bit0002.pdf