Swiss authority ruling has caused a stop of Skanska's planned acquisition of Steiner

Swiss authority ruling has caused a stop of Skanska's planned acquisition of Steiner A decision by a regional authority in Switzerland has caused a stop to Skanska's plan to reach a closing of the agreement entered into in April this year with the owners of Karl Steiner Holding AG (Steiner) to acquire 70% of the shares of the company. Switzerland has strong overruling rights and one of the regional authorities ruled that the closing would be subject to certain Swiss laws, which prohibit foreign control of companies owning land classified, partly or as a whole, as viable for residential construction. Since Steiner, like Skanska, is an integrated group with construction services and project development, it has not been possible to achieve an ownership structure without violating this ruling of Swiss law. "We were all surprised by the negative ruling from the regional authority in Switzerland. We have not succeeded in our efforts to find a solution, but we will continue to co-operate with Skanska", says the Chairman of Karl Steiner AG, Peter Steiner. "Skanska International will continue to operate out of the Steiner offices in Zürich, which will form a basis for continued co-operation," says Anders C Karlsson, Head of the Skanska Europe business area. Stockholm, October 1, 1999 SKANSKA AB Group Communication For additional information, contact: Anders C Karlsson, Head of the Skanska Europe business area Tel + 46 40 14 42 43 Tor Krusell, Director Group Communication, Skanska AB Tel +46 8 753 87 47 This and previous releases are also available on www.skanska.com ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/10/01/19991001BIT00580/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/10/01/19991001BIT00580/bit0002.pdf