An arbitration board has approved the sale by SJ of Sacndlines AB to Stena Line A

An arbitration board has approved the sale by SJ of Scandlines AB to Stena Line AB. An agreement was signed in November by Stena Line for the acquisition of all Scandlines' stocks including Swedecarrier AB who are part of SJ. The acquisition has so far not been carried out due to an arbitration process between SJ and Scandlines Denmark AB. The arbitration board has today announced its decision which means that the acquisition of Scandlines by Stena Line can now be completed. "Following a long wait Swedecarrier and Stena Line can now finalize the business which means significant benefits for the companies' customers and employees. It means that operations can immediately be strengthened. Scandlines AB is a well run, profitable company and together we will obtain the beneficial synergy which strengthens the whole operation," says Bo Severed, Stena Line's CEO. "We have now achieved our aim of establishing a strong route network in the Southern Baltic, which complements Stena Line's Network. Market growth is at its highest in this area and Scandlines' operations are stable even following the abolition of Tax and Duty-free. It is also pleasing to see that total volume development on the Öresund, following the opening of the Öresund Link, has so far been estimated to have increased by 80% for motor traffic and volumes for the Helsingborg-Helsingör route have been affected less than expected," Bo Severed continued. Scandlines AB is an international ferry company with four ferry routes: Helsingborg-Helsingör, Trelleborg-Trävemuede, Trelleborg-Rostock and Trelleborg-Sassnitz. Apart from the route between Trelleborg-Travemunde operated under sole management, operations are carried out in co-operation between Scandlines AG, the Danish-German group on all routes. "Scandlines AB has a strong healthy commercial co-operation with Scandlines AG, and is anxious to maintain and strengthen it in the future," says Bo Severed "I am expecting the finalisation of the acquisition of Scandlines AB by the end of the week," Bo Severed concludes. Göteborg, 28 July 2000 Stena Line AB Bo Severed CEO For further information, please contact Bo Severed on +46 31 85 83 19 or +46 704 85 83 19 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/07/28/20000728BIT00350/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/07/28/20000728BIT00350/bit0002.pdf