Svedala continues expansion of Svedala Houses in USA

Svedala continues expansion of Svedala Houses in the USA Svedala has acquired another sales and service company in the USA; Polk Equipment Inc. in Florida with a turnover of approx. 50 MSEK. Polk has been a retailer of Svedala products in Florida for 40 years. The company will be organized according to the Svedala House concept in order to be able to offer the market in Florida, which has a GP roughly double that of Sweden's, a broader product assortment and expanded service. "With this acquisition Svedala continues its expansion in North America" says Kjell Åkesson, Vice President, Svedala Concern. "In the past two years we have built up a sales and service organization in the USA, Mexico and Canada that, today, consists of a total of 45 units, many of which have previously been Svedala suppliers. Within two years we will have established at least 10 additional Svedala Service Houses." Polk is an important supplier of equipment for processing the industrial mineral phosphate and aggregate. Florida has one of the world's largest reserves of phosphate which is an important fertilizer for agriculture. The coal-based power industry is also a considerable user of Svedala products. Previous owners and other key personnel will remain with the company. Svedala continues its efforts to expand the Svedala House organization in both the existing markets and in new ones. Svedala Argentina opened in September and a similar organization is planned in Kazakstan. More than 40% of Svedala's invoicing comes from the after sales market, i.e. sales of service and wear parts. During the first half of 1998 it increased between 20-70% with the exception of Asia. Svedala Industri AB Information department Ulla Frithiof telephone 040 24 58 47 Svedala Industri is the world's leading manufacturer of equipment and systems for construction and mineral processing industries and materials handling. Annual sales of the Svedala Group, which has subsidiaries in more than 40 countries, amount to approximately SEK 15 billion, with about 11,000 employees. Operations outside Sweden account for slightly more than 95%. (981014-eng-köp-polk.doc) (981014-eng-köp-polk.pdf)