Handelsbanken Investment Banking

Handelsbanken Corporate Finance, an integrated part of Handelsbanken Investment Banking, has entered into partnership agreements with bank Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. in Germany, La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild in France, Euromobiliare Corporate Finance in Italy and CIBC World Markets in North America. Through this agreement, Handelsbanken Corporate Finance is in a position to offer a global reach to its Nordic corporate clients for their acquisitions, mergers or divestitures projects as well as access to European and North American equity capital markets. Likewise, the corporate clients of its respective partners will benefit from Handelsbanken's presence and capacity in corporate finance throughout the Nordic region. In the wake of globalisation, Nordic corporations take a more and more global view of their businesses and equity funding. Cross-border M&As and equity offering on foreign markets have become essential tools for corporate development. In order to offer the highest quality financial services on a global basis, Handelsbanken Corporate Finance is taking a decisive step through a " multi-local " concept based on the fact that each partner of the alliance enjoys a prominent position in its home market in the field of M&A and equity capital markets and on the understanding that each partner is committed to serve other partners' clients in an optimal way. The alliance will offer the skills and competencies of around 400 corporate finance professionals . The alliance covers nearly two-thirds of the cross-border M&As flows in- and outside the Nordic countries done over the last five years and two-third of current world stock markets capitalization. The alliance is built on a global industry and sector approach based on exchange of information and equity research. It aims to provide each partner's clients with the most relevant picture of its industry and full access to an enlarged network of contacts. At the same time, the local execution capacity of each partner in public and private M&A as well as in equity offering is at disposal of the network's clients. All sectors are covered with a particular emphasis on the TIME, healthcare and services sectors. Appendix Founded in 1789, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. is the largest German Private Bank under family ownership with a demonstrated expertise and proven track record in Corporate Finance. The bank has over 1 100 employees located in Köln, Frankfurt, München, London and New York. Sal. Oppenheim is ranked in the German M&A league table immediately after the global " bulge bracket " firms and is a designated sponsor at the " Neuer Markt " with a clear specialization on the TIME sector. In 1999, Sal. Oppenheim has participated in more than 35 IPOs on the German market. La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild was founded by Baron Edmond de Rothschild who chaired the Supervisory Board , before his son Benjamin succeeded him. LCF E. de Rothschild has approximately 400 employees located mainly in Paris, London and Tel-Aviv. LCF E. de Rothschild is one of the leading French investment bank with focus on domestic and cross- border M&A, privatizations, financial engineering, fairness opinions and valuations. LCF E. de Rothschild is consistently ranked in the French M&A league table of the main corporate advisers with a specialization on deals in the TIME, healthcare, retailing, transport, finance and luxury goods sectors. Euromobiliare Corporate Finance belongs to the banking group Credito Emiliano, listed on the Milan Stock Exchange. Euromobiliare is a major actor in corporate finance in Italy and the market leader among Italian stocks brokerage firms. Euromobiliare is one of the top players in M&A activity and has been advisor to the Italian Government for the privatization of Telecom Italia, the biggest privatization in the country. CIBC World Markets is a full service corporate and investment bank throughout North America, with operations in Asia, Europe and Australia. The number one M&A firm in Canada, CIBC World Markets is also a top ten M&A advisor in the US, with strong North American equity research capabilities. Its parent company, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), is one of North America's first and largest financial institutions with offices in 18 countries, including the world's major financial centers. Handelsbanken Investment Banking is one of the top three investment banks in Sweden and a leading Corporate Finance advisors in the Nordic region. Its parent company, Svenska Handelsbanken, is a leading bank in the Nordic region and offers the full range of banking and financial services. The bank has 8 500 employees whereas nearly 100 involved in Corporate Finance activities located in Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Paris and London. For more information, please call: Lennart Söderberg, Head of Handelsbanken Corporate Finance, tel: +46 8 701 3818 or Pierre Schoeffler, Head of Handelsbanken Corporate Finance- Paris Office, tel: +33 1 42 66 58 98 or Kjell Ormegard, Head of Handelsbanken Investment Banking, tel: +46 8 701 1736 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/05/26/20000526BIT00300/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/05/26/20000526BIT00300/bit0002.pdf