Berlin approves Bewag merger

Berlin approves Bewag merger Vattenfall gives location and job guarantees in the capital The City of Berlin and Vattenfall Europe have set the course for the future of Bewag in a powerful new group. A corresponding agreement was today concluded by the Berlin Senate and Vattenfall AB/Vattenfall Europe AG. The key points of the agreement are: - Berlin agrees to the push down of Bewag's operational business and the merger of Bewag holding with its parent company Vattenfall Europe AG. - Vattenfall guarantees that, until the end of 2007, it will employ 4,350 staff in Berlin and will exclude all operations-related dismissals. - The holding company, Vattenfall Europe, will continue to be based in Berlin until at least the end of 2010, and Bewag until at least the end of 2018. - Vattenfall Europe will also make available EUR 10 million in Berlin for projects which promote energy regeneration and energy-saving measures. Allocation of the funds will be decided in cooperation with the Senate. "Today, one year earlier than planned, we are honouring the promise made by Vattenfall, HEW and the Berlin Senate in April 2001: The formation of a new energy company on the German market - based in Berlin and with Bewag fully integrated," explains Dr Klaus Rauscher, Chairman of the Board of Vattenfall Europe AG. "Vattenfall Europe is reinforcing its commitment to its Group headquarters in the German capital; from here, we will manage a company which has its most important markets in the north-east of the country and which acts as a stabilising force on the economic development of Germany's eastern states." The setting up of Vattenfall Europe is one of the central projects in the restructuring of the German energy industry. Merging Bewag, HEW, LAUBAG and VEAG will create the third largest energy company in Germany. Your contact for further information is: Martin May, Vattenfall Europe, telephone: +49-30-8182-2320, fax +49-30-8181-2305. e-mail: martin.may@vattenfall.de Vattenfall's vision is to be a leading European energy company. Vattenfall's main products are electricity and heat. Today, Vattenfall generates power and supplies energy to several million customers in the Nordic region and northern Europe. The largest electricity customers are industrial plants and energy companies. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/12/03/20040817BIT22090/wkr0001.pdf