The annual offer of shares to Veidekke's employees was effected this year through two issues directed at all employees and at key personnel. The shares were offered at a discount of 20% and with financing. Extra work was done on the information side to bring as many Swedish and Danish employees as possible into the programme.

"This is the fourteenth time we have offered shares to employees since we were first listed on the stock exchange in 1985," says President and CEO Terje R. Venold. "This is an important part of Veidekke's culture and something our Norwegian employees are familiar with. That is why we put an extra effort into getting as many Danish and Swedish employees as possible to subscribe for shares this year. As a result, about 300 employees in Denmark and Sweden have purchased shares, compared with 1,000 in Norway, and Veidekke has gained 350 new shareholders among its employees.

After increasing the number of available shares to 1,000,000, the issues will still be oversubscribed, so some downscaling will be necessary.

"We are planning to downscale the subscribers who have applied for the full number of shares," says President and CEO Terje R. Venold. "It is important for Veidekke that as many employees as possible share in the Group's value creation," he says.

"We are very pleased that our employees have confidence in Veidekke's shares and thus in our potential value creation in the time ahead. It has been a pleasure to see such keen interest in all three countries. Following this issue, 1900 of our employees hold 16% of the shares in the Group," Venold concludes.

For further information, please contact:

Terje R. Venold, President & CEO, tel. +47 21 05 50 00 / +47 905 82 323

Arne Giske, Senior Vice President CFO, tel +47 21 05 50 00 / +47 905 89 526

Kai Krüger Henriksen, Senior Vice President Communication, tel. + 47 21 05 77 04/ +47 905 19 360