july 25, 2007  

Ratos AB has signed an agreement to buy the Contex Group

I am pleased to announce to you today that the Swedish private equity fund Ratos AB has signed an agreement to buy the Contex Group (including the companies Contex Holding A/S, Contex A/S, Vidar and Z Corporation) from EQT and other shareholders. Ratos is expected to assume ownership and control after due approval by the authorities within the next 1½ - 2 months. This successfully concludes a process that was initiated by our current major shareholder EQT just before Christmas 2006.

Ratos is listed on the OMX Nordic stock exchange in Stockholm, Sweden, and traces its roots back 140 years as a steel wholesaler by the name of Söderberg & Haak, incorporated in 1866. The name Ratos emerges in the 1930s, as the company gradually moved away from being an industrial enterprise towards becoming a pure investment company. The company was listed in 1954, and since the late 1990s, Ratos has successfully operated as a listed private equity company, creating value for its shareholders and employees through the acquisition of companies for development and later divestiture.

For Contex, this change of ownership marks the beginning of the next phase in the development of the Group, and we have already laid down the roadmap in the shape of our “Vision 2012” strategy plan. Our new owners have fully bought into this plan, which prescribes a strong organic growth through 2012 with a doubling of the Group’s turnover, supplemented with targeted acquisitions of companies that can add further value to us.

Our new owners represent the “buy-and-build” philosophy, which is so familiar to us from the EQT ownership since 1999. In essence, the focus is on growing the company, investing in  opportunities, and in achieving excellence through highly competent and skilled employees. Thus, from management’s perspective, Ratos is the ideal new owner to help us in achieving our ambitious vision and our plans for the future. We very much look forward to working together with our new owners and a new board of directors and to moving forward with executing our Vision 2012 strategy.

Therefore, the transfer of ownership within the next couple of months will not change our daily operations, our structure, or our management, nor will it change our strategic direction.  So we look forward to continuing our relationship with you and your company in full continuation of the plans and discussions we have had to date.

Sincerely,
Svenn Poulsen
President & CEO