KRISTIANSTAD, Sweden, Oct. 3, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Bong Group (Stockholm:BONG) has struck the largest single deal in the company's history. The deal, of almost 800 million envelopes, is with Lyreco Group, a French company that is one of Europe's largest office contract stationers. It is intended to satisfy Lyreco's envelope needs for 2003, which is expected to boost the Bong Group's total turnover for 2003 by 3- 4 percent. Bong is already one of Lyreco's main suppliers (some 400 million envelopes in 2001 and 2002 respectively) and the additional volumes, which are mainly for the markets in France, Great Britain and Germany, mean that Bong will be supplying a significant part of Lyreco's envelope requirements in Europe.
"The trend towards increased internationalisation among customers is continuing," said Lennart Pihl, Bong's president and CEO. "The Lyreco order is a good example for how more and more companies are deciding to purchase their envelopes centrally for the whole of Europe. This requires a supplier with consistent high quality and advanced logistical solutions, as different countries have their own specifications. We are delighted to win this business, and see it as confirmation that as one of Europe's leading envelope companies, we are well positioned to benefit from the growing internationalisation. The Bong Group's acquisition-led expansion in the Nordic region and on the Continent has given us a size, structure and market coverage that few of our competitors can match."
Bong Ljungdahl AB is currently involved in other negotiations for business of the same size as Lyreco's.
LYRECO IN BRIEF
Lyreco is a large contract stationer and sells office supplies to medium size and large corporate companies, through its annual product catalogue. The company is represented in Europe (13 countries) as well as North America (Canada) and Asia (4 countries). Lyreco has good representation in Sweden following the acquisition of Dorab some years ago. Lyreco is a privately-owned company with its head office located in France. In 2001, turnover amounted Euro 1,358 million and the number of employees was 6,400. The Bong deal means that, for the first time ever, Lyreco is consolidating its volume of local specific envelopes for the whole of Europe.
Bong is one of Europe's leading envelope companies. The Group has an annual turnover of around 2.4 billion kronor, has about 1,700 employees and a manufacturing capacity of some 15 billion envelopes a year at its production units in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Poland, Germany, Belgium, England and Ireland. Over the past few years, Bong has carried out a number of acquisitions of companies in the envelope industry and has thus taken an active part in the current process of structural transformation in the industry in Europe. The Group sees attractive opportunities for further expansion and development. Bong is a publicly listed company and its shares are listed on the Stockholm stock exchange "O" list.
For further information, please contact:
Lennart Pihl, CEO and MD telephone 044 - 20 70 50, mobile 0705 94 68 66 email lennart.pihl@bongljungdahl.se.
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