Ole Oftedal, Partner and CEO of i2i-Venture, Connecta/Information Highway and Skandia Investments' New Venture Capital Start-up.

Business Editors

STOCKHOLM, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 13, 2000

Ole Oftedal, CEO and President of Thomson Travel Group International/ Fritidsresegruppen AB, will become the CEO and partner of new venture capital start-up i2i-Venture, which will invest in enterprises and ideas with Internet-related business models.

Connecta/Information Highway, Europe's leading B2B strategic Internet consulting practice, is creating i2i-Venture alongside Ole Oftedal and Skandia Investment with partners Skandia, Orkla, Handelsbanken Liv, ICA and Sweden's 4th AP (National Pensions Insurance) Fund.

i2i-Venture's business concept is to assist entrepreneurs and smaller enterprises in their development phases with financing, management competencies and help with internationalising. In i2i-Venture, such entities have an extremely hard-hitting instrument for exploiting promising business concepts in the new, digital economy. Connecta/Information Highway is constantly encountering Internet-related business ideas through its 1,300 consultants. i2i-Venture will function as a hothouse through such enterprises' start-up and change phases.

Christer Jacobsson, Connecta's CEO and Chairman designate of the new Information Highway/Connecta, said, "With Ole Oftedal becoming i2i-Venture's CEO, we ensure that the stream of business ideas our company comes into contact with are processed professionally. Both through his personal qualities and international management experience, Mr. Oftedal reinforces our conviction of i2i-Venture's chances of success."

In response, Oftedal himself said, "After nearly 20 years as a leading executive in major corporations, transferring to more entrepreneurial activities in The New Economy feels really exciting. Information Highway/Connecta is one of Europe's leading internet consulting practices, with a clear focus on profitability, high quality and great knowledge of the new business opportunities that the internet now is creating at an almost unbelievable pace. Quite simply, it's a great challenge to be part of this."

Oftedal is since 1996 the CEO and President of Thomson Travel Group International (incl. Fritidsresegruppen) and will remain a Board member of Thomson Travel Group Plc. Oftedal was formerly CEO of listed bus operator Linjebuss for 10 years, and before that a key executive of Nordstjernan AB.

For the shareholders of Connecta/Information Highway this initiative offers access to value growth additional to the regular consultant billing. Skandia Investment gains the opportunity to create relationships with enterprises in very early developmental phases, can make contributions through its broad-based network and refer those enterprises and projects that remain insufficiently ripe for the fund's everyday operations.

For Skandia Investment, CEO Christer Dahlstrom said, "Mr. Oftedal lends the partnership gravitas -- vital now that there is a shortage of management expertise and experience, rather than any scarcity of capital, in what at present, is a turbulent market."

Connecta/Information Highway and Skandia Investment KB each own 37.5% of the newly created i2i-Venture. The remaining 25% will be owned by investors including CEO Ole Oftedal and key-executives of Connecta/Information Highway. Christer Jacobsson has been appointed as Chairman, with other Board appointments to be announced imminently.

The merger between Information Highway and Connecta Information Highway is planning a merger with Connecta AB, creating one of Europe's leading consulting practices oriented towards strategic Internet solutions. The new group will have a very secure platform for sustained robust international expansion. At present, the two companies have an aggregate headcount of approximately 1,200 (1,350 including Berens/Partner in Germany). The objective is to have at least 2,000 employees by the end of the year.

About Connecta (www.connecta.se)

Connecta AB is an Internet consulting enterprise active in Internet business development. The company provides services through Strategy, Internet and Human Resource Management practice areas. With its total concepts, Connecta is able to serve as a full-range provider to major corporations and non-profit organisations, offering consulting services that consolidate nearly 600 employees. Acquisitions in Denmark will mean headcount increasing to 580. The Connecta share is quoted on OM Stockholm Exchange's O-list (symbol: CNTA). Christer Jacobsson is Connecta's President. Connecta provides solutions for clients including SEB, Skandia, Ericsson, Folksam, Scania, Statoil, SAF, Volkswagen and Thompson Travel Group (Fritidsresor).

About Information Highway (www.ih.com)

Information Highway assists enterprises in exploiting the business opportunities presented by the new network economy. Information Highway consolidates its clients' competitiveness, making them successful in the digital arena by providing Internet-based solutions characterised by business expertise, creativity and leading-edge technology skills, essentially offering "a safe ride to The New Economy". Information Highway was founded in 1994 and currently employs 600 people in its Business, Interactive and Technology Consulting practice areas at ten locations in Sweden, and in Norway, Denmark, Finland and the UK. The share is quoted on OM Stockholm Exchange's O-list (symbol: IHWY). Goran Wagstrom is Information Highway's President. Information Highway provides solutions for ABB, Ericsson, Telia, SAS, Vattenfall, Lufthansa, Codan, Telenor and Swiss Valore.

About Skandia Investment KB (www.skandia.se/ski)

Skandia Investment KB is a venture capital company that invests in Nordic growth enterprises with ambitions to become listed companies. The company is backed by insurance giant Skandia, Sweden's Fourth AP (National Pensions Insurance) Fund, life insurer Handelsbanken Liv, food retailer ICA and Norwegian conglomerate Orkla. Total capital amounts to SEK 1 bn. Since inception in 1983, Skandia Investment has made nearly 80 investments in unlisted companies and guided over 20 companies to the stock market.

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