Hexagon acquires global polymer group

Hexagon has agreed to acquire the Belgian based polymer group Thona Group, with production facilities in Belgium, The Czech Republic, USA and Canada. The Seller is a consortium led by the American investment company Andlinger & Company Inc. Thona Group is technically advanced and has the capacity to manufacture both rubber as well as TPE compounds. The Group has a Sales turn over of approximately 100 M.EUR per annum and is employing some 270 employees. The Acquisition, which is conditioned by approval from the German competition authorities, is estimated to close on April 30th, 2004.

Hexagon is today, via its business area Hexagon Polymers, the leading supplier of polymers in Europe. Thanks to the acquisition of the Thona Group Hexagon will become the leading supplier in the world. The Acquisition will bring substantial synergies in production as well as raw material sourcing. The Outsourcing trend within the industry is strong. We believe that there is room for a continuously strong sales growth for Hexagon after the acquisition.

The Acquisition will realise the, by Hexagon in May 2003, presented strategic plan regarding the establishment of the business area Hexagon Polymers as a world leading supplier of polymer solutions. The Acquisition will contribute to Hexagons earnings as of the day of closing.

The Acquisition will be presented at a telephone conference today, Monday 22nd of March 2004 at 15:00 C.E.T. For further instructions regarding participation go to www.hexagon.se

For further information, please contact:

 Ola Rollén                         	
 President & C.E.O.	
 Hexagon AB	
 Tel: + 46 8 601 26 20	

Lars Olofsson
President
Hexagon Polymers
Tel: + 46 371 848 00

Hexagon AB is a multinational engineering group with the long-term ambition of positioning itself as number one or number two within its strategic sectors. The operation is divided into four business areas: Hexagon Automation, Hexagon Engineering, Hexagon Metrology and Hexagon Polymers. The group's targets are to increase earnings per share after tax by at least 15 per cent p.a., and achieve a return on capital employed higher than 15 per cent over the business cycle. Current turnover amounts to more than 7 GSEK p.a.